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].
CNO Financial Group’s fixed indexed annuity with a lifetime income rider has squarely hit its mark with middle-market consumers. The product helped CNO deliver better-than-expected results in the second quarter.
The first phase of the Department of Labor fiduciary rule went into effect June 9. Industry firms are reporting substantial impacts so far, with IRI members having dropped 155,000 clients to date.
Our Cyril Tuohy ponders whether tiny Switzerland, with its private decentralized health care system for 8 million people, could be a model for U.S. health care reform going forward.
Allianz SE posted a strong second quarter due to spiking sales of capital-efficient products such as variable annuities without income guarantees, hybrid variable annuities and fixed indexed annuities, company executives said.
Summer means executive movement in the insurance industry. We recap the announced comings and goings among the top life insurance and annuity providers.
Merger-and-acquisition transactions in the first half of 2017 rose 15 percent to a record 82 deals compared with the year-ago period, new data finds.
A pilot, Direct-to-Consumer annuity offering by Nationwide is generating plenty of useful data about consumer habits and their needs to speak to live advisors.
Indexed universal life rate projections become slightly less rosy, with about a half percentage point drop on average, according to a Milliman study.
A deadline to comment on the controversial Department of Labor fiduciary rule expires at midnight Friday.
Little disruption to clients reported by advisors as they transition to the full Department of Labor fiduciary rules, a new survey finds. Though more changes are expected if the rule is implemented as written on Jan. 1, for now the rules appear marginally disruptive.
New York State regulators seek information from insurers to determine whether they are using external data sources to underwrite life insurance coverage.
Nationwide becomes the latest company to offer its first fee-based fixed indexed annuity. The new products are being developed in response to the Department of Labor fiduciary rule.
With regulation, technology and other factors creating great change within the industry, financial advisors have plenty of career choices to consider. Fee-based and dually registered advisors are expected to fare well in the coming years.
With online advice models gaining momentum in the financial services world, many traditional advisories are adopting ‘hybrid’ models that combine both robo and human aspects. Prices for these services vary, a new study found.
Fee-based consolidators of investment advisors are closing bigger and bigger M&A deals, analysts say. Seven of the top 10 brokers measured by AUM who moved from the captive channel to the independent channel between 2009-15 move to consolidators.
Brighthouse Financial will eliminate surrender charges on a universal life (UL) insurance policy, a move that will give policyholders more flexibility.
Nearly a quarter (24.6 percent) of the U.S. population ages 0 to 17 years old was Hispanic in 2015, an increase from 17.1 percent in 2000, new data finds. This demographic is historically underserved by life insurance.
New annuity research tool by Beacon Annuity Solutions will help advisors demonstrate that their recommendations are in the best interest of clients, a company executive says.
As part of its review of the Obama administration’s fiduciary rule, Department of Labor regulators are expected to consider returning fixed indexed annuities to a less-stringent exemption.
The Department of Labor is prepared to help advisors survive under the new fiduciary rules by possibly carving out new exemptions and amending existing ones, according to documents published Thursday. Is it the lifeline the industry seeks?
