Annuity Market News articles from January 2004

Annuity Market News archives from January 2004

At Deadline.(immediate variable annuities)
January 1, 2004... Immediate VA Sales Down But Income Committal Up Sales of immediate variable annuities (IVAs) have been down, but carriers are increasingly devoting resources to promoting retirement income, according to a survey by the Diversified Services...

Insurers Launch Proprietary No-Load VAs.(variable annuity)
January 1, 2004... Aiming to both retain and garner new assets, Integrity Life of Stamford, Conn., has launched a no-load variable annuity for wrap accounts. And Fidelity Investments, Transamerica and Phoenix Home Life soon will have similar products on the...

Risk Still a Critical Factor for Variables.
January 1, 2004... In the past several months, Tillinghast-Towers Perrin has issued two reports that cover the variable annuity marketplace: "Focus on Variable Annuity Market," an update published in September, and the product-related section of its Life...

MetLife Promotes Immediate Annuities.
January 1, 2004... As part of its multi-million-dollar retail advertising push to build consumer awareness of life insurance, MetLife, New York, has launched a business-to-business advertising campaign for income annuities. "It's an outgrowth of a lot of...

People Moves.(Joseph J. Gasper, president and COO of Nationwide Financial Services Inc., will retire in May)(Matt Schiffman has joined Prudential Annuities as executive vice president in charge of leading sales and distribution)
January 1, 2004... Gasper Leaving Nationwide Joseph J. Gasper, president and COO of Nationwide Financial Services Inc., will retire from the U.S. retirement savings arm of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., in May. He will be succeeded by SVP and CFO Mark...

GE Insurance Ops To Be Publicly Offered.(GE Insurance Solutions Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... GE has announced that it plans on making an initial public offering (IPO) of the bulk of its insurance and mortgage insurance operations. The new company will be called Genworth Financial, and the company will be issuing the IPO in the first...

Manulife Boasts Best In-Person Wholesalers.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Manulife Financial has earned top honors for its in-person variable annuity wholesaling in the rankings of the 2003 Dalbar Financial Professional Program survey. The Dalbar study compiles its list of top-ten market leaders from results of...

Goal Setting Allays Retirement Fears.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Setting savings goals is important in creating confidence about retirement, finds a survey from Manulife USA. Only half of Americans in the workplace have tried doing so, however. "Again and again, 401(k) participants have told us what a...

New Portal Tracks Insurance M&A.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... For anybody interested in keeping track of mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry, there is a new source for that information available at InsuranceNewsNet.com. The "Mergers & Acquisitions Scoreboard" is sponsored by...

Investor Psychology Important for Retirement Planning.
January 1, 2004... WASHINGTON - A judicious dose of investor psychology could mean a big difference in marketing retirement products. Daniel Kahneman, a psychology professor from Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., provided some insight into investors'...

Even Professionals Make Irrational Financial Decisions.
January 1, 2004... Doctors, lawyers and CPAs are prone to making irrational financial decisions, according to a study sponsored by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Milwaukee. The survey of over 2,700 professionals revealed three key blind spots that...