Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at [email protected].
The dramatic increase of new RIAs is a sign that the independent channel remains an attractive place for large advisors to grow, one analyst said. Since 2013, new annual RIA filings have grown by 60 percent, from 150 RIAs in 2013 to 238 last year.
The deal allows Jackson to distribute variable and index annuities through State Farm agents beginning in the second half of next year. State Farm has 19,000 independent contractors fanned out through nearly every Main Street in towns large and small in the U.S.
Cyber-generated insight engines can do a lot of work for advisors, including providing quick information. More technology is on its way, including chatbots, which are capable of speech, sight, and empathy through voice detection of satisfaction or exasperation.
A few creative new life insurance and annuity products hit the market recently, led by Allstate’s Monthly Income Term.
FINRA levied $25.9 million in fines during the first six months of the year, up from $23.5 million in the first half of last year, according to a new mid-year analysis.
The 6,000 fee-based advisors Nationwide serves now have an alternative to a commission-based SPIA at a time when advisors are busy experimenting with the types of fees they charge. Alternative models include hourly rates, tiered fee schedules, subscription services and retainers for high-net-worth clients.
In October 2016, Merrill Lynch became the first broker-dealer to announce it would eliminate commissions from IRA accounts in response to the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. Now the firm is reversing that decision — sort of.
How agents talk to clients goes a long way toward whether they earn a sale or not. But these days, it’s more about using words that clients can understand — “cost” instead of “premium,” for example. The benefits of better communication could be significant.
New standalone long-term care insurance contracts issued today have a much lower chance of facing big rate hikes than policies issued in the past, a new survey of actuarial experts has found.
Start-ups are working to improve agent-centric technologies as well as integrate agency and insurer systems.
Insurance companies see adding annuities to platforms such as Envestnet as vital as advisors grow more fiduciary-focused.
The new long-term care insurance product reduces premium and drops elimination periods in favor of deductibles and an 80/20 cost share.
As Hurricane Florence ravaged Carolina communities, some insurers based there closed their doors, with many setting up emergency numbers to help affected clients and policyholders. Storm damage is estimated at about $3 billion.
Across all the demographic segments, the most important financial goal was to have enough savings to last through retirement, then pay for health care costs.
An employee on maternity leave was watching news on TV the day before she was returning to work. Then she saw it would also be the last day as she knew it at her venerable Wall Street firm.
Ohio National became the most recent company to learn that it takes size and scale to remain in the variable annuity business in 2018. The company said recently that it will leave the business and focus on other segments. Can VAs survive low interest rates and other pressures?
Thirty-six percent of advisors position themselves to clients and prospects as a financial planner, according to a new survey.
Regulatory relief and the Trump administration helped variable annuity sales reverse a long sales slide in the second quarter. However, analysts say it might be a mirage, as indexed annuities are likely to steal VA market share moving forward.
Citing more regulations and the low-interest-rate environment, Ohio National is getting out of the annuity business and laying off 300 people. The company’s departure from the market will benefit several competitors, such as Great American, AIG and Allianz, one analyst said.
The Protocol for Broker Recruiting appears to be very much in a holding pattern as hundreds of firms wait to see how a schism plays out and individual advisors and broker teams think twice before jumping ship. Analysts disagree on whether the protocol is collapsing.
