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]back.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.
The self-described “Annuity King” escalated his battle with federal authorities with a lawsuit alleging “rogue, out-of-control, above-the-law” conduct by agents who investigated him.
In Arizona, a team of attorneys representing 142 plaintiffs filed a lengthy “statement of facts” in federal bankruptcy court alleging that Shurwest executives were aware of an lucrative IUL sales fraud.
A Washington state Superior Court judge granted a narrow ruling Friday in favor of the insurance industry’s argument against Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s emergency rule temporarily banning the insurers’ use of credit scoring.
A prolific pension fraud scheme that spread to the insurance industry before being shut down by federal investigators has led to dozens of lawsuits and Chapter 11 bankruptcy for an Arizona IMO.
In less than three years as Connecticut’s top insurance regulator, Andrew Mais is on the fast track to becoming a powerful voice for change in the industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic slammed Social Security revenues, putting the program in greater danger of not being able to pay out full benefits.
Allianz SE is working on a deal to offload a large block of U.S. life insurance policies in a move that reportedly could be announced in the coming days.
In the first half of 2021, total annuity sales increased 23% from prior year to $129.2 billion.
The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 contains a variety of measures to boost retirement accounts and is heavily supported by industry.
The non-qualified variable annuity market is growing while the qualified market shrinks. An Insured Retirement Institute panel discussed the state of VAs and whether advisors are selling them.
Ongoing negotiations to massively overhaul federal tax-and-spend policies remain impossible to pin down, a Capitol Hill insider told NAIFA members…
A Maryland couple allegedly concealed an elaborate fraud scheme over 25 years to reap more than $20 million in life insurance benefits on behalf of applicants.
Americans have trillions in assets and advisors should have plenty of business in the years ahead, according to new projections of consumer wealth.
American Council of Life Insurers Senior Health Actuary Jan Graeber again shot down misinformation relating to COVID-19 vaccines today.
Nearly nine in 10 plan sponsors and participants (88%), respectively, agree that income in retirement is vital to financial security, according to the Nationwide Retirement Institute’s 2021 In-Plan Lifetime Income survey.
Kimberly Joy Lovekin, 50, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been charged with several counts of insurance fraud.
Insurance producers accounted for nearly 42,000 fines in 2020, while 1,275 licenses were suspended and another 1,468 licenses were revoked.
A new lawsuit was filed Tuesday by a group of prominent Chicago restaurant owners. The group is suing insurers in state court, claiming that government pandemic restrictions caused the physical damage required to trigger coverage under their policies.
“Mission Impossible 7” has shut down seven times and Paramount filed a lawsuit Monday, claiming that its insurer did not fully pay up for its losses incurred when the cameras were silenced.
With pandemic mortality concerns driving high interest, there has never been a better time to sell life insurance, analysts say. But agents must keep up with significant regulation, underwriting and tax changes.
Regulators are prodding states to adopt best-interest annuity sales rules. The long-term implications could be huge.
A federal judge dismissed a business interruption lawsuit brought by the owner of four Boston-area tavern-restaurants, including the famed Cheers tavern that inspired the popular 1980s sitcom.
According to court documents, Robert J. Mueller, allegedly pitched a scam that began be persuading investors to cash out annuities or individual retirement accounts to invest in funds Mueller controlled.
A New York man seeks class-action status for his lawsuit claiming that digital insurer Lemonade is unlawfully collecting customer’s biometric data.
Ideally, you want to target your 10 best clients for referrals. Stephen Mathieu shared a few things he has learned about getting referrals during his 35 years in financial services.
Everyone knows that technology will remain a growing part of the insurance sales business. The pandemic only speeded up the…
LIBOR is the primary benchmark for short-term and variable interest rates used to determine interest rates on a variety of financial instruments. Those include not only investments held by insurers, but existing annuity contracts as well.
Gov. John C. Carney signed legislation last week making Delaware the 45th state, plus Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., to join the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Compact.
Insurers reportedly have more than $420 billion worth of annuity, life insurance, long-term care and other liabilities designated as “run-off” business.
Getting 40 winks can be difficult. Here are some tips for a good night’s sleep.
While in agreement that bigger is better in the retirement plan management world, Principal Financial executives say they feel no pressure to respond to the blockbuster Empower Retirement acquisition.
Aon and Willis Towers Watson are abandoning their $30 billion merger plan, terminating an agreement that could have made the combined company the world’s largest insurance broker.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing today on the PRO Act, which is opposed by the financial services industry.
According to court documents, Kenneth Murry Rossman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and one count of “aiding and assisting the preparation and filing of fraud and false tax returns.”
A key state insurance regulator group adopted a list of FAQs today in an effort to persuade more states to adopt new annuity sales rules.
Wednesday’s blockbuster AIG-Blackstone deal is likely to power up both companies in their respective worlds of insurance and private equity, according to a leading industry analyst.
American International Group is selling a 9.9% equity stake in AIG’s Life & Retirement business to Blackstone for $2.2 billion in an all-cash transaction.
Regulators are focused on two options for “run-off” or “legacy” books of business: insurance business transfer laws, or the more arcane “division” framework.
Plaintiffs allege that Felix Chu, as a New York Life agent, lured them into investing life insurance proceeds, retirement funds, and other assets in the purchase of unregistered promissory notes.
Why are so many professional athletes going broke? Stories of those who made it big, those who crashed and burned, and those who devoted their careers to providing the right kind of financial advice.
A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ working group delayed defining accelerated underwriting and related data elements for another year.
The potential divide on climate change was evident during today’s commissioner panel discussion at the Global Insurance Symposium.
The insurance industry charged into the diversity debate following the death of of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests.
The pandemic shifted the focus to technology and big data usage. Insurers loosened restrictions on accelerated underwriting, electronic signatures and medical exams. Will it continue?
Researchers are studying a COVID “syndrome” that results in deaths months after the patients get over the disease, explained Paolo Bandeira Pinho, vice president and medical director of innovation for Diameter Health.
A pair of states are considering legislation to join the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission, commonly referred to as the “insurance compact.”
Registered index-linked annuities are the shining star of recent annuity sales reports and now they have earned the attention of state insurance regulators as well.
The Department of Labor allowed the investment advice rule, written by the Trump administration, to take effect. If anyone viewed that as a breakthrough in the long back and forth over the rules, they were mistaken.
As a young advisor in Australia, Russell Harrison thrived early on, quickly building an A list of clients in need…
The New York Department of Financial Services has appealed an April 29 decision by a state court tossing out Regulation 187.
Sheryl Moore, President and CEO of Moore Market Intelligence, will discuss the latest trends and data from the annuity marketplace, providing answers to important advisor questions.
Advisors should not be afraid to approach people and ask them about life insurance and other financial issues, Van Mueller said. Doing so could double or triple your appointments.
The pandemic brought a double-barrel shot of pain to the annuity industry in 2020. In addition to the sudden economic wreckage, face-to-face sales were virtually eliminated overnight. As 2021 reaches the midpoint, insurers and producers have recovered lost ground and added gains.
Some insurers and producers found the New York regulation too onerous and are satisfied with the court’s decision to overturn it.
An NAIC working group punted approval of a definition and data elements, which means accelerated underwriting data collection will be pushed back one year to 2024.
A state regulator group reversed course today and approved a definition of accelerated underwriting, and related data elements, after a torrent of criticism.
Several consumer groups are accusing life insurers of obstructing an effort by state insurance regulators to establish guidelines for accelerated underwriting.
A California insurer claimed its coverage does not include the type of helicopter that crashed on Jan. 26, 2020, killing basketball legend Kobe Bryant and eight others.
As many Americans return to post-pandemic normalcy, life insurers are as well, with many companies curtailing or eliminating underwriting restrictions that have been in place since March 2020.
Rumors are rampant that the Biden administration plans to rework exemptions within the Trump administration’s investment advice rule to closer resemble the Obama-era fiduciary rule.
