In-plan annuities still suffer from Ken Fisher-led reputational attacks
September 24, 2024 by John Hilton
Reputation might be all that is holding back annuities from taking up a steady residence inside retirement plans.
Not surprisingly, it is evident that decades of trashing annuities as overpriced and ill-advised will take time to reverse, agreed a panel at the LIMRA 2024 Annual Conference.
“We literally have people say, ‘I don’t know much about finance but I know not to buy an annuity,'” said Nick Nefouse, global head of Retirement Solutions and head of LifePath for BlackRock.
Click HERE to read the full story via INN
Wink’s Moore on the Market: Kerry Pechter with Retirement Income Journal had a great article, which I posted yesterday, about why in-plan annuities are facing an uphill climb.
Interestingly, the article below seems to suggest that folks are more receptive to the message, than one would think.
LIMRA conducted a survey with a finding that more than 4 in 10 plan sponsors say they are either actively considering or have decided to add an in-plan annuity within their retirement savings plan.
Further, they found that nearly 7 in 10 non-retired workers say they would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to select an in-plan annuity option if it were available.
Nick Nefouse, CFA with BlackRock cites the reputational risk of the word “annuity” as being a major barrier. (I totally agree!) He instead suggested use of the term “lifetime insurance.”
However, Timothy Pitney with TIAA contends that “There’s a lot of misconceptions about annuities that we need to clear up.”
Indeed. – sjm
