Traitor VIX
Volatility is the most treacherous risk for VA issuers, and complex hedging strategies are the answer. That’s the view from the Equity-Based Insurance Guarantees conference in Chicago this week.
SEC: VA closures, buybacks send wrong message
The director of the SEC Division of Investment Management said VA issuers seem to be telling investors, ‘Here is the deal we are offering you, unless we find out later that we miscalculated.’
VA closures, buy-backs send wrong message: SEC
The director of the SEC Division of Investment Management said VA issuers seem to be telling investors, ‘Here is the deal we are offering you, unless we find out later that we miscalculated.’
Stock Split
The Wharton School's business professors are divided on whether the time is right to invest in equities. Pension Research Council director Olivia Mitchell has invested her pension in TIPS, while colleague Jeremy (“Stocks for the Long Run”) Siegel remains bullish. Photo: Jeremy Siegel.
Featured
Experts with Unrealistic Expectations
“We urge you to work together to reach a bipartisan agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff and take concrete steps to restore the United States’ long-term fiscal footing,” the CEOs of the largest U.S. financial services companies wrote to the president and Congress last month.
A Man Without a Plan
Obama’s chief economic adviser is Gene Sperling, head of the National Economic Council. Unlike the typical academic economist, Sperling concentrates on practical things that might lift the economy, writes Shiller, the well-known Yale economist.
News
Citing capacity limits, Jackson will refuse incoming 1035 transfers for a month
Jackson National decided to save its remaining $1 billion in capacity for VAs with living benefits--it sold $15.3 billion worth of VAs in the first nine months of 2012--for new sales. Exchanges into the firm's Elite Access variable annuity will still be accepted.
Nationwide adds TOPS managed volatility funds to VA line-up
The TOPS Protected Balanced, Moderate Growth and Growth ETF Portfolios use a Milliman-designed equity futures strategy to buffer the fund assets from volatility.
After IPO, ING U.S. will start two-year rebranding effort
Farewell, Orange Lion! ING U.S.’s future brand name hasn’t been disclosed, but the trademarked tagline will be “America’s Retirement Company,” according to the SEC registration statement.
Unconfirmed: Apollo nearest to acquiring Aviva U.S.
Representatives at Aviva, Apollo, Guggenheim and Harbinger declined to comment on the deal, which is not completed and may still collapse.
“Quote” of the Week
"Although reducing the fiscal tightening scheduled to occur next year would boost output and employment in the short run, doing so without imposing a comparable amount of additional tightening in future years would reduce the nation’s output and income in the longer run"--Congressional Budget Office, November 2012.
