We would love to hear from you. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link to the right and choose your favorite way to reach-out!

wscdsdc

media/speaking contact

Jamie Johnson

business contact

Victoria Peterson

Contact Us

855.ask.wink

Close [x]
pattern

Industry News

Categories

  • Industry Articles (21,155)
  • Industry Conferences (2)
  • Industry Job Openings (35)
  • Moore on the Market (414)
  • Negative Media (144)
  • Positive Media (73)
  • Sheryl's Articles (800)
  • Wink's Articles (353)
  • Wink's Inside Story (274)
  • Wink's Press Releases (123)
  • Blog Archives

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • May 2008
  • February 2008
  • August 2006
  • Why Do They Have Faith in the Market?

    December 8, 2011 by Brian D. Mann

    December 07, 2011

    By Brian D. Mann
    AnnuityNews

    This article was inspired by a client who, after I proposed an annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit rider to protect his retirement income from investment risk, said, “I’ll just stick with what I’m doing now. I have enough time to ride out my losses in the market.”

    It reminded me that Wall Street has an uncanny ability to cause people to like things that they wouldn’t ordinarily like.

    Imagine that you were shopping for a car and saw this description in an advertisement:

    A real dream car that will impress all of your friends, but in all fairness, it tends to perform very unpredictably, and it may or may not get you to your destination. Massive repairs costing half of its value were needed twice in the last decade.

    Would you buy that car? Of course not! Or if you did, it would only be as a second car – a collectible – not as your primary mode of transportation. But that is an accurate description of stock market mutual funds, a staple of many Americans’ retirement savings plans.

    In recent years, Wall Street has been revving up its advertising and public relations engine to convince the American public of the merits of exchange traded funds and of investing in commodities as an asset class. But this is just another example of convincing people to embrace something they would ordinarily reject. Consider what BusinessWeek magazine had to say about commodity-based exchange traded funds:

    Wall Street had transformed the reputation of commodities from a hyper-volatile investment that can steal your shirt to a booster for battered portfolios, something that rose when stocks fell and hedged against inflation. People who would never think of buying a tanker of crude or a silo of wheat could now put both commodities in their 401(k)’s. Suddenly everybody was a speculator. (from “Amber Waves of Pain, BusinessWeek magazine, July 22, 2010)

    Naturally, the article made it clear that customers were putting great sums of money into these funds without understanding the expenses and risks, somehow thinking they were “safe,” only to be disappointed by their performance.

    Consumers are slowly but steadily catching on to Wall Street’s act. Statistics from the Investment Company Institute show that since the start of 2008, withdrawals from stock mutual funds have exceeded contributions by $355 billion. However, that’s only a small fraction of the $6 trillion that are invested in such funds.

    Perhaps surprisingly, surveys show that younger people are actually more conservative when it comes to investment risk than Baby Boomers and older groups. According to a MFS Investment Management’s annual Investing Sentiment Survey, Gen X and Gen Y investors had on average a lower percentage of their portfolios in equities and a higher percentage of their portfolio in cash.

    When asked to explain that phenomenon, Bill Finnegan, director of global retail marketing for MFS Investment Management, said, “A lot of the folks in the survey, especially the Gen X and Gen Y’s in the group, don’t have the 1990’s to look at fondly.”

    My interpretation is that they see the unreliability of Wall Street’s products for what it is, and they want something more reliable. Thus, I am optimistic that younger generations will find guaranteed products such as fixed and fixed indexed annuities very appealing.

    Consider that with a fixed indexed annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit rider, your clients can know for a fact – years in advance – how much retirement income their existing retirement savings will provide. They can also know – with certainty – how much additional retirement savings they need to accumulate in order to achieve their desired level of retirement income.

    The annuity industry has been growing steadily throughout my career. With younger people more skeptical of Wall Street, I am confident that our industry will continue to grow for years to come.

    Brian D. Mann is the Senior Vice President for Annuities and RIA Divisions at Partners Advantage Insurance Services. He is a multi-million dollar personal producer, coach and mentor for insurance professionals. Partners Advantage is a national insurance marketing organization that proudly serves as a one-stop shop to more than 20,000 independent insurance agents, financial planners and broker/dealers.

    * For agent use only. Not for use in solicitation or advertising to the public.

    ©Entire contents copyright 2011 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.

    Originally Posted at AnnuityNews on December 7, 2011 by Brian D. Mann.

    Categories: Industry Articles
    currency