In order for insurance to break out of the fuddy-duddy, people need to think outside the jar…
Registered investment advisors (RIAs) and fee-based advisors and investors have saved more than $60 million in insurance and transaction fees since the launching of the industry’s first flat-fee variable annuity (VA) in 2005, according to Jefferson National Life…
All assets of U.S. life insurers held in separate accounts ballooned to $2.06 trillion, an 11.9 percent increase over 2011, due partly to last year’s robust stock market and to the popularity of equity-based products as a way to compensate for low interest rates…
It was only a matter of time before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took action against a public body for allegedly misleading investors about public financing…
With graduate students sometimes carrying school debt loads well into the six figures, Guardian Life announced it has introduced a loan protection rider to its disability income protection policy…
Jackson National, the top seller of annuities in the U.S., booked $20.7 billion in total sales and deposits in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 5.4 percent over last year, the company reported…
If there’s one goal that binds many financial advisors, it’s that they want to do well by their clients. This is not only because it assures the advisors’ financial and professional success, but also because it leads to their customers’ happiness…
There are two ways to check the pulse of how well the nation’s independent broker-dealers are doing: The first is to ask them. The second is to take a peek at the latest goings-on at LPL Financial, the nation’s fourth largest broker-dealer…
Looking to strengthen advisors’ social media network to generate prospects, retain customers and sell more, the Retirement Solutions Division of Pacific Life has announced the launch of a pilot program using technology from Hearsay Social…
Two major insurance carriers have added grief counseling programs to their group term life policies starting Jan. 1, a sign that the industry is taking seriously the treatment of mental health…
Consumers may have an approach/avoidance conflict when it comes to annuities. They see the value of the annuity’s income stream and tax deferral but they also have excuses for not buying — excuses that advisors might counter with a reality check based on research…
The interest rate environment may no longer be the source of acute pain it once was in the annuity industry…
The “death master file” issue is far from dead. An influential committee of state insurance regulators recently voted to explore whether it should look into establishing a framework for handling unclaimed death benefit issues…
Edward Jones, the Missouri-based financial services firm, has announced the hiring of 336 military veterans so far this year as part of its FORCES hiring initiative. The new hires add to the company’s 1,500 veterans already employed as advisors…
Major life insurers are delivering windfalls in the third quarter as companies rejiggered their product lineup and capitalized on the sale of fee-income products…
Despite the headlong rush to deliver documents electronically, a key U.S. government agency isn’t quite ready to recommend that private pension plans abandon pen and paper when communicating pension-related disclosures…
Direct-to-investor assets have nearly doubled in the four-year period ending in 2012. The growth rate has outpaced advisor-intermediated investing as discount trading platforms popular with do-it-yourself investors move into the advisory space, a new report finds…
A new survey by Jackson National Life of pre-retirees ages 45 to 65 years old reveals the need for custom retirement strategies. That kind of demand is likely to require the expertise of an advisor…
Don’t mess with tax deferral in retirement savings products. Do preserve tax deferral in annuities. Don’t take tax deferral for granted, and don’t take it away…
