Insurers increasingly are using trail commissions for fixed annuities to give finan-cial advisers an additional incentive to cultivate long-term client relationships.
Postnuptial agreements are gaining popularity as an estate-planning tool, and some hedge funds and private-equity firms have asked their top executives to sign them to protect their companies in case of a messy divorce, according to attorneys and financial advisers.
CHICAGO — According to a recent report, there is ample opportunity for financial advisers to work with clients who own company stock using a little-known technique called net unrealized appreciation.
Borrowers are turning to other providers, but don’t expect banks to die out any time soon, the Fed chief said today.
AIG has sued former chairman Maurice R. Greenberg and ex-CFO Howard I. Smith for more than $1 billion in damages, published reports said.
The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has tapped Thomas M. Marra to take on the combined position of president and chief operating officer.
More insurers are offering riders that include long-term-care coverage in life insurance policies.
The IRS has put a damper on a tax saving strategy that has been used by some investors with fee-based accounts.
PHILADELPHIA — With help from Barclays Global Investors, a California 401(k) record keeper has created a new platform intended to break the mutual fund stranglehold on the 401(k) market.
One of AIG's subprime units settled with the Office of Thrift Supervision over inappropriate loans to some borrowers and excessive fees.
Prudential Financial today announced that it would close its equity research and trading business, with a loss of some 420 jobs.
MetLife Inc.'s Investors Group has promoted Elizabeth M. Forget to senior vice president, the insurer said today.
An association has been formed to educate and advocate about issues relevant to 401(k) independent record keepers.
Great-West Life bought Boston-based Putnam Investments to obtain "instant recognition" in the U.S. market.
A retirement savings plan that covers more than 3.7 million federal workers may take a page from an increasing number of corporate 401(k) plan sponsors and institute automatic enrollment.
The fear of mergers-and-acquisition agreements’ going sour increasingly is being eased by insurance, according to industry experts.
WASHINGTON — The Investment Company Institute last week fought back against the life insurance industry’s attempt to get stable-value funds included as 401(k) default investment options.
NEW YORK — Advisers hoping to convince clients that they need a long-term financial plan should do their best to appeal to the prefrontal cortex of their clients’ brains — and steer clear of the limbic system altogether.
CHICAGO — Life cycle fever seems to be spreading from 401(k) plans to variable annuities. At ING Variable Annuities, for instance, assets in LifeStyle portfolios — which were introduced as ING-managed subaccounts in mid-2004 — reached $8 billion at the end of April, up from more than $4 billion at the end of 2005.
NEW YORK — A key roadblock to health savings account acceptance is that many people know little or nothing about HSAs and their required high-deductible health insurance plans, according to industry experts.
