Nationwide Financial Services Inc. yesterday bumped up its variable annuity living benefits, signaling a return — for some carriers — to the generous benefits that backfired on insurers when the stock market imploded in 2008.
First-quarter fixed-annuity sales in the U.S. were down 52% from the year-ago period, falling to an estimated $16.7 billion.
A period of fierce competition to build annuity premiums awaits life insurers as they contend with industry consolidation and the difficulties of standing out from rivals
Hint: they think the retirement products attract customers who are frightened by the market
Life insurers, whose capital buffers shrank during 2008's downturn, emerged from 2009 with a rebound in capital. The reasons? Regulatory changes and a climbing equities market, according to Moody's
Polls show that employees want an annuity option in their pension plan menu. But they also prefer a lump sum to an income stream when they hit retirement age
Combining a variable annuity with a guaranteed-minimum-withdrawal benefit in conjunction with a traditional portfolio can help hike income
Insurer's new boss said the Connecticut company will avoid focusing on any one product after VAs contributed mightily to two straight years of losses
Sales of both variable annuities and fixed annuities fell in 2009, according to the latest data from LIMRA.
Shares of asset management companies fell with the broader market in afternoon trading Thursday even after several reported big earnings gains to close out 2009.
Bruce Bond is stepping down as chief executive of Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC, the exchange-traded-fund provider he founded in 2003.
Although actively managed exchange-traded funds are just in their infancy, many financial advisers and even some ETF providers have already written them off.
Eaton Vance Management and Invesco PowerShares on Tuesday announced new investment products offering exposure to the government's Build America Bonds stimulus program, which seeks to spur construction and repair projects by state and local governments.
It's only a modest boost in the emergency lending rate. But the Fed's small hike in the discount rate speaks volumes about the big picture.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has retreated even further from the life settlements arena, shutting down Longmore Capital, its life settlements provider.
Volume from life settlements transactions is expected to reach $13 billion in face amount annually over the next three years, according to research from Aite Group.
For the first time they can recall, several independent broker-dealers have been solicited by life settlement companies to sell private placements of securities based on life insurance policies.
Rumors have been flying of late that Fidelity Investments may be looking to expand its proprietary exchange-traded-fund lineup. Now sources say the firm has been ramping up talks with index providers and other partners to do just that.
Tighter regulation of sales, more mergers and continued capital building are three developments insurance carriers are likely to experience in 2010.
