The humble variable annuity is gaining in popularity
For most investors, not having access to their money is a drawback.
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.
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.
Tighter regulation of sales, more mergers and continued capital building are three developments insurance carriers are likely to experience in 2010.
Sales of fixed annuities fell during the third quarter to $21.9 billion, a 21% decline from a year earlier, according to data from Beacon Research Publications Inc.
Despite getting smaller, Royal Bank of Scotland still has some very big problems. Bad loans and a shaky economy top the list. Turning a profit? That's still a ways off.
Oklahoma State University's athletic fund and Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. are embroiled in a legal flap over a failed funding plan for charitable insurance.
Standard and Poor's today downgraded The Phoenix Cos Inc.'s counterparty credit rating to triple-C+ from B-.
