Bank Investment Consultant articles from May 2009

Bank Investment Consultant archives from May 2009

Spring Hope.(Editor's Letter)
May 1, 2009... It was disheartening but hardly surprising to see the responses to our recent poll question. We asked our readers if the current economic conditions were affecting their emotional and physical well-being. Eighty-one percent of you responded...

Who Are The Best TPMs? Seven broker-dealers made the rankings this year. Here's a look at how they rated on various metrics.(Cover Story)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Pamela Black Who garnered the top slots on last year's third-party marketer report card? To find out Bank Investment Consultant teamed up with American Brokerage Consultant's Dick Ayotte to ask their bank partners. A total of 261...

Beware of VAs' Rusty Nails; Most variable annuity benefits involve a claw-back or restriction. Here's a guide to rooting out the usual suspects.(Retirement Edge)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Kerry Pechter Many advisors distrust variable annuities, and not without reason. Prospectuses for these products tend to be long, dense and convoluted. Even securities lawyers lose all sense of jurisprudence after reading too many...

Blue Ridge Greenbacks.(Branching Out In South Carolina)
May 1, 2009... BIC: What new opportunities are opening up in your territory? Beard: Retirement-age clients are hurting due to the sell-off in the bond market. They're scared! Folks with guaranteed income are a lot less scared, so one opportunity is to...

DiscoveringYour Brand; Want a really effective and unique elevator speech? Here's how to develop it.(Driving Sales)
May 1, 2009... Byline: David Richman These days, people from every walk of life are talking and thinking about money more than ever before. As a result, "referable moments," or opportunities for your clients to tell friends and colleagues about your...

A Great TimeFor GRATs; Today's interest rates make grantor-retained annuity trusts an ideal wealth transfer solution.(Estate Planning)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Howard J. Stock By February, the Internal Revenue Service's Code 7520 rate had fallen to 2%, its lowest point in over a decade and rose to a still very low 2.6% in April. That historically low rate makes grantor retained annuity...

VA Prices Rise, Despite Sales Slump.(UpFront News)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Matt Ackermann Raising prices when demand drops seems counterintuitive, but insurance companies are ratcheting up prices and offering lower returns on variable annuities in response to a rocky economy. Some providers have doubled...

Advisors Beat The Market.(UpFront News)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Lee Barney Financial advisors proved their worth in the second half of 2008, with their clients' averaging returns 16% higher than the S&P 500, Fidelity found in a survey of 300 investors and 200 advisors. Investors lost an...

Can Fund Wraps Compete?(UpFront News)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Howard J. Stock Standalone living benefits (SALBs), guaranteed income riders that mutual fund holders can buy as wraps for their fee accounts, are suffering right now but could find their place in the bank channel as the market...

Half of Workers Would Ditch Social Security.(UpFront News)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Howard J. Stock A staggering 48% of American workers would prefer to stop paying into Social Security even if it meant they wouldn't receive those benefits when they retired, according to a new survey by Sun Life Financial. ...

Retirement Assets Sink.(UpFront News)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Matt Ackermann U.S. retirement market assets fell 24% last year, to $7.86 trillion, according to Spectrem Group. If this seems like less than one might expect given the floundering market, bear in mind that fixed income, stable...

Cashing Out Half of Workers Would Ditch Social Security.(UpFront News)
May 1, 2009... Byline: John Morgan Investors started moving cash off the sidelines and back into equities, as witnessed by a $22.15 billion drop to $3.834 trillion in total money market mutual fund assets for the week ending April 1, according to the...

Daily News.(Bankinvestmentconsultant.com)
May 1, 2009... By the time you read this, Bank Investment Consultant will already have launched its daily newsletter, another free feature. If you sign up at our website, bankinvestmentconsultant.com, we'll send you an email each day at lunchtime that will...

Brotherhood; Mega-producing siblings Ron and Joe Barreca are blazing a trail in the Big Easy.(Producer Profile)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Howard J. Stock Brothers Ron and Joe Barreca have tag-teamed their way to the top, producing $1.3 million and $1.8 million, respectively, last year. In fact, the Barrecas were the top two producers in 2008 at broker-dealer Essex...

The Latest Wave of ETFs; Exchange-traded funds enter into muni markets and offer complex ways to short indexes.(Product Insight)
May 1, 2009... Byline: Dave Lindorff After years of rapid expansion, exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, have slowed in growth as the economy declines. Indeed, many ETFs that tracked more exotic indexes have been closed and unwound, while others languish...