The Department of Labor issued its new fiduciary rule one workday after a federal court upheld the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest standard, which the DOL rule was designed to harmonize with.
A webinar presented by the National African American Insurance Association explores how individuals and companies can go beyond the promises and bring on real change .
When I left for the night from my first newspaper editing job, I had to be careful. It was usually after midnight, in the mid-1980s, when things were still a little rough in the New York City metro area.
American College President George Nichols relays his own experience to help others understand the struggle in black communities.
A Federal Reserve bank president says the economy is on its way back up. In the meantime, an economists’ report showed that the bounce has not yet begun.
Like most financial advisors now, Robert DeHollander knows that it is not enough to counsel just waiting out the storm…
Fixed-rate deferred and indexed annuity sales spiked in March as consumers flocked to safety. But the quarter was still a downer overall because of low sales in January and February.
A majority of consumers are interested in increasing or buying life insurance, particularly younger people, according to a survey. But almost all of them do not want to go to an office for it these days.
So, you’re Zooming and using all sorts of tools to work remotely. Well, that’s kind of the problem. A fixable problem. Here are some tips for a safe and protected home office setup.
Marketing is essential for advisors to get their message out, but it is also essential that the message matches the tenor of our times. Here are five risks to watch out for during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Market downturns can create annuity sales opportunities, but agents and advisors need to be taking steps to protect and prepare themselves because history will look back on how advisors and the industry conducted business during the crisis.
As the bond market gyrates, annuity companies are struggling to set stable rates for products.
As equities markets plummet, analysts expect fixed annuity sales to pick up, as they did after the 2008 crash. But some key differences might suppress indexed products.
Companies are already cutting annuity rates. Premium bonuses and agent commissions might be next, says annuity analyst Sheryl Moore.
Some advisors sent preeemptive messages, but they didn’t calm everybody. Advisor messages focused on the long view, but some clients were looking at the long view down.
The Dow Jones average plummeted again this morning pushing it into correction if it does not recover before close.
The coronavirus’ illness, COVID-19, is not nasty enough to be spotted easily but latent enough to spread wide before anyone even knows it has arrived.
One in four consumers can’t name one life carrier and more than half can’t name three, according to a LIMRA report that shows life insurance companies have a long way to go in marketing.
Although the economy may seem strong, it is not reaching poor communities, where the cycle of debt is pulling generations under poverty, according to a report.
LIMRA is realigning in response to a rapidly changing insurance environment. The association found that its members needed more tools to be efficient in their services and better informed in their product development. LIMRA has already introduced new platforms to help companies in this challenging market.
Asking clients or prospects about ridesharing can open the door to a conversation about adequate auto coverage. Rideshare drivers might know personal-use auto insurance will not cover liability for commercial use unless the policy has a ridesharing endorsement. But they might not know about the gray areas where coverage gets questionable.
We are in an age when we can get dinner delivered by drone with a click of the thumb, so why is the life insurance and annuity industry’s tech seemingly stuck?
This morning saw China retaliate with tariffs on at least $75 billion worth of U.S. goods, including oil, soybeans and cars, to go into effect Sept. 1 and Dec. 15 in lockstep with U.S. tariffs. President Donald Trump responded to China’s announcement by ordering U.S. companies to stop trading with China.
Is this it? Is this the last step to recession? It seems we have been asking this question for a few years now. But there might be reasons to think that this time is the real one. The question now might be will it be a blip or something far bigger?
In an era when pensions are as old-fashioned as plaid bell bottoms, four in 10 boomers have less than $100,000 saved for retirement; one quarter has less than $25,000, according to LIMRA. With 10,000 boomers hitting 65 every day, it is a mystery who will feed them once they are past 64.
The Department of Labor is likely to harmonize its Conflict of Interest Rule language with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s best interest standard, according to a prominent industry lobbyist. The DOL fiduciary rule was tossed out by a federal appeals court earlier this year.
Paul Volcker became Fed chairman in 1979, promptly running into an economy burning down because of runaway inflation and then threw gas on it. He eventually raised the prime rate to 1981, extinguishing inflation, but also President Jimmy Carter’s chances of a second term.
Finance is the scariest topic people face, studies show. The way many financial professionals approach consumers compounds the fear. The findings are part of an emerging field of behavioral finance or financial psychology.
Detractors are already saying Anthony Scaramucci is unprepared to face withering fire as White House communications chief, but the former hedge-funder has been in battle for some time.
The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule will be applied on June 9, but lightly and with a review before the…
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta wants to freeze the fiduciary rule in a way that will “stick,” according to an email…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren releases an update to a report she says shows rampant sales incentives leading to a corrupt environment.
The National Association for Fixed Annuities is asking an appellate court for an emergency injunction to suspend the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule after a lower court refused NAFA’s request for a preliminary injunction.
A couple of controversial rules have made the labor secretary pick one of the most watched.
Insurance companies will be doing a significant pivot after the election, according to Novarica, an insurance consultant.
Trump has not provided many details on his plans. But we can count on some broad measures that will change the landscape for agents, advisors and the financial industries.
Not only would Donald Trump have to win, but the Senate and House of Representatives would have to stay Republican.
It’s all fun and games until your candidate turns out not to be who you think he or she is. Find out where they stand!
Firms have used technology to go paperless and go online. These agents explain the next step: mining online prospects for a geyser of leads.
Advisors and others in the industry have only a short period of time to make their concerns known before the fiduciary standard rule is formally adopted. After that, it is a matter of damage control.
A California judge threw out 29 felony charges and one misdemeanor against a former insurance agent who spent more than four months in jail awaiting trial in a case that some said could lead to criminalizing surrender charges…
An ex-annuity agent sits in jail for another month while the prosecutor waits for three sets of documents from insurance companies…
Timeline shows Alan S. Lewis’ path from annuity agent to felony defendant…
Why does California seem to go after annuity agents so aggressively? That’s been a question often asked after two criminal prosecutions in cases that could have been insurance department matters…
Alan S. Lewis is accused of “twisting” in the repeated sale of annuities to some of his clients…
A former California annuity seller is in jail awaiting trial on 29 felonies and one misdemeanor, including grand theft, embezzlement and burglary, for annuity sales…
The California Supreme Court has upheld the reversal of annuity agent Glenn Neasham’s conviction of theft for selling an annuity…
The California Insurance Department gave Glenn Neasham his life insurance license back three months after an appellate court threw out his theft conviction. Neasham now awaits a state Supreme Court ruling on whether the reversal will stand…
The California attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to review an overturned guilty verdict in the Glenn Neasham case, in which an insurance agent was convicted of felony theft for selling an annuity…
The judges’ decision to overturn the conviction of theft in what was a simple annuity sale might have seemed like an obvious outcome to observers, but Glenn A. Neasham has learned the hard way not to assume anything in a court….
A California appellate court overturned the conviction of an insurance agent who had been found guilty of theft for selling an annuity…
A well-known indexed annuity expert is speaking out on bullying after her 16-year-old son committed suicide last week in Iowa…
A former Securities and Exchange Commission assistant inspector general alleges sex scandal and oversight lapses in a lawsuit…
Carriers are exiting markets in droves and in many cases leaving the country altogether. Companies are dropping entire lines of business, particularly in variable annuities and long-term care. The largest of the companies are looking to Latin America, Europe and Asia for business…
Peter A. Winer, 54, dies of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident…
In a surprise move, Chief Justice John Roberts sides with liberal justices to uphold the mandate and penalty as a tax within the power of Congress…
The Wealth Channel, produced by American College, asked Editor-in-Chief Steven A. Morelli to discuss the impact of a case in which an agent was convicted of theft for selling an annuity…
The boyfriend of the client at the center of the case against annuity agent Glenn Neasham said he did not know of dementia, but an investigator’s report shows otherwise…
Dementia was a central element in the case against Glenn A. Neasham, an insurance producer in California who was convicted of felony theft for selling an annuity to an 83-year-old woman…
California agent who was convicted of theft for selling an annuity can stay out of jail if he posts $20,000 bail by April 19…
