Several big-name insurers recently completed, or broke ground, on new construction projects for splashy new office spaces. While life insurance sales remain flat, the infrastructure investment reflects executive-level confidence that the economy is bright for insurance products overall.

Advisors seeking to match clients with the best annuity benefits need accurate expense-to-benefit ratio tools to help protect them in an era of regulatory pressure. For example, lifetime withdrawal riders allow retirees to receive income for the rest of their lives, but cost extra.

While plenty of new fee-based options are emerging in the advisory world, traditional asset-based fees remain most popular. It is easiest for clients to understand a 1 percent fee on their money as opposed to a fee-for-service structure, analysts say. Critics of the AUM model remain, however.

The Department of Labor fiduciary rule is gone, but regulation of independent marketing organizations (IMOs) is likely to continue. That reality is forcing IMOs big and small to evolve into a more hands-on role with financial professionals than in the past, execs say.

A new Schwab survey finds that nearly 75 percent of registered investment advisors are planning to hire over the next 12 months. Likewise, many firms are offering many more holistic services such as tax prep.

The challenges of debt management are widespread across all generations, the new Transamerica Retirement Survey finds. Debt payments are detracting from workers ability to properly save for retirement, the study concluded.

While some companies are moving away from annuities, Prudential is redoubling its efforts. That means new products and new campaigns to educate advisors and consumers on what annuities can do for lifetime income, a company executive explained.

Envestnet is integrating annuities into its wealth management platform, giving advisors a more complete view of client retirement portfolios. The first insurer is offering annuities on the exchange, which one analysts says will spur others to follow.

A new study shows millennials, a group about 80 million Americans born between 1979 and 2000, are paying more attention to financial planning and goal setting as they save for a home and start families.

Summer means vacations and vacations mean slipping off with a good book. We talked to several financial advisors to find out what they are reading for our annual summer reading list.

Top advisors maintained their fee structures even as pricing for fee and commission product lines fell, new research finds. Only 30 percent of advisors lowered prices year over year, the study showed. What does it mean for the future?

Index annuities often come with lifetime income and enhanced death benefit features, but with a separate product fee. A new Athene product is breaking that mold and offering those additional features with no separate cost. Will it catch on?

Financial scams are costing Americans millions of dollars annually, authorities say. Several recent advisors and brokers are facing serious charges and jail time for a variety of schemes.

Traditional benefits brokers are doing substantially more business writing voluntary benefits. The change in the business is setting up a market competition between traditional and voluntary benefits brokers.

RIAs of all sizes continue to grow and continue to take market share from wirehouses. The market share for managed accounts held by wirehouses dropped below 50 percent last year for the first time, down from a peak of 71 percent in 2001.

Financial advisors need a new approach with which to engage clients about annuities, and a coalition of 24 insurers and asset managers has banded together to help.

The indexed-linked annuity market has been growing strong in recent quarters, and for AXA, that is both good and bad news. Good because the company is the leader in the market, but bad because other companies are jumping in the fray.

Insurance companies are adding illness and long-term care features into indexed universal life products. The new features are expected to boost an already-booming business.

Now that the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule is all but dead, insurance companies now see the Securities and Exchange Commission building a regulation that might affect selling. The anxiety might be dampening what should be an ideal sales environment.

Underneath the seemingly calm surface of annuity sales, insurers are working to generate propulsion with new features and fees.