Insurers Rejoice At (Near) Death Of DOL Fiduciary Rule
{May 5th, 2018} by Cyril Tuohy
The Department of Labor fiduciary rule is just about dead and insurance executives are rejoicing, but not too loudly. “I think everybody is sort of cautious right now,” said Dennis R. Glass, president and CEO of Lincoln Financial, when asked about distribution partners in the wake of the latest regulatory developments. The Fifth Circuit Court […]
If You’re a Broker-Dealer: Yes, You Do Need Life
{May 5th, 2018} by Kenneth A. Shapiro
Why should broker dealers bother having advisors market life insurance products? If this is the question, it’s the right one. No matter how you look at it, you may have more than enough on your plate now, so why get involved with life insurance, particularly when the product line is so different from what your […]
Voya, Unum, Genworth Earnings Calls
{May 4th, 2018} by Cyril Tuohy
Voya Financial will save up to $130 million in annual expenses after the company sells its annuity business, chairman and CEO Rod Martin said Wednesday. Once the annuity sale closes in the second or third quarter, the company will review its life insurance portfolio. But it would be “premature to draw a conclusion that we’ve […]
New York State Revises Best-Interest Reg For Annuities, Life Insurance
{May 4th, 2018} by John Hilton
New York State officials are pushing ahead with a revised best-interest amendment that applies to annuities and life insurance. State officials recently published an updated rule reflecting several changes produced from a 60-day comment period. The best-interest regulation is considered one of the toughest in the country, one that New York officials are lobbying the National Association […]
Can He Make Insurance Cool?
{May 4th, 2018} by Paul Feldman
Patrick Bet-David is helping answer the biggest question in life insurance sales: Where will the next generation of successful agents come from? As the United States has grown more diverse, the life insurance industry clearly has not. “Pale, male and stale” is a common refrain about the typical agent these days. Not only are agents […]
Buyers Look Past Marketing and Buy the Annuity’s Purpose
{May 4th, 2018} by Jafor Iqbal and Todd Giesing
Why and when do investors buy an annuity? How much do they invest, and in what types of annuities? Answers to these simple questions can give advisors and other financial professionals a clear understanding of how they can find their best clients and grow their annuity business. LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute’s 2017 Annuity Buyers Metrics […]
NAIC Comments Show Increasing Opposition to Best Interest Model Law
{May 3rd, 2018} by John Hilton
A pair of major developments on the fiduciary rule front is motivating stronger opposition to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ annuity transactions model law. The NAIC initially shut off comments on its model law Jan. 20. Since then, its annuity suitability working group has been unable to come to a consensus on a model […]
NAIFA Must Become Nimble, CEO Says 25
{May 3rd, 2018} by Susan Rupe
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Kevin Mayeux wants the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors to be more like BMW and less like Kodak or Blockbuster. Mayeux, NAIFA’s CEO, outlined some of the steps his organization is taking to become more nimble and relevant while making the rest of the world aware of what its members […]
Americans Skeptical Financial Services Can Protect their Data
{May 3rd, 2018} by Brian O'Connell
Financial clients have little to no confidence in financial companies to protect their data, and are generally skeptical that corporations and government agencies can do so. According to a study by the New York City-based American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), 80 percent of Americans say ID theft is “likely” to cost them financially sometime in the […]
Ding Dong, The DOL Fiduciary Rule Is (98%) Dead
{May 3rd, 2018} by John Hilton
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected last-minute appeals by AARP and three states to intervene and re-argue the need to save the controversial Department of Labor fiduciary rule. Filed last week, AARP and the states (New York, California and Oregon) entered separate motions asking the court for an en banc review. In a 2-1 […]
MetLife Issues Multipronged Plan To Find Missing Annuitants
{May 3rd, 2018} by Cyril Tuohy
MetLife has a multipronged plan to improve the way it tracks down missing annuitants, the company said Thursday. The actions come in the wake of a $510 million charge in the fourth quarter related to a group of 13,500 annuitants going back many years. “We believe these remediation steps will further strengthen our internal control […]
SEC’s Clayton Pitches His Alternative to DOL Fiduciary Rule
{May 3rd, 2018} by Dan Clark
On the heels of announcing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “Best Interest Rule,” SEC Chairman Jay Clayton came to Temple University on Wednesday to discuss the finer points of the plan, which is meant to give retail investors a better understanding of who is investing their money and how they are doing it. “Markets can […]
NYDFS Proposes “Best Interest” Standard For Sellers Of Life Insurance And Annuity Products
{May 3rd, 2018} by Steven D. Lofchie
The New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) proposed amendments to New York’s existing suitability regulation in order to establish a “best interest” standard for the sellers of life insurance and annuity products. DFS issued the proposal in order to protect New York State consumers from receiving conflicted advice from agents, brokers and/or insurers regarding life insurance and annuity […]
As curtains close on DOL fiduciary rule, SEC advice rule takes center stage
{May 3rd, 2018} by Mark Schoeff Jr.
It’s appropriate that the likely demise of the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule occurred during the same week that Tony Award nominations were announced. A day after the productions and performers competing for Broadway’s top honors were revealed, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied efforts by AARP and three states to defend the DOL regulation in court. […]
North American Company Expands Availability of WriteAway℠ Accelerated Underwriting
{May 3rd, 2018} by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance
CHICAGO, May 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — North American Company for Life and Health Insurance® has announced the expansion of WriteAway Accelerated Underwriting to permanent life insurance products. Previously offered only on term products, this faster and less invasive process allows for a simple online application process with an underwriting decision to be made in as […]
Firm Sees When Consumers Are Hungry for Life Insurance
{May 3rd, 2018} by Allison Bell
Life insurance marketers may be having a harder time getting consumers’ attention in big U.S. cities this year. Analysts at iQuanti, a Jersey City, New Jersey-based market research and media campaign management firm, have included figures hinting at that possibility in a new analysis of Google local search volume data. Web users throughout the United States […]
Lincoln Financial Group Completes Acquisition of Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston
{May 3rd, 2018} by Lincoln Financial Group
RADNOR, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE: LNC) announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, expanding Lincoln Financial’s group benefits market leadership position and expertise across all size employers. The transaction included reinsuring Liberty’s Individual Life and Annuity business to Protective Life Insurance Company. “With […]
Why Some Advisors Don’t Like Selling Fee-Based Annuities
{May 3rd, 2018} by Cyril Tuohy
Regulators have pushed insurers to develop fee-based annuities, but financial advisors and brokers who sell them say these annuities remain clunky and aren’t as “clean” as commission-based annuities when the time comes to close a sale. Despite the onslaught of new fee-based annuities in the market over the past 18 months, sales of these products […]
Jac McLean Joins New York Life Investment Management as Head of U.S. Distribution
{May 2nd, 2018} by New York Life Insurance Company
NEW YORK – April 19, 2018 – New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) announced today that Jac McLean will join the company in June as head of U.S. Distribution. In this newly created role, he will focus on building and leading a world-class distribution organization and strategy across all third-party retail and intermediary channels in the U.S. […]
Is There An ‘Insurance Go’ In Our Future?
{May 2nd, 2018} by Lloyd Lofton
In the bottom floor of Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle you will find a store called Amazon Go. It’s a store of the future where customers shop for groceries, pick items up and just walk out of the store without standing in a checkout line or interacting with a store clerk. This Amazon brick-and-mortar store is […]
Delaware Sees Hidden Value in Genworth’s Annuity Unit
{May 2nd, 2018} by Allison Bell
One of the biggest headaches for executives at Genworth Financial Inc. could turn out to be a blessing for insurance agents, Genworth annuity holders and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd.: Regulators in Delaware think the company’s long-term care insurance (LTCI) unit is more valuable than potential buyers realize. The battle over the value of […]
Lincoln Financial Group Reports First Quarter 2018 Results
{May 2nd, 2018} by Lincoln Financial Group
RADNOR, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE: LNC) today reported net income for the first quarter of 2018 of $367 million, or $1.64 per diluted share available to common stockholders, compared to net income in the first quarter of 2017 of $435 million, or $1.89 per diluted share available to common stockholders. First quarter adjusted income […]
Annuities underutilized for tax-free LTC benefits, data suggests
{May 2nd, 2018} by Insurance Forums Staff
About 18% of all U.S. households own a deferred annuity, estimates the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, yet data suggest many annuities will never be activated for monthly income, leaving potential tax consequences for beneficiaries. Many of these individuals can benefit by learning more about exchanges under Internal Revenue Code section 1035 of the Federal Tax […]
SE2 Named One of CIO Applications’ Top 25 InsurTech Companies for 2018
{May 2nd, 2018} by SE2
TOPEKA, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SE2, a leading technology and third-party administration (TPA) company for the North American Life and Annuity (L&A) insurance industry has been named by CIO Applications as one of the Top 25 InsurTech Companies for 2018. The CIO Applications editorial board, along with a panel of CIOs, CEOs, CTOs and analysts, evaluated insurtech providers […]
DOL Rule Rehearing Is ‘Unjustifiable’: Eugene Scalia
{May 1st, 2018} by Melanie Waddell
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Financial Services Institute and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Monday to deny the motions filed Thursday by AARP and state attorneys general to intervene in an appeals court ruling to vacate the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule. Eugene Scalia, the lead Gibson, […]
Variable Annuities, Down But Not Dead
{May 1st, 2018} by Cyril Tuohy
Variable annuity sales in 2017 fell 10 percent and are down 50 percent compared to a decade ago but there’s reason to be more hopeful in 2018, a Morningstar expert said. “It looks like some of the underlying factors are moving in a direction that would indicate more VA sales,” said John McCarthy, senior product […]
Justice Department lets deadline to defend DOL fiduciary rule pass. What’s next?
{May 1st, 2018} by Mark Schoeff Jr.
A key deadline has passed without the Labor Department acting to defend its fiduciary rule in court. But the measure isn’t dead yet. The Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the DOL, had until Monday to appeal a March 15 split decision in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down the regulation, which […]
Empower Women To Protect Their Incomes
{May 1st, 2018} by Jill Frohardt
Years from now, when we look back on 2017, many will remember it as the year the conversation shifted around gender inequality. Last year, women from all walks of life amplified the national conversation around pay discrepancies and fewer advancement opportunities when compared with their male peers. This momentum about women and the workplace has […]
DOL Fiduciary Rule One Step Closer To History
{May 1st, 2018} by John Hilton
The federal government missed a deadline Monday to appeal a ruling tossing out the controversial Department of Labor fiduciary rule. The decision means that the March 15 Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling is slated to take effect May 7. A few hurdles still remain. Last week, AARP filed an appeal of the Fifth Circuit […]
Clients Want To Talk About Annuities, AXA US Says
{May 1st, 2018} by Karen Demasters
Half of financial advisors’ clients are not talking with advisors about guaranteed lifetime income products such as annuities, said AXA US, a financial services company that handles annuity products and provides other financial services. This is despite the fact that 80 percent of the people surveyed by AXA said they would be interested in such […]
Ameriprise Shareholders Reject Exec Pay Plan
{May 1st, 2018} by Janet Levaux
The majority of Ameriprise Financial shareholders — 75% — gave a thumbs-down to the firm’s executive pay plan for 2017. The financial services firm acknowledged the nonbinding vote in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The vote was roughly 86 million to 29 million with about 4.5 million abstentions. Click HERE to read […]
SIFMA, FSI and allies seek to block rehearing of DoL fiduciary rule
{May 1st, 2018} by Kenneth Corbin
A coalition of powerful financial services trade groups is seeking to block a federal court from reconsidering the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, asking the court to make its March ruling vacating the ruling the last word on the matter. In a motion filed on Monday, FSI, SIFMA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other allied groups […]
New Fixed-Index Product By Allianz Life
{May 1st, 2018} by FA Staff
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has introduced two new fixed-index universal life insurance policies, the Allianz Life Pro+ Elite and Allianz Asset Pro+. Allianz Life Pro+ Elite is designed for traditional life insurance agents and financial professionals familiar with selling life insurance, and it beefs up the popular Allianz Life Pro+ product by […]
Unpacking the Fiduciary Rule Proposal: Lines Drawn, Standards Raised, but Still More to Play Out
{May 1st, 2018} by Rich Blake
On April 18, the SEC released its much-anticipated proposed set of fiduciary rules for broker/dealers. As the 90-day public comment period now gets underway, there are several key components of the proposal stirring debate with some particularly thorny issues — such as precisely how “best-interest” standards will be defined — that are still in need […]
How structured annuities are bucking a downward trend
{May 1st, 2018} by Donald Jay Korn
There’s a bright spot in the otherwise lagging annuity market. Fears of federal fiduciary rules and paltry investment yields dealt a double blow to the annuity market overall last year, as sales dipped 8%. Amidst the gloom, however, the lone bright spot was structured annuity sales, which rose 26% to $9.2 billion year over year, […]
