Hope, Despair: SPARK Forum Has It All

At SPARK's retirement conference, Millennium Trust, Paychex and GuidedChoice announced a new workplace IRA plan. Bill Meyer pitched his Social Security-centric planning tool. And BlackRock hinted at new TDFs with a deferred annuity sleeve.

Lessons from Tax Reform School

By Eugene Steuerle
Our guest columnist, a veteran of the 1986 federal tax overhaul, reveals the kind of chain reaction that can occur when you change the tax code.

Legal Limbo: Attorneys Await DOL Resolution

By Kerry Pechter
At the ALI-CLE's recent conference on securities and insurance law, Tim Pfeifer described new developments in the annuity world. Todd Solash and Merry Mosbacher spoke for and against FIAs, respectively.

‘Auto-portability’ undergoes its first test

By Editorial Staff
Retirement Clearinghouse, which hopes to launch auto-portability as a business, claims that it will help staunch the “leakage” of savings from 401(k) plans. RCH piloted the technology at a North Carolina plan sponsor last summer.

AIG indexed annuities to offer PIMCO custom index

By Editorial Staff
'The Index aims for a high equity allocation in up markets and has the ability to allocate up to 100% equities. In down markets, allocations can be quickly shifted to fixed income to help reduce risk,' an AIG press release said.

Jackson issues new IOVA for private wealth and trust market

By Editorial Staff
'Many of these entities haven’t traditionally utilized annuities in their practices,' said Justin Fitzpatrick, head of Private Wealth & Trust at Jackson National Life Distributors LLC. 'We’re hoping to change that.'

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff
Nationwide enters the exchange-traded funds arena, The Principal sells a group annuity to NCR in a pension risk transfer deal, Fidelity reports record 401(k) balances.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

November 2, 2017

RetireUp Turns Pro

By Kerry Pechter
RetireUp Pro is the latest iteration of RetireUp, the popular income planning solution. Its evolution has been shaped by part-owner Annexus Ventures and Annexus, the prominent indexed annuity design and distribution firm.
October 26, 2017

Trick or Tweet

By Kerry Pechter
Uncertainty about tax legislation, and Congress’ apparent disinterest in 401(k)s except as a kind of piñata, lent a daffy, fatalistic tension to many of us at the ASPPA and LIMRA annual conferences, held this...
October 19, 2017

JourneyGuide: A New Income Planning Tool from Ash Brokerage

By Kerry Pechter
'We’re targeting a ‘soft launch’ in early November... followed with an official market release about a month later,” said Derek Trimble, CEO of JourneyGuide, a spin-off from Fort Wayne, In.-based Ash Brokerage.