Sholam Weiss helped destroy the National Heritage Life Insurance Co. in a $450 million fraud scheme carried out in the 1990s. He was convicted of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice and given an 835-year sentence, one of the longest for a white collar crime in U.S. history.

The new year brings six new insurance laws in California, sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the California Department of Insurance.

The National Council of Insurance Legislators have adopted the NCOIL Transparency in Dental Benefits Contracting Model Act at year’s end.

Registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) are poised to exhibit robust growth as additional large, reputable insurers enter the space with innovative concepts, the research firm Cerulli Associates found. RILAs are one of the few annuity products showing steady growth in sales.

AIG Retirement Services, a leading retirement plan provider for tax-exempt and public sector employers, today announced the launch of its…

Two of the largest life insurers in the U.S. announced executive hires today to advance their respective diversity and inclusion strategies. The moves come as the industry continues work to fulfill commitments to diversity and inclusion made in the aftermath of the summer racial strife that spread across the United States.

Robert Muriel, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, announced that he’ll leave his position on Dec. 11. Muriel was…

Driven by strong growth in whole life and term products, total individual life insurance new annualized premium increased 2% and the number of policies sold jumped 7% in the third quarter, according to LIMRA’s Third Quarter 2020 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Sales Survey.

FlexGuard, Prudential Financial’s first indexed variable annuity product, achieved $1 billion in sales less than six months after launch, making it the fastest-selling product of its kind ever, according to annuity sales data from the Secure Retirement Institute.

Wells Fargo’s former chief executive and former head of Wells Fargo’s Community Bank defrauded investors by using a metric that was inflated by accounts that were opened for consumers who did not ask for or want them, according to new charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pooled employer plans will give employers, especially small unrelated employers, a way of offering their employees a workplace retirement savings option with reduced burdens and cost.

The NAIC Center for Insurance Policy and Research (CIPR) will hold a three-hour special session on business interruption insurance during…

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule to provide regulatory guideposts for plan fiduciaries seeking to invest using non-pecuniary principles, particularly those involving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.

Total annuity sales were $54.8 billion in the third quarter, up 13% from the second quarter, but down 8% from 3Q 2019, according to preliminary results from the Secure Retirement Institute U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey.

Industry representatives are still reviewing the contents of Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020, but applauded the bill’s bipartisanship as well as the urgency of the U.S. retirement crisis.

A leading seller of fixed index annuities, American Equity announced the Brookfield deal with a Sunday news release. Brookfield will acquire a 19.9% ownership interest in the common shares of AEL in two stages, starting with an initial purchase of a 9.9% interest at $37 per share promptly following required regulatory approval.

Developed exclusively for the state of New York, AIG said the Power Index Premier NY is currently the only index annuity that gives New York residents the option of a living benefit rider. New York passed Regulation 187 last year, considered the toughest annuity sales rules in the country.

In South Korea, China, France and India the top reason for owning life insurance is to supplement their retirement income, whereas in Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, consumers are far more concerned about replacing the income of a wage earner.

LL Global, the parent company for LIMRA, LOMA and Secure Retirement Institute, today named Mark Poklar to lead its insurance research unit. He will report to Alison Salka, senior vice president and head of LIMRA Research.

At the National Council of Insurance Legislators “Summer” Meeting in Alexandria, Va., the organization adopted the NCOIL Private Primary Residential Flood Insurance Model Act.

When asked why they don’t have life insurance, almost four in 10 (38%) said it would be too expensive. However, the survey suggests most people probably overestimate the cost. For example, a 20-year, $250,000 term policy would cost roughly $200/year for a healthy 30-year-old male and $185 for a healthy 30-year-old female.

Rates for individual plans were held essentially flat, with an average increase of 0.01%, down from the average requested increase of 6.29%.

Life insurance application activity jumped shot up 9.1% in August in a year-over-year comparison by MIB Life Index.

COVID-19 definitely affected life insurance sales this quarter, a LIMRA executive says. Despite the decline in new premium, nearly half of companies reported growth in policy sales, citing increased consumer interest due to the pandemic and their ability to sell products without meeting face-to-face.

A new U.S. consumer auto insurance shopping study provides key insights to help insurers improve their engagement strategies in order to help increase policyholder retention.

The U.S. single premium buy-out sales totaled $2.3 billion in the second quarter, down 46% from second quarter 2019, according to the Secure Retirement Institute U.S. Group Annuity Risk Transfer Sales Survey.

The life/annuity industry’s net income fell by 66% in the first half of 2020, compared with the year-ago period, A.M. Best reported today, driven by a major reinsurance agreement inked between Jackson National and Athene. The deal had the effect of moving approximately $27 billion of premium out of the U.S. statutory industry population.

Law firm Grant & Eisenhofer has filed a pair of class actions against 11 insurance companies who denied coverage claims for business shutdowns due to COVID-19.

Kent Sullivan has notified Governor Greg Abbott that he will resign as Texas Insurance Commissioner in September to return to the private sector.

Industry trade associations applauded a new rule today from the Trump administration requiring retirement plans to provide an illustration of the amount of monthly income that might be generated by an individual’s retirement savings.

Morningstar said that the DOL could go further to protect all investors receiving rollover advice in a variety of contexts. The DOL should revisit the “regular basis” prong of the five-part test to either eliminate this requirement or presume that it is satisfied in the context of a rollover.

The surplus for the private U.S. property/casualty insurance industry dropped by $75.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020—its largest-ever quarterly decline—as the stock market suffered a major downturn.

Total annuity sales were $48.8 billion in the second quarter, down 24% from second quarter 2019, according to preliminary results from the Secure Retirement Institute annuity sales survey. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is being blamed for slowed sales, in part by preventing face-to-face contact.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners announced a special committee on race in a news release today. The new committee comes as insurance regulators on several committees and task forces continue to discuss whether “proxy discrimination” needs further attention.

The New York State Department of Financial Services today filed charges against First American Title Insurance Co., claiming the company exposed millions of documents containing personal information of clients.

After pandemic-related declines in March thru April, U.S. life insurance application activity rose for the second consecutive month, up 1.2% in June year over year, according to the MIB Life Index.

Employers — many who are dealing with the potential of lower revenue and managing remote work arrangements and the uncertainty of when things will return to normal — may choose to delay or cancel plans to put their defined contribution (DC) plans out to bid. This would significantly impact DC plan sales in 2020.

Prolific insurance executive and author John (Jack) A. Bogardus Jr., 92, died June 28 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

This merger positions the firm as a leading provider of advisory services to its targeted niche of retirement advisors. The combined company will retain the Brookstone name, executives said in a news release, and will reflect the best that each firm has to offer, including exclusive and expansive state-of-the-art technologies.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of an interview featured in the July edition of InsuranceNewsNet Magazine between InsuranceNewsNet Publisher…

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered ultra-low interest rates, extreme market volatility and record-high unemployment — conditions that generally are unfavorable for annuity sales. The good news is annuity sales should bounce back strong in 2021 and 2022, the Secure Retirement Institute reports.