Net assets in variable annuities have also risen, reaching $1.39 trillion, compared to $1.38 trillion in the first quarter of 2007.
First-quarter earnings hit $1.07 billion, the second highest level ever, a gain of $993.3 million from a year ago.
More and more financial advisers are likely to be confronted with client demands for the divestiture from their portfolios of the stocks of companies that fail some moral screen.
American International Group could hold an emergency meeting this weekend to discuss the future of chief executive Martin J. Sullivan, CNBC reported Friday.
Inflation rose 0.6% in May as skyrocketing food and energy prices boosted inflation by the largest amount since November.
Sky-high gas prices goosed retail sales in May, the Commerce Department reported.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance has picked Bradley J. Lucido as its chief compliance officer.
Some 25 million U.S. adults with health insurance in 2007 faced financial stress due to insufficient coverage.
A proposed Office of Insurance Information would just be the first step toward creating a federal insurance regulator.
In a sign that the housing market may be set for a rebound, the pending home sales index increased 6.3% in April.
Both brokers and insurers bear responsibility for the suitability of variable annuity sales, but at different points in the sales process, industry officials said at a conference last week.
Industry leaders are divided on whether income options in 401(k) plans will succeed and become a popular product in the next decade.
A combination of regulatory developments and court cases since 1998 has molded annuities and insurance products into what they are today — and that development continues.
Three shareholders cited a “staggering breakdown of risk controls” and “an unequivocal loss of investor confidence.”
If there were a color-coded advisory system for fiduciaries, it now would stand at yellow, flashing “elevated risk.”
Wirehouse brokers have had to respond to many changes in the industry in the past decade.
Expect continued asset growth, more industry consolidation, competition and investment choices as well as broader participation in Section 529 college savings plans in the future, say state administrators of the programs, financial service executives and industry observers.
An optional federal charter and a tax environment that favors annuities are in the cards through the next 10 years for the life insurance industry.
