Annuities ‘Compensate’ Even Short-Lived People
'Nature wants us to pool longevity risk,' writes annuity expert Moshe Milevsky. He explains why in a new paper, 'Swimming with Sharks: Longevity, Volatility and the Value of Risk Pooling.'
Anecdotal Evidence
Where the Income Puck is Going
Producers selling indexed annuities with living benefits in the context of the semi-robo retirement income plans: This is emerging model for selling income products to Boomers. It’s not ideal. But it’s where the puck seems to be going.
The fastest growing broker-deal channel? Independents
'The wirehouses’ growth rates have lagged other broker-dealer channels’ over the past one and five years. However, this is for ‘retail’ assets. The opposite is true in the high net worth (HNW) space,' said Donnie Ethier of Cerulli Associates.
BlackRock to acquire almost 5% of Envestnet
The partnership calls for BlackRock, Inc., to acquire a 4.9% equity stake in Envestnet by purchasing about 2.36 million shares of Envestnet common stock for about $122.8 million.
2018: A come-back year for indexed annuities
Indexed annuities were once the problem child of the annuity world. Now, having survived the Obama Department of Labor's attempt to corral them, they're more like the darling of the annuity world. Third-quarter YTD sales figures tell the tale.
Contract owner behavior
VA income deferral incentives are working: Ruark
Income commencement rates on guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits with 10-year deferral bonuses are highest in year 1 and in years 11+, with low commencement rates in between, according to a study by Ruark Consulting.
Honorable Mention
Milliman launches “Account Lock” for participants; Principal appoints new president of Retirement and Income Solutions; Wells Fargo offers retirement planning resources to participants; Two executive appointments at Northwestern Mutual; VisibleThread says banks could gain trust by writing more plainly.
COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
November 22, 2018
Employer Match vs. Auto-Enrollment; The Winner Is…
'Most of the estimates from the literature substantially understate the effect of matching,' write analysts Nadia Karamcheva and Justin Falk of the Congressional Budget Office's Microeconomic Studies Division. (Image from 'The Matchmaker,' by Gerard...
November 15, 2018
A Retirement Income Plan from United Income
One of the smallest of the robo-advisors (United Income) has some of the biggest backers (Morningstar's chairman and eBay's founder) and a veteran (HelloWallet) CEO. RIJ asked United Income to create an income plan...
November 8, 2018
New Bedfellows: Richard Neal and the 401(k) Industry
As the next Ways & Means chairman, the liberal Massachusetts congressman won't just be the gatekeeper of retirement legislation. He’s also the only legislator who can ask for President Trump’s tax returns. Bills that...
