InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.
Financial advisor Chris Lund is getting more referrals than ever, despite abandoning his public office months ago amid the coronavirus…
America is not that far removed from a time when trust in government polled at 77% positive, author Jon Meacham said, citing Gallup polling from the early 1960s. Certainly the country faced serious issues, Civil Rights foremost among them, but the widespread wealth enjoyed by the middle class made change easier, he said.
It is often strategy that determines whether advisors are successful or whether they underperform, said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors. In particular 11 things that an advisor needs to figure out in order to be a success.
Many annuity manufacturers adopted product designs that essentially share the downside risk with the consumer. That gave rise to the registered index-linked annuities, which continue to post impressive sales numbers. Through the first half of 2020, RILA sаles were $9.4 billion, up 22% from the first hаlf of 2019.
Although partisan rule reversals are common in the federal government, the SEC generally observes a different sense of decorum, one leading expert says. However, a Biden administration might have other tools at its disposal to toughen up RegBI.
The NAIC Executive Committee established the special committee this summer and gave it four charges and instructions to report back by the end of the year. Ray Farmer, South Carolina insurance commissioner and 2020 president of the NAIC, said the work will take much longer than that.
The problem for the DOL is one of time. There might not be enough of it to do a major rewrite, and all of the analysis and legal testing that goes along with that. Ideally, the agency would need to publish its final rule by Nov. 1 at the latest, a former DOL official said Wednesday.
The state supreme court heard arguments last week in Citizens Property Insurance vs Manor House. The latter is an apartment complex that was damaged extensively by Hurricane Frances, which ripped through Florida in early September 2004. Several courts have heard the plaintiffs claim for reimbursement of lost rental income.
A lengthy process to merge the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting and GAMA International came closer to completion this week when the new trade association revealed its name: Finseca. The new group starts with “just under 6,000 members,” CEO Marc Cadin says, with plans to grow.
The COVID-19 pandemic, economic turmoil and market fluctuations are testing the messages that annuity sellers use to market products. Those…
The Department of Labor’s newest version of the investment advice rule requires a financial institution to be liable if a sale involves trail commissions. But insurance marketers are not considered financial institutions and life insurance companies don’t want to be responsible for independent insurance agents that they don’t control.
The NAIC revisions to the suitability in annuity transactions (#275) model law were adopted in February. Since then, only Arizona and Iowa have adopted the rules, which establish a best-interest standard that aligns with rules being considered by other agencies.
Historically, buyouts have not been offered policyholders facing a rate increase, said Jan Graeber, senior actuary with the American Council of Life Insurers. LTCi rate increases have been a sore spot for longtime policyholders, while carriers say there is little they can do to avoid them.
The rule would replace the controversial fiduciary rule published by the Obama administration. The Trump replacement has two main parts: a new exemption allowing advisors to provide conflicted advice for commissions; and a reinstatement of the “five-part test” from 1975 to determine what constitutes investment advice.
The Department of Labor was urged this morning to create a safe harbor to protect plan sponsors from having to “scrutinize” and “second guess” rollover communications. The comments came during a public hearing on the DOL’s investment advice rule proposal.
Regulations are finally realigned, but what will happen if Joe Biden wins?
Annuity sales were down sharply in all but two product categories during the second quarter, according to the Wink’s Sales & Market Report, in a particularly tough sales period. Just two product categories – multi-year guaranteed annuities and structured annuities, avoided big losses.
Each presenter will be allotted a minimum of ten minutes in which to complete his or her presentation during a Sept. 3 public hearing, the DOL said. Depending on the number of people and organizations wishing to comment, the number of speaking slots might be curtailed, the DOL said.
While claiming he has “no conviction” in the prediction, analyst Chip Roame predicts that President Donald Trump getting a second term over challenger Joe Biden. But if Biden does emerge victorious, “all bets are off” when it comes to regulation of insurance product sales, he added.
The U.S. central bank has found in a recent study that the rising monopolistic market power of dominant American companies is leading to an array of economic ills, such as income and wealth inequality. The 41-page report, titled ” Market Power, Inequality, and Financial Instability,” spells out where companies are impacting the economy.
As Democrats prepare to nominate former Vice President Joe Biden Thursday to oppose President Donald Trump, the party platform calls for a variety of tax increases and yet another regulation redo on financial advice and sales standards.
In 2017, after an analysis of public comments on the Obama fiduciary rule, the Wall Street Journal reported that “40% of respondents didn’t write the posts that were attributed to them,” with “most of the 345 comments [analyzed] critical of the fiduciary rule.” A trio of senators fear a new rule might also be attracting fake comments.
A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ committee adopted changed today to Actuarial Guideline 49, changes designed to tighten up indexed universal life illustrations. The vote was nearly unanimous, with New York voting No.
Nearly 80 percent of Black Americans said having life insurance is a goal for them, a 2019 New York Life study found, versus 63 percent of all adults. Many of the barriers to life insurance ownership in Black communities can be traced to several myths about the process.
A North Carolina judge refused to overturn insurance magnate Greg Lindberg’s conviction on bribery charges and also denied a motion for a new trial. Lindberg, a Durham, N.C., billionaire, was convicted of using the promise of millions in campaign money to bribe state insurance commissioner Mike Causey.
The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee granted two time extensions today to allow state regulators to finish work on a pair of key disclosure issues: one covering proprietary indexes in annuity sales, and another pertaining to a policy overview disclosure to be included with life insurance sales.
The Department of Labor closed the comment period Thursday on its investment advice rule designed to replace the controversial Obama-era fiduciary rule. Judging by the 105 comments it received, nobody likes the new version either.
A pair of major annuity sellers discussed second-quarter earnings today, as strategies emerged to limit financial losses to ultra-low interest rates and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to pulling products, and/or limited sales, insurers are aggressively repricing and shifting product lineups.
Some language in the rule “could be understood to broadly impose fiduciary obligations in a manner similar to the Department’s 2016 fiduciary regulation,” reads the comment letter from the American Council of Life Insurers.
Prudential’s individual solutions unit, consisting of annuities and life insurance, reported adjusted operating income of $185 million, down 43.4% mainly due to lower annuity sales. In response, the insurer has “repriced almost our entire product line,” said Charlie Lowery, chairman and CEO.
While debates over masks and whether to reopen have dominated headlines, more than three-quarters of respondents support enacting state laws to require mask wearing in public at all times. And nearly 60 percent said they would support a nationwide order making it mandatory to shelter at home for two weeks.
AIG executives say slow second-quarter annuity sales picked up near the end of the quarter and continued through July. Otherwise, the quarter was a struggle, with AIG posting a 56% fall in quarterly adjusted earnings, largely because of $458 million in pandemic losses in its general insurance business.
The annuity law was introduced in February and quickly passed the heavily Republican Idaho Legislature. Among the new mandates is a requirement that all indexed annuity advertising be preapproved by the Department of Insurance.
When the COVID-19 pandemic chased everyone indoors, an insurance industry that relies on face-to-face contact suddenly had to change course. What happened was insurers, middlemen and agents all learned they can rely on technology to forge a new way of selling insurance products.
The Department of Labor’s latest fiduciary rule is a prequel wrapped up in a sequel that will likely spawn another sequel.
The ESG proposal will trigger unintended consequences, expose plan fiduciaries to additional regulatory scrutiny, and heighten litigation risks related to the selection of all plan investment options, the Insured Retirement Institute said in a comment letter.
Bradford P. Campbell, who headed up the Employee Benefits Security Administration under President George W. Bush, called aspects of the new investment advice rule “misguided.” The Department of Labor proposal would replace the Obama administration fiduciary rule overturned by the courts.
The Department of Labor is not making comments available on a pair of highly anticipated rules governing the financial services industry.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners revisions to the suitability in annuity transactions (#275) model law were adopted in February. Since then, Arizona and Iowa have adopted the rules, which establish a best-interest standard that aligns with rules being considered by other agencies.
Despite COVID-19 death numbers up to double what was expected in the spring, Principal is cutting its projected impact on earnings from $20 million to $10 million per 100,000 U.S. deaths from the virus. The insurer credits its diversified product lines for enabling it to remain financially strong.
The Artificial Intelligence Working Group voted unanimously to adopt principles governing artificial intelligence last month, including the phrase “AI users should proactively avoid proxy discrimination against protected classes.” A task force is deciding whether or not to keep that language going forward.
Globe Life estimates $45 million of COVID-related life claims for 2020, nearly double its first-quarter projection. Globe Life is one of the first life insurance companies to report second-quarter earnings. The quarter offers the first glimpse at how well insurers are countering the financial impacts of the worldwide pandemic.
Several life insurers are reversing COVID-19 restrictions on underwriting, even as the pandemic continues to infect record numbers of Americans. Most insurers placed temporary age caps on underwriting in April as COVID-19 spread across the U.S. But policy sales suffered during the ensuing months.
Critics claim the DOL is departing from precedent in a bid to push the reworked former fiduciary rule through quickly. Legislators and consumer advocates seek both a longer comment period and a public hearing.
Insurance agencies remained hot properties in 2019, with another record year of merger-and-acquisition activity, but activity appears to be slowing due to COVID-19. OPTIS Partners released first-half M&S data this week showing a slowdown on insurance agency activity.
Regulators told the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee the nonforfeiture floor reduction is needed by insurers due to COVID-19 impacts. The 10-year Treasury rate fell well below 1% amid the virus outbreak in March and has not recovered.
A state insurance regulator panel is set to develop guidance for states on adopting the best-interest annuity sales model law formalized earlier this year.
The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee voted unanimously Friday to adopt language proposed by the American Council of Life Insurers to shore up Actuarial Guideline 49. Regulators conceded that the changes might not be ideal, but expressed a desire to do something to bring IUL illustrations more in line with actual returns.
The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee will vote on language proposed by the American Council of Life Insurers to shore up Actuarial Guideline 49 and bring IUL illustrations more in line with actual returns. A consumer advocate is urging the committee to substitute tougher language.
Prudential Financial is pulling a popular guaranteed universal life product from the market and one industry analyst expects many more products to join it on the sidelines. The problem is ultra-low interest rates make it difficult to support guaranteed universal life designs.
Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk granted the insurer’s motion for summary disposition in Gavrilides Management Company v. Michigan Insurance Company. Gavrilides owns restaurants in Lansing, Mich. that were shuttered by COVID-19-related government orders.
A National Council of Insurance Legislators resolution today revealed a rift with state insurance commissioners that threatens efforts to address systemic racism in insurance. NCOIL members say they just want to keep lawmaking decisions in the hands of lawmakers.
The COVID-19 pandemic is giving agents, advisors and management teams a chance to educate young athletes on the perilous nature of their careers and their finances.
The need for more realistic IUL illustrations might mean amendments to Actuarial Guideline 49 are in the near future.
Selling life insurance products in a pandemic is difficult, but longtime life insurance pro Marv Feldman reminds agents not to abandon the important techniques that connect them with clients. And there may be new opportunities to get life insurance to people who need it.
Signum Global Advisors is warning clients in a new alert to be ready for a blue wave in November that gives Democrats control of government. The research firm has previously maintained that at least the Senate will remain in Republican control.
The Center for Economic Justice today challenged insurers and insurance regulators to match their public statements condemning systemic bias and inherent racism with concrete actions to address inherent racism in insurance.
The Florida Legislature sent a bill to the governor’s desk Wednesday that would prohibit insurers from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling policies. It is not known if Gov. Ron DeSantis, R, will sign the bill, which is generally opposed by the insurance industry.
The lawsuit focuses on a 10-year, $500,000 term life policy issued in 1999 to Kelly Douglas Couch, who hid his HIV-positive status and died in June 2005. Later in 1999, Couch transferred ownership of his policy to an investor in viatical settlements.
When the COVID-19 pandemic chased everyone indoors an insurance industry that relies on face-to-face contact suddenly had to change course. What happened is insurers, middlemen and agents all learned they can rely on technology to forge a new way of selling insurance products.
