Annuity Market News articles from November 2003

Annuity Market News archives from November 2003

At Deadline.(National Western Life Insurance Co settles lawsuit)
November 1, 2003... National Western Life Settles Bonus Lawsuit for $10 Million National Western Life Insurance Co. has settled a Michigan-based class action suit that challenged the bonus interest rate paid by the company. The settlement allows for a maximum...

IRS Clarifies Hedge Fund Investments.
November 1, 2003... A recent IRS revenue ruling gives the green light for hedge funds to be wrapped in variable annuities or variable life insurance policies. But there are strict limits on how the product should be structured. Only accredited investors...

Insurers Explore Offshore Reinsurance.
November 1, 2003... With carriers worrying about the effect of possible changes in variable annuity death benefit reserving, many are considering alternatives for dealing with increased capital requirements. One method is for insurers to create their own offshore...

Funds' Move into 403(b)s Exaggerated.
November 1, 2003... Recent reports that mutual fund companies may be elbowing their way into an established preserve of annuity underwriters, 403(b) plans for employees of education and charitable organizations, may be overstated, according to insurance...

Manulife, John Hancock Join Forces.(Manulife Financial, Joh Hancock Financial)
November 1, 2003... Canadian insurer Manulife Financial and Boston-based John Hancock Financial joined forces in late September in a $10.4 billion stock swap, one of the insurance industry's biggest deals ever. The transaction follows closely on the heels of AXA's...

People Moves.
November 1, 2003... Allstate Gets New CMO Joseph V. Tripodi has joined Allstate Financial as senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Tripodi replaces Robert Apatoff and comes on board at a time when the company is in the process of consolidating...

Hancock Equips Agents With Sales Tools Via Web.(John Hancock Life Insurance Co.)
November 1, 2003... When CD drives started becoming standard fare in laptop computers, insurers began arming the sellers of their products with discs stuffed with information to help them make their sales. The drawback to that approach, though, is that the...

Underwritten Annuities Can Help with Long-Term Care.(Industry Overview)
November 1, 2003... This is part two of a two-part special on underwritten products. Part one, in the October issue, examined moderately impaired underwritten annuities. This article examines how underwritten annuities allow individuals to self-insure for...