Why Equity Averages are So High
In the face of a mass exodus to bonds, buybacks and dividends explain the health of the major stock indices, Goldman Sachs' David Kostin told Insured Retirement Institute members in San Diego this week.
Annuities Touch Down at TD Ameritrade
“We’ve been hearing more of a need from our advisors about retirement income and about their clients' retirement needs,” said Matt Judge, of TD Ameritrade Institutional, the discount broker's RIA platform.
Bernanke, Equities and the November Election
In the course of his address, whose meaning was as usual camouflaged in Fed-jargon and stippled with acronyms, Bernanke more or less assured the markets that his motto remains, “Easy does it.”
A Time to Laugh, or Cry
Just in time for the Insured Retirement Institute annual meeting in San Diego September 9-11, LIMRA and Morningstar have released their first-half variable annuity sales reports.
What Happened to the ‘Auto-IRA’?
Mark Iwry (pictured), an assistant Treasury Secretary, came into the current administration with hopes of making the "Automatic IRA," a workplace savings plan for people without a plan, a reality. But it became the subject of conspiracy theories and its prospects are now dim. Photo courtesy of the National Press Foundation.
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Morningstar VA Product Update
Carriers are dealing with the reality that living benefits are costly to maintain, so activity is being sought elsewhere as the wait continues for interest rates to rise, according to Morningstar's Product Manager, Annuity Solutions.
Remember the Alamo… and the Annuities
At the Financial Planning Association conference in San Antonio, it was hard to forget The Alamo, only a few blocks away. But people had amnesia about annuities.
News
Northwestern Mutual adds DIA with upside potential
Unlike the mutual insurer's existing Select DIA, where the future income is fixed, the new Select Portfolio DIA allows contract owners to apply Northwestern Mutual dividends to their annuity.
The Hartford sells individual life business to Prudential for $615m
The Hartford will continue to sell new life insurance products and riders through the transaction’s 2013 closing and during a defined transition period thereafter.
DTCC I&RS launches research role in analytic reporting for annuities
Developed by DTCC‘s Insurance & Retirement Services (I&RS), the new research enhancement provides clients with more comprehensive market information based on annuity product transaction data.
22 Vanguard funds switch to FTSE and CRSP benchmarks
Index licensing fees have represented a growing portion of the expenses that investors pay to own index funds and ETFs, said Vanguard chief investment officer Gus Sauter.
Index annuity from Athene offers five rider-benefits
ATHENE Benefit 10 features a 6% premium bonus that vests over a 10-year period. The enhanced benefit rider includes early income bonus of up to 10% if lifetime withdrawals are begun prior to the eighth contract anniversary.
