Sun Life's recent exit from the variable annuity business is just the latest sign that carriers aren't thrilled by the risks such long-term investments carry. With several insurers backing out of the business, and others reining in benefits and raising prices, 2011 may go down as the year of the vanishing VA | <b>Extra</b> <a href=http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=CI&Date=20110912&Category=FREE&ArtNo=912009999&Ref=PH?>Advisers favorite VA providers &raquo;</a>
Carrier being sued for allegedly retaining life insurance payouts, pocketing the float
A continuing three-year, 35-state investigation into the practices by which life insurers pay death benefits may spawn more-stringent requirements for locating beneficiaries
A hefty charge that ING Groep NV will take on its American variable annuity business appears to be a mixed blessing for investors hoping to snap up shares of the company's insurance unit once it makes its public debut.
A new Allianz Life distribution program -- one that rewards top indexed-annuity sellers with exclusive products -- is ruffling feathers among agents and marketing groups
Market gyrations, low interest rates forces company to scale back; life insurance also nixed here
Sun Life Financial Inc.'s hybrid whole-life and long-term-care product came out just last month, but the insurer is champing at the bit to build market share in a space currently dominated by just a select few.
Falling investment returns, rising costs of necessities has pre-retirees cutting back on prescriptions, skipping doctors' appointments, study finds
A hefty charge ING Groep NV will take on its American variable annuity business appears to be a mixed blessing for investors hoping to snap up shares of the company's insurance unit once it makes its public debut.
Volatile equity markets and record low interest rates have led major variable annuity issuers to rein in sales, but a few insurers are drumming up business with products that reflect the “new normal”
MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, kept the top spot in variable annuity sales in the third quarter by cutting rates to attract customers looking for a consistent return amid equity market declines.
ING Groep NV will close its registered indexed annuity to new sales Oct. 31 after a little more than a year.
The government is hoping that its upcoming support for lifetime-income solutions such as annuities will encourage companies to add these options to their retirement plans for employees, but some worry that Uncle Sam isn't giving a big-enough push
Carriers that have been stalwarts in the variable annuity industry are trying their hand at manufacturing and selling fixed indexed annuities.
State regulators continue to investigate claims that life insurance carriers may be failing to pay out death benefits or submit the money to the state in a timely fashion. Not surprisingly, this has attracted the attention of tort lawyers.
Critics say it's smart for carriers to deny life insurance claims for allegedly spurious reasons. Why? Because they make money off the float.
Financial advisers are calling on insurers to enhance their suite of variable annuities, saying that clients are turned off by falling accrual rates on living benefits and insufficient investment choices
