Best’s Special Report: Are Life/Annuity Insurers Prepared to Weather Another Economic Downturn?
{July 2nd, 2019} by AM Best
OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Although many precursors to the 2008-2009 financial crisis are repeating today, AM Best believes the life/annuity (L/A) industry is much more resilient than a decade ago and well-positioned to navigate future challenges. Still, many of AM Best’s concerns in the run-up to the financial crisis exist today, and a new special report looks at how […]
IBDs with the most female reps
{July 2nd, 2019} by InvestmentNews
It’s no secret that women are underrepresented among the ranks of financial advisers. In 2017, Cerulli reported that fewer than 16% of advisers are women. Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews.
NAIC Working Group Working OT To Finalize Annuity Sales Rules
{July 2nd, 2019} by John Hilton
An insurance commissioners’ working group is accepting a new round of comments through July 10 and scheduled two 90-minute conference calls in a bid to finalize an annuity sales rule. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners hosts their summer meeting in Manhattan Aug. 3-6. It would appear that the Annuity Suitability Working Group is trying […]
LIMRA Survey: Advisors Better Be On Social Media
{July 2nd, 2019} by Staff and Wire Reports
LIMRA research shows 27% of Americans prefer to work with an agent or advisor when buying life insurance. New findings from the 2019 Insurance Barometer Study show about 1 in 5 Americans (17%) say they are looking for a financial advisor. Millennials and Generation X consumers are most likely to be among those who are […]
Morningstar Tweaking Ratings to Emphasize Cost
{July 2nd, 2019} by Janet Levaux
Morningstar ratings are set to focus more on costs in the fourth quarter, according to a note it sent to clients Friday. Also, the research firm will make its ratings system tougher for active fund managers and will tweak how it evaluates ESG products. The changes could mean downgrades for some of the 25,000 investment products that […]
Judge rejects Ohio National motion to throw out case involving variable annuity commissions
{July 2nd, 2019} by Greg Iacurci
A broker of LPL Financial Inc. has won an important round of legal sparring with Ohio National Life Insurance Co., with a judge ruling that the broker’s class-action lawsuit over variable annuity trail commissions should move forward. Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews.
FINRA Study Finds Widening Gaps in Financial Capability
{July 1st, 2019} by Michael S. Fischer
The latest findings from the FINRA Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study suggest that key measures of Americans’ financial capability may have plateaued after six year of substantial improvements. For the majority of Americans, financial capability, stability and confidence are no longer improving in step with the economy. The NFCS was first conducted in 2009 and then […]
Number of New Group Term Lives Covered Falls 7%
{July 1st, 2019} by Allison Bell
Life insurers were a little more likely to hold on to existing group term life business in 2018, but they were noticeably less likely to make new group term life sales. Analysts at Gen Re have reported data supporting those conclusions in a summary of results from a survey of 25 U.S. group term life […]
House Votes to Halt SEC Regulation Best Interest
{July 1st, 2019} by Melanie Waddell
The full House approved on Wednesday House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters’ amendment to block the Securities and Exchange Commission from enforcing Regulation Best Interest. The House voted 227-200 to pass Waters’ amendment along with a package of other changes to HR 3351, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. The provision would prevent […]
SEC Reg BI Involves ‘Massive Implementation’ Process: Peirce
{July 1st, 2019} by Melanie Waddell
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce warned broker-dealer executives Thursday to brace for a “massive implementation” process for Regulation Best Interest, and urged attendees to alert the agency quickly to any compliance hurdles. “As I said at the time we adopted the [Reg BI] rule, it’s a very aggressive implementation timeline,” Peirce said at the Securities and […]
Federal Judge Gives Preliminary OK to Accordia Class Action Settlement
{July 1st, 2019} by Allison Bell
A federal court in Illinois has taken a step toward approving a deal that could apply to the owners of 530,000 interest-sensitive life insurance policies who were affected by a life insurance company system conversion effort. Judge Colin Stirling Bruce — a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois — recently issued […]
The 2019 Life, Health and Annuity Professional Generational Recognition Program
{July 1st, 2019} by Allison Bell
We’ve run a “30 Under 30″ recognition program for several years. The results were great: We got to feature dozens of young life, health and annuity sector professionals who are out there trying to make a living by protecting people against the risks of getting sick, becoming disabled, dying, or outliving their income. But then […]
Finra suffers net $68.7 million loss despite increased revenue, decreased expenses
{July 1st, 2019} by Mark Schoeff Jr.
Finra suffered a net loss of $68.7 million in 2018 despite increasing revenue and declining expenses, according to the regulator’s annual reportreleased Thursday. Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews.
Retirees lose $3.4 trillion by claiming Social Security too early
{July 1st, 2019} by Mary Beth Franklin
Despite all the talk about the value of maximizing Social Security benefits, it seems few retirees are listening. Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews.
Insurers bend rule on indexed universal life with new policy features
{July 1st, 2019} by Greg Iacurci
Insurers appear to be sidestepping a recent rule meant to tamp down on overly rosy projections of returns in indexed universal life insurance policies via new product features, an alarming trend that may deceive or confuse would-be buyers, advisers said. Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews.
What’s Behind the ‘Great Unbundling’ of Wealth Management?
{July 1st, 2019} by Timothy Welsh
In the world of wealth management, revenue opportunities derive from typical activities. These include advisory fees, mutual fund investments, managed account enrollments, security transactions, platform fees, and other products and services that are neatly bundled in the delivery of financial advice via a human advisor in some form of the financial planning process. Now more […]
Annuities reign supreme for TIAA as it plans to exit life insurance market
{July 1st, 2019} by Jason Woleben
TIAA has reportedly decided to exit the life insurance market at the end of 2019, and an analysis shows that its new individual life insurance premiums have been falling since 2016. Click HERE to read the full story via S&P Global.
TIAA exit from life insurance market exposes void for RIAs
{July 1st, 2019} by Greg Iacurci
TIAA’s decision to exit the life insurance market by year-end exposes a glaring void, and challenge, for some financial advisers who recommend life insurance to clients. Click HERE to read the full story via InvestmentNews.
Annuity Awareness Month, Is your Clients’ Income Guaranteed?
{July 1st, 2019} by Talia Chaffee
June marks the beginning of Annuity Awareness Month, and a great time to educate your clients on the benefits of annuities. Annuities can be an integral part of your clients’ long-term retirement planning strategy, providing direction to help them overcome unnecessary risks and important optional benefits that help them to protect their financial future. Annuities […]
Why I Bought an Annuity at Age 29
{July 1st, 2019} by Sheryl Moore
You read the headline, and you are already screaming at me. “Why would you buy an annuity when retirement is half-a-lifetime away!” Note that those of you who are anti-annuity are probably experiencing seizures already. Someone call some help for them. No mistake. You read that right. Yes, I purchased my first deferred annuity when […]
