Nobody ever accused companies that push annuities on older Americans of being subtle.
NEW YORK — IBM Corp.’s announcement that it will offer financial planning services to all 127,000 of its U.S. employees is the biggest sign yet that companies are increasingly interested in providing workers with more individual — and effective — counseling on financial topics.
Some insurers are taking away their advisers’ group health insurance and other employment benefits if proprietary-product quotas aren’t met, advisers say.
The growth of the financial planning profession overseas is in the fast lane, though there are some speed bumps, observers say.
A life insurer known mainly for its fixed annuities has thrown its hat into the variable annuity ring.
Advisers are using creative techniques to work within the dense tax code to help their clients reduce their tax payments.
WASHINGTON — The ideas of limiting 401(k) plan options to index funds and requiring all plan administrators to be brought under fiduciary duties were in focus last week at a congressional hearing on 401(k) fees.
John Hancock led the industry with $735 million in individual life insurance sales last year, according to a recent survey of 78 major life insurers by LIMRA International Inc.
Many insurers are providing incentives to their advisers to sell proprietary products, despite claiming to have “open architecture” platforms, according to industry observers.
With a House panel scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday to discuss whether the hidden fees in 401(k) plans are fair, at least one industry watcher is calling such fees too low and another says making general judgments about them is difficult.
NEW YORK — Advisers with clients who need life insurance for tax minimization and wealth transfer may want to consider a new policy geared to that market.
CHICAGO — Socially conscious and faith-based investing is gaining traction in the retirement plan arena.
Add class action litigation to the regulatory controversies, bad press and other woes plaguing insurers that sell equity index annuities.
Industry leaders are concerned that insurance companies are taking on too much risk from annuities that offer guaranteed-withdrawal benefits for the life of the client. Financial services leaders worry that if baby boomers live longer than projected or a downturn hits the market, the financial strength of insurance companies could be threatened.
IRVINE, Calif. — The Internal Revenue Service is threatening to bring more cases against wealthy investors who have used a popular technique to hedge concentrated stock holdings.
Two tax laws scheduled to take effect in the near future will combine to create new opportunities for your clients to convert their traditional individual retirement accounts and company plan balances to Roth IRAs.
OTTAWA — The Mounties say they have gotten their man in the insider scandal involving income trusts, but some observers doubt that he is the only person involved.
When banks and brokers first started offering health savings accounts, clients could choose any investment they wanted for their account funds — as long as it was a certificate of deposit.
Although many brokerage firms are letting investors in on whether they have “shelf space” agreements with certain mutual fund companies, few are disclosing the details of those agreements.
NEW YORK — A securities law firm is seeking class action status for clients who may have been financially damaged by an insurer’s threats and commission incentives designed to skew adviser judgment in favor of proprietary products.
