The Department of Labor fiduciary rule has not had a major impact on annuity sales yet, say execs with a top Midwest insurer. The second phase of the rule, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2018, will likely be a different story, they add.
Read moreThe shorter surrender periods and no surrender charges are the result of annuity companies offering fee-based financial advisors new options that coincide with the dawn of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.
Ohio National adds creative rider to new fixed-indexed annuity product. Does it signify future direction of FIA products? How will the impending fiduciary rules affect sales?
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.
IMOs and FMOs should be fine to sell variable and fixed indexed annuities under the transition Best Interest Contract for the rest of the year, a pair of experts say. But a definitive word is unknown.
New fixed-indexed annuity products with shorter seven-year surrender periods are driving down commissions, new data shows. First-quarter indexed annuity commissions dropped to 4.96 percent from 5.37 percent a year ago.
Financial planners say pressure from taxes and regulation are making them less likely to recommend life and annuity products. Can these products adapt and thrive beyond 2017?
The shorter surrender periods and no surrender charges are the result of annuity companies offering fee-based financial advisors new options that coincide with the dawn of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.
The Department of Labor fiduciary rule begins taking effect at 11:59 tonight. That means acting as a fiduciary, making no misleading statements and accepting only “reasonable compensation.”
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance issued the following news:. The Tennessee Department of Commerce& Insurance announces disciplinary actions against Tennessee licensees in Memphis and Covington for several violations including acts of fraud, forgery and misrepresentation of material facts and using incorrect, misleading, incomplete…
Firms large and small make their final moves to get into compliance with the Department of Labor fiduciary rule, which begins taking effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday. What comes next?
Ohio National adds creative rider to new fixed-indexed annuity product. Does it signify future direction of FIA products? How will the impending fiduciary rules affect sales?
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.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) today announced final first-quarter sales results for the U.S. annuity industry, based…
CINCINNATI – For individuals who are currently at or nearing retirement age and looking for a way to increase their…
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.
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?
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.
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.
Pleasant Hill, Iowa. May 24, 2017- Wink’s Sales & Market Report expanded in 2015 for all non-variable deferred annuities which…
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.
An important shift away from annuities with guaranteed living benefits (GLBs) signals that advisors are focused on accumulation and away from income, a least for the time being, a market expert said.
Sales of fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) are expected to be hit the hardest as new regulations and uncertainty among distributors will dampen new sales of individual annuities in 2017. LIMRA’s forecast is for sales of all U.S. individual annuities to drop between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2017.
MINNEAPOLIS – May 23, 2016 – Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life®) today announced the launch of…
Washington, D.C. (May 19, 2017) – NAFA, the National Association for Fixed Annuities, is continuing its full-court press on the…
U.S. annuity sales were $52.0 billion, a slight uptick from fourth quarter, but a 12 percent decline from the first quarter 2016, according to LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute.
Confusion surrounding the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule has caused insurance distributors to hold back on specific sales strategies and that could affect annuity sales this year, insurance company executives said.
George Tremblay, 84, and Denise Tremblay, 79, are seeking $28 million in losses and damages from Paulo R. Azevedo of Danbury. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in White Plains on April 13, also names Allianz Life Insurance Co. of Minneapolis, whose annuities they bought. He allegedly told them that Allianz annuities had better rates and features than other…
Allianz Life Insurance sold $1.45 billion worth of hybrid variable annuities last year, the first time the product outsold traditional variable annuities, company execs report.
Simple income annuities are among the most straightforward income products in the retirement income marketplace. Will they catch fire with the masses approaching retirement?
Newly sworn-in Secretary Alexander Acosta holds the fate of the Department of Labor fiduciary rule. Will he choose to fight to delay and amend the Obama-crafted rule? Absent a reprieve, the rule begins taking effect June 9.
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta wants to freeze the fiduciary rule in a way that will “stick,” according to an email…
An extended period of low interest rates has put pressure on the 4 percent rule as well, as retirement income portfolios find it difficult to eke out gains without taking on more risk.
Washington, D.C., May 8, 2017 – NAFA, the National Association for Fixed Annuities, released the following statement today from its…
The spinoff of Brighthouse Financial, MetLife’s retail distribution arm, will take place sometime after the first half of the year.
Variable annuity sales plunged by 21 percent last year over 2015, but the drop could be over, some analysts predict. A resolution to the Department of Labor fiduciary rule would help.
_ American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $53.9 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the West Des Moines, Iowa- based company said it had profit of 60 cents. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 58…
Annuities are the perfect compliment to Social Security to provide Americans with income that cannot outlive, notes our Kim O’Brien. So why in the Department of Labor trying to squash the products?
Pilot programs for agent retention appear to be working at CNO Financial. The results show up on the company’s recent bottom line.
NEWPORT BEACH, CA – Pacific Life announces a new fee-based fixed indexed annuity—Pacific Index AdvisorySM —which enhances its suite of…
Prudential Annuities, the domestic annuity business for Prudential Financial, Inc. today launched Legacy Protection Plus, a new optional enhanced death benefit available on Prudential’ s Premier Retirement variable annuities. Legacy Protection Plus offers the ability to protect their legacy, benefit from tax deferral, and guarantee their legacy will…
More than one out of five workers who accepted a lump sum from their employer-sponsored retirement plan have depleted it, a survey found.
American Equity executives say they remain committed to the independent agent channel and cite market conditions for a dip in fixed indexed annuity sales at the end of last year.
Bank annuity sales in the third quarter reached a record $937 billion, but the other three quarters were among the six smallest quarters in the last five years, a new report finds.
Allianz Life, the nation’s No. 1 seller of fixed indexed annuities, saw its FIA sales more than double over its next closest competitor last year.
Access to advisors is normally cost-effective and crucial for those saving for retirement, our Kim O’Brien says. But the DOL fiduciary rule threatens to change that.
Comments were accepted for 15 days on a 60-day delay of the rule, and for 45 days on the rule itself. Now we wait to see what the Department of Labor does next.
Fidelity & Guaranty Life has terminated its deal with China Anbang Insurance Group and said it will consider other possible deals.
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, a leading issuer of fixed index annuities, is sad to announce that David J. Noble, founder and Chairman of the Board of the Company’ s Board of Directors, passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 16, 2017. Mr. Noble founded the American Equity group of companies in 1995 and served as Chairman, Chief Executive…
In 2013, Jackson wrested the lead in variable annuity sales from Prudential. Jackson hasn’t looked back since.
Fidelity & Guaranty Life first quarter fiscal year net income soared 125 percent to $108 million on the strength of life and annuity sales and investment income.
Committing to a client-first advisory means meticulous records, strong cyber-security and making sure the client fully understands the investment decisions you are proposing. Our Kim O’Brien explains in her weekly column.
A new medically underwritten single premium immediate annuity by Genworth will be able to model income estimates for agents/advisors. The product is one of a new class of hybrid annuities designed to cover long-term care.
Lump sum payment or guaranteed monthly annuity? That’ s the decision facing many soon-to-be retirees with either defined benefit or defined contribution retirement plans. “MetLife’ s Paycheck or Pot of Gold Study highlights a real risk in retirement— running out of money,” says Robin Lenna, executive vice president and head of Retirement& Income Solutions at…
The Department of Labor delayed its controversial fiduciary rule by 60 days, but it a closer look reveals the agency is not backing off the tougher aspects of the rule, a leading law firm states.
Operating income for 15 U.S. publicly traded life insurers declined 10 percent in 2016, a development with far-reaching implications, Fitch Ratings reported.
Agents and financial advisors have shown more interest in life-only and cash refund guarantee options available with income annuities in the first quarter compared with this time a year-ago, new data show.
Rising interest rates have helped push payment yields for income annuities to their highest levels in nearly six months.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., says the 60-day delay in the Department of Labor fiduciary rule will cost investors nearly $4 billion over 30 years. But are her numbers correct? Not even close, one expert says.
Or will it be the other way around?
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