Iowa to shed light on sources of insurance funding
{May 31st, 2011} by Darla Mercado
In a move that could affect the sales of securities and insurance in the state, Iowa’s insurance regulator this week is expected to issue guidance on how far insurance agents and brokers can go in advising clients on the suitable sources of funds for insurance products. Click HERE to view the full article via […]
How Many Indexed Annuities Do You Own?
{May 31st, 2011} by Mark R. Triplett
By Mark R. Triplett AnnuityNews.com May 25, 2011 — How many indexed annuities do you own? Your answer should be at least “one” if you are recommending them to others. My belief is if you are selling them, you should own them. If you don’t, you are not credible. When selling anything, it is […]
Jane Cline to Leave W.Va. Commissioner’s Post
{May 23rd, 2011} by Allison Bell
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/19/2011 Jane Cline, the 2010 president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, will be retiring from her post as West Virginia insurance commissioner June 30. Cline has been working in West Virginia state government for 30 years and has been the top West Virginia insurance regulator since 2001. The […]
Retirement Savings Ideas: Annuities; Auto-Enrollment; 401(k) Plan Loans
{May 23rd, 2011} by Allison Bell
By ALLISON BELL Published 5/19/2011 Insurers, the Employee Benefit Research Institute and two U.S. senators – Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. – have been talking about ideas for increasing U.S. workers’ retirement savings rate.A center affiliated with Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Chicago, 73% of middle-income baby boomers are rethinking their expected retirement date […]
US Indexed Annuity Sales Up 5% in First Quarter
{May 23rd, 2011} by Fran Matso Lysiak
PLEASANT HILL, Iowa May 20 (BestWire) — Sales of indexed annuities in the United States rose to $7.1 billion in the first quarter of 2011, up about 5% from the same period a year ago, according to AnnuitySpecs.com, a firm that tracks the data. However, sales were down 15% from the fourth quarter of last year. Separately, industry research […]
Marrion: Low Caps Hurting Indexed Annuity Sales
{May 20th, 2011} by Allison Bell
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/19/2011 Low interest rate caps have been hurting indexed annuity sales, according to Jack Marrion. LIMRA, Windsor, Conn., and AnnuitySpecs.com, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, reported Wednesday that U.S. individual indexed annuity sales amounted to $7.1 billion in the first quarter. LIMRA said sales were up 1% from the first quarter of 2010; […]
The Truth Your Clients Need to Hear about FDIC Insurance
{May 19th, 2011} by Brian D. Mann
By Brian D. Mann AnnuityNews.com May 11, 2011 — When you sell annuities, one of the most common sales objections you hear is that they are not FDIC-insured. Some advisors like to answer that objection by telling prospects about their state guaranty fund, but I’m not a proponent of doing that since, in most states, […]
Older Boomers Leaving Securities, Liking Annuities
{May 19th, 2011} by Linda Koco
By Linda Koco Contributing Editor, InsuranceNewsNet First the mixed signals from mid-May: · A Bloomberg survey said that, as of early May, a smaller percentage of U.S. investors were increasing their exposure to stocks (37 percent in early May compared to 57 percent in January). In addition, it found that global investors are holding more […]
Bank-Sold Annuities Reach Two Year High
{May 19th, 2011} by N/A
Windsor, CT, May 17th, 2011 – Total annuity sales through banks topped $4 billion, reaching the highest level since March of 2009. According to the Kehrer-LIMRA Monthly Bank Annuity Sales Survey, both fixed and variable annuities registered double-digit growth for the second month in a row. Financial institutions sold 31 percent more annuities in March […]
LIMRA: Annuity Sales Improve in 1Q
{May 19th, 2011} by N/A
WINDSOR, Conn., May 18, 2011 –The first quarter of 2011 showed positive growth for variable, fixed and total annuity sales, according to LIMRA’s first quarter 2011 Annuity Sales Survey. Total annuity sales rose 16 percent, reaching $60.0 billion in the first three months of 2011, compared to the first quarter of 2010. Variable annuity (VA) […]
AnnuitySpecs.com Releases First Quarter 2011 Indexed Sales Results
{May 19th, 2011} by Sheryl J. Moore
AnnuitySpecs.com Releases First Quarter 2011 Indexed Sales Results Indexed Annuity Sales Up 5% May 18, 2011 Forty indexed annuity carriers participated in the 55th edition of AnnuitySpecs.com’s Indexed Sales & Market Report, representing over 99% of indexed annuity production. Total first quarter sales were $7.1 billion, up nearly 5% from the same period last year. […]
Allstate Targets Online Insurance Sales; Buys Esurance, Answer Financial
{May 18th, 2011} by N/A
In a bid to capture more business from customers who shop online, giant Allstate Corp. has agreed to pay $1 billion to buy two popular online insurance sellers — Esurance and the associated site, Answer Financial. Allstate will pay a total price of about $1 billion– $700 million plus the tangible book value of the […]
Presidential Life Announces First Quarter 2011 Results
{May 18th, 2011} by N/A
– Reports first quarter 2011 EPS of $0.25 compared to ($0.06) for the first quarter of 2010 – NYACK, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Presidential Life Corporation (“we,” “our,” “Presidential Life” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: PLFE) today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. Presidential Life, through its wholly owned subsidiary Presidential Life Insurance Company, […]
CNO Board Approves Share Buyback
{May 18th, 2011} by Allison Bell
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/16/2011 The board of CNO Financial Group Inc. has approved a program that could buy back up to $100 million in CNO common shares over the next 2 years. Shares of CNO, Carmel, Ind. (NYSE:CNO), have been selling for about $5 to $8.50 per share over the past 52 weeks. […]
Mila Kofman Leaves Maine Department; New York Reorganizes
{May 18th, 2011} by Mark E. Ruquet
By MARK E. RUQUET Published 5/17/2011 Mila Kofman has resigned from her post as Maine insurance superintendent.Kofman, a strong supporter of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), was first appointed to head the Maine Bureau of Insurance in 2008. Former Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, reappointed her to a 5-year term a […]
First Quarter 2011 Indexed Insurance Sales
{May 17th, 2011} by Sheryl J. Moore
Indexed Annuity AnnuitySpecs.com’s Indexed Sales & Market Report, 1st Quarter 2011 shows first quarter 2011 indexed annuity sales were $7141 million compared with sales of $8374 million for the previous quarter. First quarter sales were down almost 15% when compared with the previous quarter and up nearly 5% when compared with the same period one […]
Is It Time to Buy an Annuity?
{May 16th, 2011} by Anne Tergesen and Leslie Scism
By ANNE TERGESEN And LESLIE SCISM Retirees with pension envy increasingly are turning to annuities to restore some financial security to what are supposed to be their golden years. But with payouts near multiyear lows, it’s important for them to consider how much to buy and when to pull the trigger—and whether a different strategy […]
Longer Lives, Smaller Nest Eggs…
{May 12th, 2011} by Mark S. Fitzgerald
Solve for the need. Does that sound like a high school math problem? In fact, solving for the need is the top job for producers with baby boomer clients. These clients, many of whom will live into their eighties and nineties, are inadequately prepared for a post-retirement period that could last 20 years or more. […]
DOL Fiduciary Rule Endangers Advice to IRA Accounts
{May 12th, 2011} by N/A
May 5, 2011 On October 22, 2010, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) proposed a rule that would eliminate your ability to earn commissions on IRA accounts and other retirement accounts. The proposal would do so by amending the definition of “fiduciary” for purposes of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act […]
Mark Zesbaugh to Lead Security Life
{May 11th, 2011} by Allison Bell
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/9/2011 The board of Security Life Insurance Company of America has hired Mark Zesbaugh to be the company’s new president and chief executive officer (CEO). Zesbaugh was the CEO of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, Golden Valley, Minn. – a unit of Allianz A.G., Munich, Germany – from […]
Lincoln Realigns Insurance and Retirement Team
{May 9th, 2011} by Warren S. Hersch
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/6/2011 Lincoln National Corp. will be showing a “major commitment to the group protection business” by investing in developing new products and expanding distribution, the company says. Lincoln, Radnor, Pa. (NYSE:LNC), says it also will continue to be offer “competitive and compelling” annuity products. Mark Konen, president of what […]
CNO Renegotiates Credit Facility Terms
{May 9th, 2011} by Allison Bell
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/6/2011 CNO Financial Group Inc. has persuaded the providers of its senior secured credit facility to reduce the current interest rate to 6.25%, from 7.5%.The lenders also have eased other credit facility terms, according to CNO, Conseco, Ind. (NYSE:CNO). There will be no required prepayment of debt-to-total-capitalization falls to 12.5% […]
WebCE Becomes a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of IRMI
{May 9th, 2011} by N/A
DALLAS — May 4, 2011 -International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI), is pleased to announce an agreement to acquire WebCE, the world’s largest provider of continuing education (CE) for insurance and risk management professionals. On May 1, 2011, WebCE became a wholly owned subsidiary of IRMI. For more than a decade, the two firms have […]
Bill gives 20 days to review annuities
{May 8th, 2011} by Patrick Danner
By Patrick Danner pdanner@express-news.net Published 05:01 p.m., Friday, May 6, 2011 Consumers will have 20 days to opt out of annuity purchases under a bill that passed the state Senate on Friday. The state House already passed a similar version of the bill, so the legislation is now headed to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature. The […]
The Days of Selling Annuities on Rate are Gone
{May 6th, 2011} by Sheryl J. Moore
Click here to read the article.
Why fixed indexed annuities have caps
{May 6th, 2011} by Jason Kestler
Fixed indexed annuities base their interest crediting upon the return of a stock market index. Many people wonder why, in a positive stock market year, fixed indexed annuities usually credit considerably less than the index return due to caps, participation rates, spreads, or some other element of the formula used to calculate the index credit. […]
Aviva to launch new integrated £56bn platform
{May 6th, 2011} by Chris Salih
Aviva is integrating its wrap and adviser web portal into a single platform that will include annuities and protection products. The new Aviva Platform, which launches this year, will have £56bn of assets and 2.75 million customers and the firm says it will be the biggest player in the platform market. The Aviva Wrap currently […]
American Equity reports 19 percent bump in profits
{May 6th, 2011} by Adam Belz
Comments Categories: Des Moines Business and Economy, Finance & Insurance American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. reported profits of $30.6 million for the first quarter, a 19 percent increase over the same period in 2010. The company, which is headquartered in West Des Moines and employs about 400 people in the metro area, said Wednesday […]
Utah Regulators Issue Surrender Charge Bulletin
{May 6th, 2011} by Allison Bell
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/5/2011 The Utah Insurance Department has put out a bulletin giving its views on individual annuity surrender charges.Utah has laws, for example, that forbid use of annuity bonuses that are available only for annuitization, officials say in Bulletin 2011-2. Utah requires that, on or past the maturity date, the cash […]
United Prosperity Agrees to Acquire Shenandoah Life
{May 6th, 2011} by Allison Bell
By ALLISON BELL Published 5/5/2011 United Prosperity Life Insurance Company — a company backed in part by Black Diamond Management Group L.P. — has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Shenandoah Life Insurance Company, Virginia officials say. United Prosperity has agreed to invest a minimum of $60 million in Shenandoah Life, officials say. The Virginia […]
A Guide to Understanding Annuity Commissions
{May 6th, 2011} by Sheryl J. Moore
By Sheryl A. Moore AnnuityNews.com May 5, 2011 — One of the most misunderstood features of fixed and indexed annuities is the commissions that they pay to producers and distributors. In fact, no other product feature has been more miscommunicated, misunderstood or just plain misquoted in the media than compensation paid on these fixed annuities. […]
Commodities Debut in Indexed Annuities
{May 6th, 2011} by Linda Koco
By Linda Koco Contributing Editor, InsuranceNewsNet May 5, 2011 — At the behest of their distribution channels, two annuity companies are offering commodity accounts as part of their indexed annuities. Symetra Financial, Bellevue, Wash., is offering the S&P GSCI commodity index in two interest crediting strategies or accounts — point-to-point and monthly average. The […]
A.M. Best Downgrades Ratings of Liberty Life Insurance Company; Removes Ratings From Under Review
{May 6th, 2011} by N/A
OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating to “bbb+” from “a-” of Liberty Life Insurance Company (Liberty Life) (Greenville, SC). Both ratings have been removed from under review with negative implications and assigned a stable outlook. The rating actions […]
Lincoln Financial Group Outlines New Structure for its Insurance and Retirement Solutions Business
{May 6th, 2011} by N/A
Copyright: unknown Source: unknown Wordcount: unknown PHILADELPHIA, May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE: LNC) today announced that its Insurance and Retirement Solutions business has outlined a new structure, leveraging the strengths of its executives and increased focus on driving results in the Life Insurance, Annuities and Group Protection businesses. Under the leadership […]
Index annuities show strength in hard times
{May 3rd, 2011} by Jack Marrion
BY Jack Marrion Published 5/1/2011 Some index annuity bashers have suggested that people can do the same thing an index annuity does by putting most of their money in a long-term certificate of deposit and the rest in an index fund. The reasoning is because you’re getting all of the upside participation in the index — […]
New FINRA Rules Demonstrate the Gradual Expansion of FINRA’s Reach
{May 3rd, 2011} by Benjamin Skjold
5/2/2011 COMMENTS (0) By Benjamin Skjold New FINRA Rule 4530 is the latest example of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s efforts to broaden their reach beyond the securities business into all areas of business in which a broker/dealer is engaged. The successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, FINRA’s mission is to protect […]
Nice Niche
{May 3rd, 2011} by Donald Jay Korn
Fixed annuity sales sagged along with interest rates last year, but some specialty products enjoyed record inflows. Safe savings vehicles were a tough sell in 2010. Neither financial planners nor clients were eager to put money into bank CDs or money-market funds paying 2%, 1% or even less. Fixed annuities offered the same low yields, […]
MWA: Bank Insurance Brokers Grow
{May 3rd, 2011} by Allison Bell
By NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE Published 5/2/2011 Bank insurance brokerage units increased their brokerage fee income to about $13 billion in 2010, up 7.9% from the total for 2009, according to Michael White Associates L.L.C. (MWA). MWA, Radnor, Pa., has based those figures on an analysis of reports from 6,927 commercial banks and savings banks insured […]
Volatility Abounds In 2010 Annuity Data
{May 3rd, 2011} by N/A
Copyright: (c) 2011 PRWEB.COM Newswire Source: PR Web Wordcount: 896 Charlottesville, VA (PRWEB) April 29, 2011 Trends in annuity data reported in 2010 by U.S. life insurance companies reveal an industry that remains in transition in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The combination of first-year and single-premium annuity considerations as well as total […]
Independent B/Ds Gain Annuity Market Share
{May 3rd, 2011} by Linda Koco
By Linda Koco Contributing Editor, InsuranceNewsNet April 29, 2011 — Independent broker/dealers (IBDs) are raising some eyebrows as they gain some market share in individual annuity sales, according to data starting in 2006. In the variable annuity market, for instance, IBDs were the top distributors in 2010 with a 30 percent market share, according to LIMRA’s […]
Huntington's New Fixed Annuity Offers Alternative to Certificates of Deposit
{May 2nd, 2011} by N/A
Copyright: unknown Source: unknown Wordcount: unknown COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Huntington Investment Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN; www.huntington.com), is launching a new fixed annuity May 2, 2011 that provides customers with a higher rate than many certificates of deposits, tax deferred interest earnings and a […]
Huntington’s New Fixed Annuity Offers Alternative to Certificates of Deposit
{May 2nd, 2011} by N/A
Copyright: unknown Source: unknown Wordcount: unknown COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Huntington Investment Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN; www.huntington.com), is launching a new fixed annuity May 2, 2011 that provides customers with a higher rate than many certificates of deposits, tax deferred interest earnings and a […]
Symetra Names Eastern Division Sales Manager and Eight Additional Life and Retirement External Wholesalers
{May 2nd, 2011} by N/A
BELLEVUE, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Symetra Life Insurance Company has announced a new sales leader for its eastern division and eight additional regional vice presidents to represent the company’s portfolio of annuity and life insurance products. Since Jan. 1, 2011, the company has welcomed 20 new sales leaders and external wholesalers to its Life and Retirement Sales […]
