A new wave of COVID-19 cases threatens to trip up the economy. Increasing cases in Europe and the United States have brought new restrictions on activities, but the market doesn’t appear to be fazed by the recent outbreaks.
COVID-19 has increased consumer awareness about the need for life insurance. LIMRA research finds 6 in 10 Americans say they have a heightened awareness about the need for life insurance due to the pandemic and 29% say they are more likely to buy life insurance in the next 12 months.
After a challenging first half, the independent distribution channel jumps back into indexed universal life sales with a big pop in the
third quarter. Variable universal life also had a boffo quarter.
Department of Labor officials alerted the White House Wednesday that it has completed work on a reworked rule to regulate investment advice to workers and retirees. No details are available on any changes to the rule, which could be rescinded by the incoming Biden administration.
In a pair of lawsuits, both appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, insurers prevailed in lower-court rulings over cost-of-insurance increases. The cases are important because they are among the few COI cases that insurers have won a favorable verdict.
Wink reports that deferred annuities sales came to $54.2 billion, an increase of more than 18% over the devastating second quarter. However, the $54.2 billion still falls short of where sales have been in the past, said Sheryl J. Moore, president and CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc.
President-elect Joe Biden has chosen former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to serve as treasury secretary, a pivotal role in which she would help shape and direct his economic policies.
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.
President-elect Joe Biden’s first Cabinet picks are coming Tuesday and several names and clues are being leaked. But one popular candidate to lead the Treasury Department might be staying at the Federal Reserve, according to a tweet Monday afternoon.
Insurance companies are creating more products that grow with their customers’ finances and needs. Term life insurance has proven itself to be one of these versatile products.
Panelists agreed that consolidation through mergers and acquisitions will pick up as carriers and others along the distribution chain seek efficiencies through scale. The life and annuity business is likely to follow the path of the property & casualty industry in terms of M&A activity, panelists agreed.
It is up to us to seize this moment and be a resource for the “new normal” so that clients are prepared to get back to business, and life, as quickly and safely as possible.
Insurance agency managers might have decades of experience to guide their judgment and decisions, but that is no match for the wisdom that data yields, according to panelists at NAILBA 39. Becoming a data-driven agency can boost the bottom line exponentially
After a pandemic-driven pullback in mergers and acquisitions activity in the first half of 2020, acquisitions and dispositions have come…
Insurance and financial advisors are challenged to find the right partners and brokerage general agencies to work with, said Brian Haney, founder and vice president of The Haney Company in Silver Spring, Md.
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.
To the extent that the economy has recovered to date from the March shutdown, NY Fed President John Williams said government aid played “a critical part.” In addition to unemployment benefits, Congress passed small-business funding and $1,200 stimulus checks for all Americans.
A divided Congress due to a presumptive Republican-controlled Senate will translate into legislative gridlock, Fitch Ratings says, and that means the outcome of the 2020 election is neutral to health insurers’ credit profiles.
While President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is hitting the ground running in preparation for Jan. 20, the Trump administration could issue some rules now that can be in effect by Inauguration Day – and some of those rules could impact health care.
