Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing

Fee-based indexed annuities have generous crediting terms. But unless fee-based advisors can decide how to bill clients for holding such a safe, low-maintenance product, they may not recommend the category at all. That would be a shame.

Deja´ Voodoo

By Joseph E. Stiglitz
'The key lesson of Ronald Reagan’s “voodoo” supply-side economics has not changed: tax cuts like the ones proposed by President Trump do not lead to faster growth, but only to lower revenues,' writes the Nobel Prize-winning economist.

Why most 401(k)s don’t offer in-plan annuities

By Editorial Staff
Technically, the 401(k) is a profit-sharing plan, not a pension plan. Under federal law, only pension plans need to offer in-plan retirement income options. A new TIAA whitepaper explains.

Wells Fargo led all banks in annuity fee income in 2Q17

By Editorial Staff
Among large bank holding companies, only Citigroup and KeyCorp posted significant increases in annuity commission revenue in the second quarter of 2017, according to the Michael White Associates quarterly bank annuity sales report.

Threats to broker-dealer model: It’s more than DOL

By Editorial Staff
Even if the DOL conflict of interest rule is ultimately diluted, it has reinforced shift to fee-based advice from commission-based sales, according to Bing Waldert, managing director of research at Cerulli Associates.

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff
Brief or late-breaking items from One America, Voya, BlueRock, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, New York Life, Prudential, MassMutual, Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, and HealthEquity.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

September 28, 2017

‘Tell Ken Fisher To Stuff It’

By Kerry Pechter
That's what variable annuity pioneer Bob Saltzman said at the Insured Retirement Institute's 25th anniversary conference in Florida this week. The fiduciary rule, he added, will lower the cost of annuities and make them...
September 21, 2017

Bob Reynolds’ & the Future of 401k

By Kerry Pechter
Reynolds emphatically favors the investment interpretation, as does Brian Graff of the American Retirement Association and other industry advocates.
September 14, 2017

On the Case: Income from a ‘Certified’ Used Annuity

By Kerry Pechter
In this latest income solution for "Andrew and Laura," a real couple near retirement, Bryan Anderson of AnnuityStraightTalk and Nathaniel Pulsifer of DCF Exchange combine a secondary market annuity, an indexed annuity and equities...