Automatic enrollment of employees into defined contribution retirement plans such as 401(k)s has grown so quickly that more than half of employers now offer it to their employees, according to a new study.
Small- and mid-size record keepers that administer 401(k) programs for providers are concerned that a plan to ensure that mutual funds are not being "market timed" will be so expensive to oversee as to put some of them out of business.
The Hartford (Conn.) Financial Services Group Inc. today announced that it has applied to the Office of Thrift Supervision to become a savings and loan holding company.
Shareholders will receive an annual dividend of 58 cents per share of common stock Dec. 19, down by about 50% from the dividend paid out in 2007.
Agents and advisers are overlooking an opportunity for new life insurance sales: the middle market and minorities, said Catherine H .Smith, chief executive officer of U.S. insurance at ING North America Insurance Corp., in Atlanta.
“Ultimately, the consumer ought to benefit from greater regulation, provided that we heed the lesson of the current crisis,” said Christopher “Kip” Condron, president and chief executive of AXA Financial Inc. in New York.
Egregious risk taking in the name of impressive earnings has led to massive losses in the insurance industry, and now carriers need to think realistically about their pricing models and investments, executives said at a conference today.
Despite vehement objections from state regulators, Conseco Inc. yesterday completed its transfer of a group of long term care policies to an independent trust.
The controversial proposal would move most EIAs from the status of insurance products, which are regulated only by states, to that of securities, which are federally regulated.
Raoul Weil, chairman and CEO of the global wealth management division of UBS, has been indicted by a U.S. grand jury, charged with conspiring to help 20,000 wealthy Americans hide assets from the IRS.
Under orders from a federal judge, Bear Stearns has paid $27.3 million to the now-defunct National Heritage Life Insurance Co., which lost money invested with Bear on collateralized mortgage-backed obligations and collateralized debt obligations.
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Analysts applauded the newly restructured bailout plan for American International Group Inc., citing benefits for the insurer.
The Fed and the Treasury announced a new restructuring plan to help bolster AIG, including a $40 billion purchase of new preferred shares from the ailing insurer.
Carriers may be going through their own tumult, but that hasn't stopped clients from seeking life insurance coverage, according to agents and advisers.
Insurance agents are blasting a controversial Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to classify equity index annuities as securities.
Insurance companies and distributors face major changes for risk management and product development as variable annuities and their guarantees pressure insurers' risk-based capital, industry experts said.
Financial advisers are worried that if more employers eliminate 401(k) matches, it will cause already cash-strapped and worried clients to reduce or halt their contributions.
Broker-dealers, registered representatives and advisers could be on the hook if they sell products from major carriers whose risk-based capital is crumbling, plaintiff's attorneys say.
More than half of employers that offer "unbundled" 401(k) plans intend to add to their lineup of investment options over the next year, according to a new report.
