The number of closed complaints involving fixed index annuities (FIAs) rose 68 percent in 2014 compared with the previous year, according to a report from Index Compendium…
Fixed index annuity (FIA) sales galloped ahead by nearly 18 percent over the previous year, and index life insurance sales rose by more than 14 percent over 2013…
Should insurers be responsible for Americans’ personal weight loss? The answers are more involved than you think…
Mergers and acquisitions in 2014 had a decrease of about 30 percent from 2013…
MetLife has introduced a program that shortens application and underwriting procedures for its Whole Life Select 10 life insurance product. This is a move designed to appeal to applicants as well as advisors looking to sell more policies….
Google seems to be positioning Google Compare as a connector between consumers, agents and carriers, not as a competitor to branded carriers. But the venture still has disruptive potential…
The top concerns among agents are illustration and needs calculations, policy inquiries, group changes and group-level reporting metrics, according to a report…
A company spokesman said 65 percent of the company’s new hires last year were women or agents representing ethnic markets…
At least three insurers already have begun marketing defined contribution retirement plans with a qualifying longevity annuity contract (QLAC)…
Advisors don’t have much experience with retail liquid alternatives, nor have the alternative products been “battle tested” by the unforgiving cruelties of the marketplace, according to a consultant…
The financial advisory profession has always been an occupation with one of the widest wage gaps. Previous surveys have shown women earning as little as 65 percent of what men make..
One industry expert said that a number of questions need to be answered if the Supreme Court rules against the legality of federal health care subsidies…
In the case, Harrington v. EquiTrust Life Insurance Co., the plaintiffs Mary Helen Eller and Paul Harrington sued Equitrust on the grounds that marketing material used in the sale of the EquiTrust MarketPower Bonus Index Annuity amounted to mail and wire fraud…
One of the swing votes on the court could be leaning in favor of keeping the subsidies, according to one observer…
At a time when many variable annuity carriers are putting their guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) riders on a diet in terms of features, W&S Financial Group has added a richer design to its GLWB portfolio…
A chart illustrates an eye-opening summary of regulations that have been imposed on financial services firms since enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010…
The Ninth Circuit Court in Los Angeles ruled that the policy issuer, EquiTrust Life, “delivered precisely what it promised.”…
Unum has announced the launch of new disability insurance coverage the company says is simpler and more flexible…
The announcement that Kimberly-Clark had reduced by $2.5 billion its pension fund liabilities through a transaction with Prudential and MassMutual is unusual although not unheard of in the pension transfer world, according to a pension expert…
