Best Annuities (Barron's) - Special Report -- Retirement: With their steady income payments, annuities are suddenly hot. FINRA Head Sees Holes in VA Sales Documentation (National Underwriter) IRI
The Hartford
Milliman’s annual VA survey analyzes rider exercise rates, lapse rates (Retirement Income Journal) Annuities, Sudden Darlings of the Media (Retirement Income Journal) - Positive articles about annuities are certainly welcome—especially at a time when a relentless interest-rate drought is desiccating their value—but recent pieces in Barron's and the New York Times didn't advance the annuity dialogue very far. SEC Division Director Sees “Great Potential” for a Variable Annuity Summary Prospectus (IRI Online) A Good Match: Managed Payout Funds and Annuities (Registered Rep) Jackson
Cerulli: Minority of Advisors Make Majority of VA Sales (National Underwriter) - Only 18% of financial advisors sell 12 or more annuity contracts per year, and those advisors account for about 68% of variable annuity sales. B-Ds ought to review standards of conduct, supervisory procedures for VA sales: Finra lawyer (Investment News) VA customers don't read prospectuses; and at 200 pages, who can blame them? (Investment News) Americans Ill Equipped on Retirement Income: JP Morgan (Bank Investment Consultant) - The majority of Americans say they want and need income replacement projections for their retirement but most have neither access to that data nor an understanding of how to translate their 401(k) savings into a stream of retirement income, according to an online survey of more than 1,000 401(k) investors by J.P. Morgan. GAO Recommends Retirees Invest in Annuities, Delay Taking Social Security (On Wall Street) Financial Advisors' Friend Or Foe? (FA Mag) - The conversation about whether more people in the U.S. should annuitize retirement money is heating up. Variable Annuities: Lifelong Income, High Cost (Business Week) Lifetime-Income Promise Fuels Surge In Variable Annuities (FA Mag) Prudential, Edward Jones in VA distribution deal (Retirement Income Journal) Seven New B-Ds to Offer Allianz Retirement Pro VA (Retirement Income Journal) New MetLife GMIB Offers 6% (Retirement Income Journal) - In 2010, MetLife sold about $18.3 billion worth of variable annuities, of which about two-thirds have the GMIB option. VA issuers dodged a bullet in 2008-2009, study shows (Retirement Income Journal) - Had owners of deep-in-the-money variable annuity living benefits acted more "rationally" at the depth of the financial crisis, the issuers of those contracts might have suffered much more serious losses. Speculation About Jackson National (Retirement Income Journal) - If Jackson National de-risks its variable annuity offerings, it would merely be following the example of competitors like Prudential and MetLife. Jackson's parent also has to consider Solvency II. LPL Plays Matchmaker With RIAs And VAs (Registered Rep) Annuity Sales Keep Rising (National Underwriter) - Total U.S. individual annuity sales climbed to $60 billion during the first quarter, up 16% from the total for the first quarter of 2010, according to LIMRA. More investors now think VAs are OK - but fees still a drag (Investment News) VA-voom! U.S. variable annuity sales up 24% (Investment News) Jackson National to decelerate VA juggernaut (Investment News) - Jackson National has announced it will attempt to slow down sales of its generous variable annuity contracts. How it plans on going about this is another proposition. Advisers prepare for end of Jackson variable annuity bonanza (Investment News) - News that Jackson National Life Insurance Co. will curtail sales of its popular variable annuity products — likely by limiting investments — has financial advisers on the lookout for the next best thing and its competitors waiting with open arms for an expected uptick in sales Return to big brokerage platforms revives SunAmerica (Investment News) - SunAmerica Annuity and Life Assurance Co. is back in the fight in variable annuity sales after being dropped from or ignored on platforms for the past few years New Variable Annuity from MetLife (Bank Investment Consultant) Allianz Rolls Out ProSM Variable Annuity To Broker-Dealers (On Wall Street) Jackson National Posts Solid 1Q Sales, Deposits (On Wall Street) Variable Annuity Sales Continue to Surge (On Wall Street) - Variable annuities sales in 2011 climbed significantly in early 2011, continuing a trend begun last year, and reversing a slide that saw them fall from a high of $184 billion in 2007 to a low of $128 billion in 2009. Variable Annuity Sales Brings Capacity Questions (Annuity News Journal) Surprise! Fee-based VAs gaining traction and#8212; at least among B-Ds (Investment News) Kehrer-LIMRA Optimistic About Bank Annuity Sales (National Underwriter) - Rising sales of variable annuities could make 2011 a better year for annuity sales in banks, according to Kehrer-LIMRA. IRI: VA Flows Jump (National Underwriter) - The flow of new assets into U.S. variable annuities increased 10% in 2010, to about $137 billion, according to the Insured Retirement Institute. Sales of Fixed Annuities are Making a Comeback (Annuity News Journal) New York Life’s new annuity ad campaign targets wirehouse advisors (Retirement Income Journal) Fixed annuities from three small insurers make Barron’s “smart” list (Retirement Income Journal) Fixed Annuity Sales Make a Comeback (On Wall Street) Annuity exam overload could prompt product pruning (Investment News) New insurance alliances spawn annuity innovations (Investment News) - Smaller life insurers — battered by the recession but ready to get back into the annuity business — have begun to outsource the manufacturing of fixed indexed annuities to marketing groups Despite Worst Year for Annuities, Banks Post Only Small Loss (On Wall Street) - Last year, total annuity sales through banks declined 25% from the prior year, which itself was down 18% from the year before that, according to Kehrer-LIMRA. Yet newly release data from the Michael White-ABIA Bank Annuity Fee Income Report shows that income from annuities was down just 1.8%. N.Y. Life to release longevity annuity product (Investment News) - Worried about outlasting your savings? Worry no more; N.Y. Life has you covered Insure Against Longevity Risk with Immediate Annuities (Registered Rep) Channel Surfing for Low-Cost SPIAs (Retirement Income Journal) How to End 'Annuicide' (Retirement Income Journal) - Compensation-wise, income annuities can backfire for many advisors. An industry committee wants to solve the problem, but it’s not easy. MassMutual Rediscovers the Immediate Annuity (Retirement Income Journal) A $100 Billion Market for SPIAs? (Retirement Income Journal) - Income annuities aren't a good product fit for every insurance company. But for New York Life, a mutual company with tons of reserves and a big book of life insurance, they make perfect sense. MassMutual Rediscovers the Immediate Annuity (Retirement Income Journal) - A few years ago, MassMutual mothballed Jerry Golden’s SPIA tool for advisors. Now, post-crisis, the company has re-embraced SPIAs, and sales are up. Channel Surfing for Low-Cost SPIAs (Retirement Income Journal) - Where can you find lowest SPIA prices on the web? U.S. Individual Annuity Sales 4th Quarter 2010 YTD (LIMRA.com) What Changes in the VA Market Mean for Advisors (National Underwriter) Surge in VA sales leads to capacity questions (Investment News) - After a surge in variable annuity sales last year, financial advisers are curious about just how much more business the largest sellers can handle without biting off more than they can hedge John Hancock will draw the curtains on AnnuityNote simplified VA (Investment News) Variable annuity market preps for features arms race (Investment News) - Smaller variable annuity writers are expected to give the big boys a run for their money in the battle for market share Pacific Life ordered to pay $260K over paperwork snafu (Investment News) VA Assets Hit Record $1.5 Trillion in 2010 (IRI Online) Jackson CEO Wells discusses VA, hedging (Investment News) The Hartford nabs VA exec from Jackson (Investment News) - Steve Kluever has parted ways with Jackson National Life Insurance Co., joining The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and heralding a new push in variable annuity development for the insurer Jackson National Surges with Flexible Asset Allocation Model (Bank Investment Consultant) Bank Annuity Sales Collapse To 10-Year Low (On Wall Street) Symetra Appoints VP, Debuts Institutional Markets Unit (National Underwriter) In 2010, VA Industry Thrived and Consolidated (Retirement Income Journal) - Of $136.6 billion in total sales, $21.5 billion represented new cash flow, up from $17 billion in 2009. But the net cash flow was the third lowest in 12 years, after 2005’s net flow of $20.4 billion. LPL Taps Five Insurers for New VA Platform (Retirement Income Journal) Guaranteed Living Benefits Catch Fire With Variable Annuity Crowd (Bank Investment Consultant) - Variable annuities with guaranteed living benefit riders surged up 78% in the past two years to more than $521 billion in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a new LIMRA report charting the sales prowess of more than 95% of the variable annuity sector. Nationwide's latest VA wrinkle raises eyebrows (Investment News) - Advisers have mixed feelings about volatility dampener; 'really restrictive'. AnnuitySpecs.com: Indexed Product Sales Rise (National Underwriter) - Sales of indexed annuities and indexed life insurance policies were significantly higher in the fourth quarter of 2010 than in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to AnnuitySpecs.com. Insurers likely to sweeten indexed annuities (Investment News) Varoom Supercharges Variable Annuity Field (Bank Investment Consultant) Sun Life Financial Offers Its First Fee-based Variable Annuity (Yahoo! Finance) LPL Taps Five Insurers for New VA Platform (Retirement Income Journal) Transamerica Launches New VA Income Rider (Retirement Income Journal) Putnam goes up against Pimco with fund for VAs (Investment News) Insurers likely to sweeten indexed annuities (Investment News) Index Annuity Sales Break Record for Two Consecutive Years (Annuity News Journal) The GMWB and why it's so popular (Investment News) LPL (Others) Try to Match Make RIAs to VAs. Pounding Away at Annuity Commissions (Registered Rep) Video: How Edward Jones Simplifies Annuities (Retirement Income Journal) Video: How John Hancock Simplifies Annuities (Retirement Income Journal) Skimpier living benefits could kill interest in VAs, advisers warn (Investment News) Edward Jones is teeing up cheaper share class for VAs (Investment News) Taking off the glitz (Investment News) - To make their variable annuities more attractive, insurers revved up living-benefit features last year LIMRA: VAs Sizzled (National Underwriter) 'Fire sale' probably helped ignite surge in VA sales (Investment News) - Advisers notified clients about planned reduction in features, hike in fees LPL Introduces New Annuity Platform (FA Mag) - LPL Financial launched a variable annuity platform that should offer more appeal to fee-based advisors than many competing offerings. Prudential Adjusts Annuity Optional Benefits (Annuity News Journal) Tapping An Annuity (Registered Rep) Prudential's pared-down VA has some advisers grumbling (Investment News) Skimpier living benefits could kill interest in VAs, advisers warn (Investment News) Top Twenty Annuity Sales Companies (LIMRA.com)
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