Annuity Market News articles from March 2001

Annuity Market News archives from March 2001

Bank Annuity Sales Set Record in 2000.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... A cold wind blew through the financial markets last year, but it did not chill overall sales of annuities through banks. Sales through banks for the year reached $32 billion, an all-time record and a 20 percent increase over 1999, according to...

NASD Cites Annuities Sales Practices.(National Association of Securities Dealers )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The National Association of Securities Dealers last month announced six enforcement actions against five firms and one individual for the improper marketing and sale of variable annuities. Enforcement actions were announced Feb. 15 against...

NAVA Adopts Tortoise and Hare.(National Association for Variable Annuities advertising campaign)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PHOENIX, Ariz. The National Association for Variable Annuities unveiled a new print and television advertising campaign at its marketing conference here last month. The ads, created by Avrett Free Ginsberg of New York, star "Earnie," a rabbit...

Distributors Appeal for Education.(Annuity distributors conference information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PHOENIX, Ariz. Above all, annuity product distributors need to be educated on the products they are selling and need to have simple, relevant information to pass on to their customers, according to representatives of distribution companies....

Nationwide Builds Offshore Sales.(Nationwide Financial Services (Bermuda))
March 1, 2001... Non-resident aliens, who control 50 percent of the world's wealth and who are in need of a stable economic environment in which to save for retirement, represent an enormous potential market for offshore products, according to Joseph J. Gasper,...

At Deadline.(brief industry acquisition information)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Hartford Will Acquire Fortis Financial Group for $1.12 Billion The Hartford Financial Services Group of Simsbury, Conn. has agreed to purchase Fortis Financial Group, the variable life insurance and annuity businesses and proprietary mutual...

Tax Cuts Could Hurt Annuity Industry.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PHOENIX, Ariz. Insurance industry products and variable annuities in particular have always been targets for government revenue-raising measures due to their tax-preferred treatment, according to Stephen Zimmerman, a partner at Dykema Gossett...

Losses Prompt Executive's Resignation.(Roger Eigsti, CEO of SAFECO Asset Management Co.)
March 1, 2001... The CEO and chairman of SAFECO of Seattle, who had been with the company nine years, left at the end of last year, after the company's board of directors complained about SAFECO's earnings performance, according to SAFECO. Roger Eigsti,...

Bank Broker-Dealers Suffer Setback.(industry information)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Investors ran for cover during last year's fourth quarter, dampening the productivity of broker-dealers selling investment products through banks. Bank broker-dealers averaged $19,737 a month in gross commissions on sales of financial...