As the bond market gyrates, annuity companies are struggling to set stable rates for products.
Steve Morelli
Echoes Of 2008: Annuities Surge When Equities Crash
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.
Annuity Rates Plummet, Commissions Might Be Next
Companies are already cutting annuity rates. Premium bonuses and agent commissions might be next, says annuity analyst Sheryl Moore.
When Your Clients Are Freaking Out — How Advisors Respond
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.
Why Coronavirus May Be The Killer Contagion We All Fear
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.
1 in 4 Consumers Can’t Name 1 Life Insurance Company
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.
The Struggle Is Real And Cyclical In Poor Areas, Report Shows
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’s Realignment Requires Layoffs To Meet 5-Year Plan Goals
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.
Is Your Uber-Driving Client Covered By Personal Auto?
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.
Who Will Win The Battle For the Dashboard?
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.
Are We Looking Into The Abyss Of Recession?
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?
Who Will Still Feed Them When They’re 64?
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!
How Agents Are Making It Big On The Internet
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…
The wholesaler who worked with Glenn Neasham, who was convicted of theft for selling an annuity, says the producer would have documented any signs of dementia in a client…
American College President Larry Barton says insurance companies and producers are being beaten down by low interest rates…
Glenn A. Neasham was convicted of felony theft in California for selling an annuity to an 83-year-old woman – here’s a timeline of the events thus far…
Glenn A. Neasham was convicted of felony theft in California for selling an annuity to an 83-year-old woman. The state revoked his insurance license after he lost his request for a new trial…
Glenn Neasham was sentenced to 300 days in jail, reduced to 90 days, after a California county judge rejected his motion for a new trial in his felony theft conviction for selling an annuity…
Glenn Neasham had a thriving business, making about a half-million dollars in his best year – but now, he is on public assistance while he faces the possibility of prison for selling just one annuity…
Robert Miller, president of NAIFA, has developed a reputation of being an outspoken, straight-shooting representative for the advisor community and brings a unique perspective to his position…
Imagine anxious 50-somethings holding armfuls of cash while being shouted at from all sides about what to do with the money to avoid being stranded in a bleak desert of old age…
The life insurance business is still struggling to find its way since the 2008 bust and that path seems to be diverging from independent producers…
<p>A Virginia judge ruled the health coverage requirement unconstitutional in the first legal rejection of the health reform law, which is expected to be appealled up to the Supreme Court…</p>
Robert Baranoff, senior vice president, member benefits, LIMRA, discusses themes from LIMRA’s annual meeting and the latest in research…
