New York Delivers ‘Worst Fears’ With Tough Reg For Life Insurance

The Department of Labor fiduciary rule is gone, but regulation of independent marketing organizations (IMOs) is likely to continue. That reality is forcing IMOs big and small to evolve into a more hands-on role with financial professionals than in the past, execs say.

While some companies are moving away from annuities, Prudential is redoubling its efforts. That means new products and new campaigns to educate advisors and consumers on what annuities can do for lifetime income, a company executive explained.

Envestnet is integrating annuities into its wealth management platform, giving advisors a more complete view of client retirement portfolios. The first insurer is offering annuities on the exchange, which one analysts says will spur others to follow.

Index annuities often come with lifetime income and enhanced death benefit features, but with a separate product fee. A new Athene product is breaking that mold and offering those additional features with no separate cost. Will it catch on?

Financial advisors need a new approach with which to engage clients about annuities, and a coalition of 24 insurers and asset managers has banded together to help.

The indexed-linked annuity market has been growing strong in recent quarters, and for AXA, that is both good and bad news. Good because the company is the leader in the market, but bad because other companies are jumping in the fray.

Now that the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule is all but dead, insurance companies now see the Securities and Exchange Commission building a regulation that might affect selling. The anxiety might be dampening what should be an ideal sales environment.

Underneath the seemingly calm surface of annuity sales, insurers are working to generate propulsion with new features and fees.

A survey shows consumers are becoming more comfortable with risk but at the same time terrified of an economic cataclysm devastating their savings. Could an annuity help soothe those anxious consumers?

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has completed its review of the proposed takeover of Genworth by a Chinese financial holding group and concluded that there are no unresolved national security concerns with respect to the proposed transaction. This satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the proposed transaction.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ working group is considering model law changes to permit indexed annuity illustrations using indexes in existence less than 10 years. Critics have mixed views on the possible changes.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ working group bridged some tough gaps, but punted others, during a two-day meeting to craft an annuity sales transactions standard.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners group meeting in Kansas City opted for a more conservative approach from Iowa as a framework for an annuity transaction model law.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners tackled the tough task today of deciding whether to call its annuity transactions model law a “best interest” standard.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners meeting to iron out a new annuity transaction law turns into a battle over the suitability standard with opponents saying the insurance industry needs a tough best interest rule closer to the fiduciary standard.

Analysts are surprised that American Equity is suddenly a takeover target for private equity buyers. But the company has an appealingly growing business with stable assets.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners committee called a special meeting in Kansas City to hammer out a model law for annuity transactions. But member states have a wide gulf of disagreement to bridge.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not defined what a best interest standard means in its more than 100 pages of rule-making. But whatever it is, don’t expect it to be implemented before 2020.

Banks and broker-dealers are asking, and getting, shorter surrender periods to sell fixed indexed annuities. They now sell more than a third of all FIAs.

Companies usually associated with variable annuities are moving up the charts on the fixed indexed annuity side of the business. Some are taking routes other than the independent channel to get there.

“We haven’t had an increase in indexed annuity sales this big in nearly two years,” said Sheryl J. Moore, president and CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc. She continued, “I look forward to seeing how improvements in interest rates will affect sales throughout the remainder of 2018.”

The new variable annuities are not even all variable, but they all carry some level of risk for the investor.

Variable annuity sales are expected to turn positive this year, propelled by the easing of regulation, but also benefiting from the innovation that regulation had inspired.

The almost-dead DOL rule gets much of the credit for the boost in fixed indexed annuity sales in LIMRA’s numbers. But rising interest rates allowing more attractive annuity rates are also cited as helping sales.

Buffered products helped Allianz level out an otherwise uneven first quarter. The increasingly popular variation of variable annuities is considered “capital-efficient” for insurance companies.

When the Department of Labor postponed the full implementation of its fiduciary rule, it apparently also opened the gate to more annuity sales. Companies across the board are reporting stronger performance in earnings calls.

A California insurance agent is accused of selling an annuity to a man diagnosed with dementia and then helping the man’s relative withdraw $700,000 from the annuity, incurring $92,000 in charges.

The SEC best-interest rule includes words and meaning that could conflict with the way state suitability standards are interpreted, said Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen. The two groups plan to meet to iron out those differences.

Lincoln Financial is jumping into the booming buffered variable annuity market with its first product next month.

The NAIC suitability standard has been a big success since it was adopted in 2010, two industry veterans argue. So why are state and federal regulators in a hurry to replace it with a best-interest standard that may or may not help consumers?

MetLife has a four-point plan to find annuitants after the company discovered it failed to pay nearly a half a billion dollars over decades.

New York State officials are back with a revised best-interest standard for annuities and life insurance. A 60-day comment period prompted several changes to the regulation, state officials said.

Nearly half of the inquiries from advisors for an annuity quote involved a return of premium option, according to Cannex.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ second public comment period on its best-interest model law for annuity transactions yielded plenty of suggestions. Critics urged the NAIC to tread lightly and not rush the regulation.

Employees are interested in annuities and might need that guaranteed source of income as the first wave of workers lacking company pensions moves closer to retirement. A new survey reveals shifting attitudes.

Variable annuities continued a long slide in 2017, but Morningstar is finding hope in several factors this year. The downed Department of Labor fiduciary rule and rising interest rates are key.

A leading annuity expert lays out four reasons why annuity sales will be bouncing back in a big-time way in 2018 and ahead. Market conditions and reasonable regulation are the two main themes.

Jackson National is adding staff to grow its financial advisor distribution of fee-based variable annuities.