Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta blasts the Obama administration for failing to consider industry concerns about the fiduciary rule. The DOL is busy reviewing the rule for possible changes, he told a House subcommittee today.
The ‘duty of care’ is just one of the fiduciary duties required by the DOL Rule, which takes effect Friday. Our Kim O’Brien explains how the duty of care impacts the financial advice advisors give.
Defined contribution plan-focused online advisory firms are expected to double over the next five years as clients flock to a pay-as-you-go method of saving for retirement, according to an industry expert.
Growth in the number of online-only advice firms in the business-to-consumer segment is apparently leveling off, according to new data. Robo models will have a role in the future, analysts say, but how big of a role is unknown.
Fifty-two percent of lump sum recipients say their budget would be more predictable if they’d chosen annuity payments from an employer pension or defined contribution plan, a new survey finds.
About 13,000 Voya Financial policyholders agreed to surrender variable annuity contracts in the company’s latest offer. The company will be looking for further opportunities to reduce its risk exposure, execs say.
Voluntary benefit participation rates rose by 567 percent in the Midwest, more than twice the rise in any other region. Employers and employees both like voluntary benefits.
Variable annuities are under pressure from Department of Labor regulations that begin taking effect next week. That hasn’t stopped insurers from offering new and creative death benefits. Will the moves save VAs?
New FINRA notice requires broker-dealers to keep records of any text message correspondence, and take responsibility for any links or shares to third-party content providers.
A rundown of the top sellers of multiyear guaranteed annuities in the first quarter.
Here is a rundown of the the top 10 fixed annuity sellers and where they finished in the first quarter.
A new NAIFA certification aimed at life and annuity agents to be unveiled next week has major potential to help agents penetrate Asian developing markets, analysts say.
Clients tend to get more enthusiastic and emotional about investing when the stock market is bullish, analysts say. Advisors can do well to keep clients on an even keel while those emotions run high.
Insurers and annuity companies have reported a record 26 filings for fee-based variable annuities in the six-month period that began Dec. 1.
Despite a first-quarter drop in fixed indexed annuity sales, there was still plenty of jockeying for position among product sellers for top-10 recognition.
NAIFA Members Tell Their Stories to Congress
When members of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) visited Washington for the organization’s annual Congressional Conference, they brought their stories of how pending legislation and regulation will affect their clients back home on Main Street.
Enacting the American Health Care Act (AHCA) would reduce federal deficits by $119 billion over the coming decade but increase the number of people who are uninsured by 23 million in 2026. That was the word from the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation, which released their analysis of the AHCA Wednesday afternoon.
First quarter 2017 sales of fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) dropped 14 percent to $12.9 billion compared with the year-ago period, according to Wink’s Market & Sales Report.
Here’s Your Guide to ‘Reasonable’ Comp Under DOL Rule
Any lawyer can sue on recommendations made after June 9 under the new fiduciary rule, one industry analyst says. Here’s what agents/advisors need to do to meet the new compensation regs.
