Results for "variable annuities"
Displaying 476 results
DOL fiduciary rule continues to take toll on annuity sales
February 21, 2018
The Department of Labor fiduciary rule and the interest-rate environment delivered a one-two punch to annuity sales last year, pushing them down for the third consecutive year. Compared with the previous year, overall annuity sales dipped 8%...
Buffer annuities grow in popularity
February 13, 2018
Buffer annuities, also known as structured or variable-indexed annuities, are starting to gain traction. These products, a cross between indexed and variable annuities, have seen sales surge, as several other annuities have seen sales retreat....
Minnesota rep barred for no-show over VA trades
February 8, 2018
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has barred former Minnesota broker Brett Ashy for failing to take part in an investigation looking into his sales of variable annuities. Mr. Ashy was terminated as a broker in February 2016 by...
Prudential pivots toward indexed annuities
January 29, 2018
Prudential Financial Inc. Monday announced the launch of its first indexed annuity, the latest variable-annuity carrier to pivot toward the increasingly popular annuity. The variable annuity market has had a rough go in recent years, having...
Advisers fear private equity's reach into VAs
December 20, 2017
Editor's note: This story has been updated with information about the sale of Voya Financial's annuity business. Financial advisers have expressed alarm over recent reports of insurers looking to offload large blocks of variable annuities to...
Next Financial whacked (once again) by Finra
December 7, 2017
Next Financial Group Inc. is back in hot water with regulators and agreed on Tuesday to pay a $750,000 fine to Finra as part of settlement for a variety of violations, including the failure to catch a broker's excessive trading and poor supervision...
Have annuity sales bottomed out?
November 29, 2017
Annuity sales have fallen to their lowest point in well over a decade, but industry experts believe a turnaround is at hand. Sales among all annuity products in the third quarter were $46.8 billion, the first time since 2002 that quarterly sales...
Finra fines Horner Townsend & Kent $275,000 over VA sales
November 15, 2017
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority censured Horner Townsend & Kent and fined the Horsham, Penn.-based firm $275,000 for failure supervise its brokers' sales of variable annuities. Specifically, Finra said that the firm had not adequately...
Finra fines Ameritas $180,000 over VA sales
November 9, 2017
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Ameritas Investment Corp. $180,000 for lapses in the supervision of variable annuity sales. In a letter of acceptance, waiver and consent, Finra said that between September 2013...
DOL fiduciary rule delay boosts prospects for annuity sales
October 12, 2017
A proposed delay to the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule is leading to big increases in annuity sales projections next year. The regulation, which raises investment-advice standards in retirement accounts, was expected to put a severe dent...
Finra orders Morgan Stanley to return $200,000 in variable annuity sale
October 11, 2017
In a continuing focus on improper sales of variable annuities, a Finra arbitrator has ordered Morgan Stanley to rescind a client's variable annuity and return her $200,000 investment. While the arbitrator denied the request of client Jacqueline...
Finra cracks down on faulty variable annuity exchanges
October 10, 2017
Finra is continuing its crackdown on variable annuity misconduct this year, following a blistering year of fines related to VA sales in 2016. Two recent enforcement actions from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. demonstrate the...
DOL fiduciary rule has enforcement gaps — and they could widen
September 11, 2017
The Department of Labor's fiduciary rule, as it's currently written, has some enforcement gaps. And they could widen, especially for annuity products, depending on how the Trump administration's review of the rule shakes out. The primary enforcement...
MetLife cutting annuity pay to some of its former advisers
September 5, 2017
MetLife Inc. is cutting compensation on annuities sold by former advisers who moved to other broker-dealers after MetLife sold its Premier Client Group last year to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. And the cut in pay is drastic. According...
DOL fiduciary rule driving fundamental shift in variable annuity market
August 24, 2017
The Department of Labor's fiduciary rule is shaking things up in the variable annuity market. While the regulation has accelerated the downward trend in overall variable annuity sales for the past several quarters, only recently has the rule's...
DOL fiduciary rule: Indexed, variable annuities big winners of a proposed delay
August 10, 2017
Indexed and variable annuities are the biggest winners of the Department of Labor's recently telegraphed fiduciary rule delay. Sales of the products, especially indexed annuities, would arguably have been the most adversely impacted under the...
Consumer and insurance groups disagree on advice standard for annuity sales
August 2, 2017
An effort by state insurance regulators to raise investment-advice standards for annuity sales appears to be driving a wedge between consumer organizations and a life insurance trade association. In light of the Labor Department's fiduciary...
SEC charges four former reps with fraud for VA sales targeting federal employees
July 31, 2017
An earlier version of this story incorrectly implied that the former brokers charged were registered with another securities firm when the allegations occured. The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged four former Atlanta-area brokers...
DOL fiduciary rule: When advisers actively seek to use BICE
June 14, 2017
To opponents of the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule, the best-interest contract exemption is something akin to the spawn of Satan. This provision of the rule, which raised investment advice standards in retirement accounts, allows broker-dealers...
Voya re-entering buffer annuity market as product popularity grows
May 26, 2017
Voya Financial is hoping to capitalize on the recent popularity of buffer annuities by launching a product around the end of this year or early next, after having exited the market less than two years ago, and joining a small group of insurers...
