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What To Do When Your Clients Are Risk Averse

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As a young person I was raised on game shows. They were a staple of daytime viewing for our family. With the dot-com bubble of 2000, the events of Sept. 11 in 2001, the financial crisis of 2008, and the COVID-19 panic of 2020, we have seen our fair share of volatility in the market over the past couple decades.

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Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life) announced today that it is entering the defined contribution market with the launch of its Allianz Lifetime Income+ Annuity.

For the millions of Americans looking to supplement their retirement with a guaranteed lifelong income stream and ensure a legacy path for beneficiaries, American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company ® launches a new fixed index annuity— the EstateShield. This is a 10- year retirement product designed to help clients meet life’ s financial changes…

Karen Urtecho Sandrez of Charlotte was gifted a present she won't soon forget- a scratch-off ticket with a $2 million prize. The friend purchased the $20 ticket from Lucia Food Mart on Killian Road in Stanley. “I could not believe it, honestly,” she recalled of scratching her ticket and seeing her $2 million prize.

A New York Man “had to pinch” himself when he won $4 million from a scratch-off Michigan Lottery ticket, the state's lottery announced Thursday. He chose to receive the prize as a one-time lump sum of about $2.5 million instead of annuity payments totaling $4 million, according to the Michigan Lottery. The $30 ticket offers players the chance to win prizes ranging…

DAVIE COUNTY, N.C.– Part of his $1 million Extreme Cash prize will help Pharris Frank, of Advance, and his fiancé pay for their wedding, according to an NC Education Lottery news release. Frank, a carpenter, bought his winning $25 ticket from Rivertrail Mercantile on U.S. 64 East in Advance. He claimed his prize Thursday and had the choice of taking his prize as an…
AIG and Blackstone needed one another for their blockbuster deal.

Wednesday’s blockbuster AIG-Blackstone deal is likely to power up both companies in their respective worlds of insurance and private equity, according to a leading industry analyst.

I recently reconnected with Dave, a former colleague who lost his job as the economy was reopening from the pandemic. He's a few years younger than I am but doesn't think he can get another job that he'd enjoy in his field, nor does he want to have to commute and return to an office setting full-time. Dave has been successful financially and thinks he can retire now, but…

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C.– Teamwork led Foy Buckner Jr. and Robert Roberts to a $2 million lottery win, according to an NC Education Lottery news release. Buckner, of Barnardsville, and Roberts, of Weaverville, bought their winning ticket from the Triangle Stop Food Store on Chimney Rock Road in Hendersonville. 'Charities, friends, family'; Winston-Salem man celebrates $2…

–Athene Holding Ltd., a leading retirement services company, today announced that it, along with its strategic partner, Apollo Global Management, have agreed to acquire a 15% minority interest in Challenger Limited from an existing shareholder, 3% of which is subject to customary Australian Prudential Regulation Authority approval. Challenger is the…

Five people have claimed the massive winning $516 million Mega Millions ticket sold in Middletown Township's Levittown section last month. Pennsylvania Lottery officials confirmed the news in a statement Friday afternoon. The five claimed the huge jackpot the 18th largest in American history and third largest Mega Millions prize ever in Pennsylvania…

–Retirement Services President Sandy McCarthy announced the hire of Mike Domingos who joins OneAmerica ® in a critical new leadership role designed to accelerate the company’s latest phase of growth and amplify its commitment to the retirement business. As head of distribution, Domingos will lead the Retirement Services sales, business development and…
Dan Houston, CEO, Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group will stop selling U.S. retail fixed annuities and consumer life insurance products and pursue sales of blocks of those assets already in force, Bloomberg reported Monday afternoon. The company will continue selling variable annuities.
Total 1Q deferred annuity sales were up 10.3% over the first quarter 2020, Wink reports.

The 1Q sales report paints a picture of an industry continuing to recover strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic. As expected, structured annuity sales lead the good news, with year-over-year sales up nearly 86%.
Blacks and Hispanics have plenty of retirement money concerns.

Investors say they are worried about their money lasting through retirement with the loss of pensions, but advisors are not necessarily keeping up with those shifting concerns, according to a study.

The 60- year-old woman, who chose to remain anonymous, won one of the Red Hot Millions instant game's top prizes worth $1 million, according to the Michigan Lottery. “I scratched the ticket off and just kept thinking that what I was experiencing couldn't be real,” she told the Michigan Lottery. More: 2 Michigan Lottery players won $4 million in May: See all the big prizes.
Lincoln Financial is done selling life products in New York.

The Department of Labor allowed the investment advice rule, written by the Trump administration, to take effect. If anyone viewed that as a breakthrough in the long back and forth over the rules, they were mistaken.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggests that a little inflation might be good.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says a little inflation and interest rate increase would be healthy. A Society of Actuaries report agrees that an interest rate increase would help in retirement security.
Americans who own an annuity are more confident in their retirement plans.

The latest SRI data suggests that retirees who own an annuity are more confident than non-owners that their savings and investments will not run out if they live to age 90 (69% versus 44%).

In April, there were three instant ticket winners with $1 million prizes. Janine Viarella of Chelmsford celebrated her birthday with a big payout after she won a $1 million prize in the Massachusetts State Lottery’ s“ $5,000,000 100 X Cashword” instant ticket game. Peter Mandrioli Jr. of Concord won a $1 million prize playing the lottery’ s“ Road to Riches” instant…
Investors who stuck with variable annuities are reaping the benefits.

The equities market crash in 2020 showed how Americans jumped when they should have stayed in their investments – which variable annuity investors did.
The Department of Labor holds the key to how the new investment advice rule turns out.

Instead of settling issues, the latest Department of Labor guidance hints at an ERISA overhaul, Bradford Campbell says during Faegre Drinker’s latest Inside the Beltway webinar.

A Macomb County man recently had his most exciting Michigan Lottery win ever. The 48- year-old man, who chose to remain anonymous, recently won $4 million on an Ultimate Millions instant ticket, according to the Michigan Lottery. More: Livingston County mans wins $1 million on Michigan Lottery instant ticket.

May 24— The largest Mega Millions jackpot to be won in Pennsylvania was sold in Bucks County for the Friday drawing, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. The lottery office said a 7- Eleven in Levittown sold the $516 million winning ticket for the May 12 drawing, with winning numbers 6-9-17-18-48 and Mega Ball 8.. “The Pennsylvania Lottery congratulates the big…

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.– If Thursday had been a typical morning for Charles Browne, of Hendersonville, he wouldn't have ended up on a 500- mile round trip to Raleigh to collect a $1 million lottery prize. Browne typically begins his day with a stop at Norm's Minit Mart on Kanuga Road in Hendersonville where he gets a Red Bull and his favorite lottery ticket.
Atlantic City is a popular destination for incentive trips in the insurance world.

The Department of Labor is likely to scrutinize sales contests and other incentives under the investment advice rule.

May 19— A Fayetteville woman won $100,000 in the Powerball jackpot challenge after buying a $3 Power Play ticket, according to the N.C. Education Lottery. Naren Som purchased her ticket from the Walmart on Lillington Highway in Spring Lake and matched four of the white balls and the Powerball in Wednesday's drawing, a news release said. The odds of matching four…
A Transamerica spokesperson says all customer deposits are safe and the company is doing business as usual.

People who complained to the Insurance Division or the Iowa Attorney General said they couldn’t get through to Transamerica, an investment, retirement and life insurance company, to check on their investments, make transfers or seek payouts after the death of a loved one.
Compensation structures might be impacted again depending on what the DOL does to the investment advice rules.

Rumors are rampant that the Biden administration plans to rework exemptions within the Trump administration’s investment advice rule to closer resemble the Obama-era fiduciary rule.

May 13— A Charlotte woman hit a $1 million jackpot on a scratch-off ticket her husband bought her as a Mother's Day gift, North Carolina lottery officials said Wednesday. “My husband came home Sunday afternoon and said,' I got you another Mother's Day gift,'” Catherine Trew told lottery officials when claiming her prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Tuesday,…

In this role, Yates will partner with AmeriLife’s data science and data engineering teams to develop, launch and manage new enterprise analytic products to support distribution channels. Yates began his position with AmeriLife on April 12. “As AmeriLife stakes its claim as an industry leader, measuring and evaluating key analytics is a major priority that…
Brighthouse reported a significant jump in life insurance sales for the first quarter.

Brighthouse continues to broaden distribution and grow life insurance sales, CEO Eric Steigerwalt said on a conference call with analysts this morning.

May 10— WATERLOO— Some lucky someone is holding a Powerball ticket to a $2 million prize in Saturday's drawing. The ticket initially matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. Saturday's winning numbers were: 12-17-20-21-26 and Powerball 8.

_ Brighthouse Financial Inc. on Monday reported a first-quarter loss of $585 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.42 per share. Brighthouse Financial shares have risen 35% since the beginning of the year.

Many people look forward to retirement and all the enjoyment it can bring after having worked so hard for decades. But from a distance, whether a few years or many years away from retirement, it's not easy to clearly see what retirement will look like. It's a bit misty because, after all, there is a lot of uncertainty about the future, and how much money someone will need…

Speaking during a quarterly earnings call, American Equity CEO Anant Bhalla pledges a strong push for fixed index annuities for the rest of 2021.
Prudential continued a product pivot away from interest rate-sensitive products in the first quarter.

Strong sales of its buffered annuity, FlexGuard, helped Prudential continue its first-quarter shift away from interest rate-sensitive products and underpinned its strong financial showing.
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