Friday, October 30, 2009

 

Shares Of Mortgage Insurers Jump On Tax-Credit Hopes

Shares of mortgage and life insurers jumped Thursday on optimism about the extension of the home-buyer tax credit and solid earnings by Lincoln National Corp. (LNC).

Senators struck a deal late Wednesday to extend a tax credit for home buyers beyond those buying their first house...

WSJ: Shares Of Mortgage Insurers Jump On Tax-Credit Hopes (Subscription required)

 

California AG Wants Pay Option ARM Answers

California attorney general Edmund Brown Jr. today sent a letter to 10 major bank and loan servicers in the state calling for the disclosure of their detailed plans to help certain homeowners manage the drastic payment increases on their pay option adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs)... California homeowners hold nearly 60% of the nation’s pay option ARMs originated between 2004 and 2008, the attorney general’s office said. Nationally, about 1m of these loans are schedule to reset in the next four years, creating higher payments for many loans on the brink of negative equity.

California accounted for more than 25% of the nation’s foreclosure activity in Q309...

Housing Wire: California AG Wants Pay Option ARM Answers

 

Financial Reform: Other Testimony

...the financial regulatory hearing had one of the most outrageous pieces of testimony that I have heard in a long time from the ABA:

It is critical that banks remain committed to the long-term. For banks to provide long-term loans to, and investment in, businesses, communities, and consumers’ futures, banks must not have their loans and investments marked to prices set in markets that are panicked or are over-exuberant. These are long-term investments, not day-to-day trades. Simply put, if FASB continues its effort regarding mark-to-market, the lesson learned from this financial disaster will be that long-term loans and investments will have their valuations destroyed, and therefore the bank will be destroyed...

Denninger: Financial Reform: Other Testimony

 

MetLife Swings To 3Q Loss On Investment Losses; Shares Fall

MetLife Inc. (MET) swung to a third-quarter loss--its third in a row--on $1.4 billion in investment losses... But Chief Executive C. Robert Henrikson said the life insurer's operating earnings increased 18% "despite the current economic challenges." Sales also increased in the U.S. and internationally...

WSJ: MetLife Swings To 3Q Loss On Investment Losses; Shares Fall (Subscription required)

 

Reverse Mortgage Brokers Are No Angels

A few days ago, I put up a spoofy post called “Five Jobs for Lousy Times and No Talent Necessary.” One of my top picks was reverse mortgage broker. My reasoning: As the population ages and taps out any retirement savings left after the financial crisis, reverse mortgages, which are available only to homeowners over age 62, will become a growth industry...

MoneyWatch: Reverse Mortgage Brokers Are No Angels

 

New York State Is So Broke It Steals From Itself To Pay Off Unapproved Debt

...A new report by NY state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli entitled "Highway Robbery: State's ailing road and bridges robbed; State siphoned money to pay for operations and debt service" tells you all you need to know about just how prosperous the ailing economy really is. According to DiNapoli, "only one-third of the money in the Highway and Bridge Trust Fund has actually been used to pay for highways and bridges. The rest has been siphoned off to pay for debt service on back-door borrowing and to fund operational costs for the DMV and the state Department of Transportation..."

Zero Hedge: New York State Is So Broke It Steals From Itself To Pay Off Unapproved Debt

Thursday, October 29, 2009

 

Ongoing Agony of the Banks

It is hardly surprising that GMAC is circling back to the government for a third helping of taxpayer money. GMAC is struggling under the double whammy of bad car loans and the fallout from its misguided foray into mortgage finance at the height of the housing bubble. After the government applied stress tests to the banks last May, it was the only big bank that could not raise the capital it was deemed to need...

NYT: Ongoing Agony of the Banks

 

Turkey Dumps US Dollar For Trade With Iran And China

One by one, countries are taking steps to un-dollarize their economy. The latest is Turkey... From Russian newspaper RIA:

Turkey is switching to national currencies in trade with Iran and China, ending dependence on the U.S. dollar and the euro for about 20% of its commodity turnover, local media reported on Wednesday...

Insider: Turkey Dumps US Dollar For Trade With Iran And China

 

The Collapse Of The Muni Bond Market

With most investors' eyes glued to equities and corporate bonds, and to a much greater extent, US Treasurys, many are ignoring the storm clouds gathering over the traditionally much more boring, income oriented municipal bond market. A recent research piece by welling@weeden covers most of the question marks vis-a-vis the muni market, although with proclamations such as "the municipal market will probably repeat the pattern of the sub-prime collapse...

Zero Hedge: The Collapse Of The Muni Bond Market

 

State Senate dumps auto insurance reform bill

State Senators voted down a bill to streamline the price setting of auto insurance premiums. The bill, which failed by a margin of 21-14 would have banned insurance companies from determining rates based on risky regions, such as urban areas with high vehicle theft...

Connect Mid-Michigan: State Senate dumps auto insurance reform bill

 

Northwestern Mutual to Exceed $4.7 Billion in Dividends Paid to Policyowners in 2010

The Board of Trustees of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company has approved a dividend payout of more than $4.7 billion for participating policyowners for the year 2010, an increase of $200 million over its 2009 payout...

Reuters: Northwestern Mutual to Exceed $4.7 Billion in Dividends Paid to Policyowners in 2010

 

Lincoln National 3Q Profit Up 3.3% On Gain From Asset Sale

Lincoln National Corp.'s (LNC) third-quarter profit--its first profit in a year--rose 3.3% on a gain from an asset sale.

Shares rose 9.4% to $24.35 in after-hours trading as the life insurer and variable-annuity provider topped Wall Street's expectations and gave a positive report on customer reaction to its revamped annuity products...

WSJ: Lincoln National 3Q Profit Up 3.3% On Gain From Asset Sale (Subscription required)

 

Paul Tudor Jones: Why Gold Will Soar

Paul Tudor Jones appears to have shifted from the bear market rally camp to the bull market camp. As of our last update he was firmly in the position that the market had rallied too much and was due for a downturn. Late last summer Tudor Jones stated his desire not to chase the 45% rally in stocks and rather, buy into an autumn downturn in anticipation for a year end rally...

Insider: Paul Tudor Jones: Why Gold Will Soar

 

The Allure of a Tax Deferred Annuity

Annuity holders have many options to choose from when it comes to investing in an annuity. Each type, whether it’s a fixed, variable or indexed annuity, contains its own advantages and disadvantages and caters to a specific group. But a recently published article on InsuranceAgents.com suggests holders looking to build their wealth in an easy and tax-free way should invest in a tax deferred annuity...

INN: The Allure of a Tax Deferred Annuity

 

It's The Worst-Ever Credit Crunch On Main Street

That's how David Goldman describes the current situation, and he's right... These two charts from the St. Louis Fed tell the story. The first one is year-over-year change in commercial and industrial loans. It's still getting worse. The second one shows bank ownership of government securities -- i.e. the risk-free assets that banks are buying with their money, instead of lending it into the private sector...

Insider: It's The Worst-Ever Credit Crunch On Main Street

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

 

Deal Reached on Bank Crackdown

A deal between the Treasury Department and a key House Democrat would give the government sweeping new powers to police the country's largest financial companies, including the ability to seize and break up failing companies and order large firms to shrink...

WSJ: Deal Reached on Bank Crackdown

 

Treasury, GMAC in talks for 3rd round of US aid

Treasury says auto lender GMAC in talks for billions more in taxpayer funds to boost capital

GMAC, the former lending arm of General Motors Co., is in talks with the Treasury Department for a third injection of taxpayer aid, a further sign of the U.S. government's entrenchment in the U.S. auto industry...

Yahoo!: Treasury, GMAC in talks for 3rd round of US aid

 

People & Pay

The premiere FA Insight Study shows how the best firms get and stay that way: by investing in their people

...In 2008 about three of every four dollars spent by advisory firms was related to compensating or developing people (see Chart 1: Investing in People). People can be an overwhelming cost component for firms, especially in the current business climate. Much more than simply a cost, however, human capital is an asset that must be constantly invested in, nurtured, and allowed to grow in order for firms to enjoy long-term success...

Investment Advisor: People & Pay

 

Research and Markets: 2010 U.S. Life Insurance Carriers Industry Report

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "2010 U.S. Life Insurance Carriers Industry Report" report to their offering...

Reuters: Research and Markets: 2010 U.S. Life Insurance Carriers Industry Report

 

Prudential 3Q group sales up 10 percent

Prudential PLC, Britain's largest life insurer, said Wednesday that third quarter retail sales grew 10 percent to 699 million pounds ($1.14 billion) as its Jackson National Life Insurance unit in the United States set a hot pace with a 66 percent gain...

Business Week: Prudential 3Q group sales up 10 percent,

 

AIG Dismantled By Asian, European Buyers as U.S. Dollar Plunges

American International Group Inc., once the world’s largest insurer, is being dismantled by Asian and European buyers spurred by the plunge in the dollar and a dearth of U.S. bidders...

Bloomberg: AIG Dismantled By Asian, European Buyers as U.S. Dollar Plunges

 

Liberty Mutual CEO: Competitor Still Pricing Too Low

Commercial insurance prices are still falling, and one insurance executive puts the blame on a competitor.

Pricing "borders on the irrational," as one big insurer "not allowed to spend taxpayer money on compensation" is instead "spending it on ridiculously low prices," in effect using its taxpayer bailout to cover the costs of underpricing, said Edmund F. Kelly, chief executive of mutual commercial insurer Liberty Mutual Group Inc...

WSJ: Liberty Mutual CEO: Competitor Still Pricing Too Low

 

Lawyer disbarred for auto insurance fraud

Charles L. Lonardo, once the area's top personal injury lawyer who went to jail after being convicted for auto insurance fraud, has been barred from practicing law in Massachusetts...

Eagle Tribune: Lawyer disbarred for auto insurance fraud

 

L.A.: Lawyers, Chiropractors Arrested in Major Auto Fraud Ring

Nearly two dozen men and women, including lawyers and chiropractors, were arrested Tuesday, accused in a large scale auto insurance fraud ring that netted more than $450,000... Four lawyers and four chiropractors are among those arrested, according to Deputy District Attorney Gregory Alker of the Automobile Insurance Fraud Division.

The attorneys and chiropractors are accused of defrauding 15 insurance companies by allegedly filing false claims for staged accidents... involving more than 300 suspects...

KTLA: Lawyers, Chiropractors Arrested in Major Auto Fraud Ring

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

 

ING to spin off insurance unit

ING Group NV has decided to split its insurance and banking operations and eventually divest the insurance operations, the company announced Monday.

The changes mean uncertainty for the company’s Des Moines operations, home of ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Co. The Dutch financial services company employs approximately 1,100 people in the metro area...

Des Moines Register: ING to spin off insurance unit

 

Two Subsidiary Units of the Phoenix Companies Sued for Fraud

PHL Variable Insurance Company ("PHL") and Phoenix Life Insurance Company ("Phoenix") have been sued in lawsuits alleging, among other things, that the insurance companies targeted elderly individuals to purchase multi-million dollar life insurance policies with the false representation that the life insurance policies may be freely transferred or assigned. According to California attorney Gerald Kroll, this may be the largest life insurance litigation of its type...

Reuters: Two Subsidiary Units of the Phoenix Companies Sued for Fraud Over Life Insurance Policies With Combined Face Value of More Than 1/4 Billion Dollars

 

AARP: Reform advocate and insurance salesman

Seniors group makes millions from royalties on health plans

The nation's preeminent seniors group, AARP, has put the weight of its 40 million members behind health-care reform, saying many of the proposals will lower costs and increase the quality of care for older Americans.

But not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been the group's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that could come its way from many of the reform proposals...

WaPo: AARP: Reform advocate and insurance salesman

 

Take a load off: New York Life set to tweak immediate annuities to draw advisers

An executive at the company recently revealed that it will soon roll out a no-load version of its immediate annuity

New York Life Insurance Co. is preparing to launch a no-load version of its immediate annuity to target the fee-based-adviser market, according to Matthew Grove, its vice president.

“We are big believers in lifetime-income annuities,” he told attendees of a breakout session at the Money Management Institute's Fall Solutions Conference in New York last week...

Investment News: Take a load off: New York Life set to tweak immediate annuities to draw advisers

 

Security Mutual: Immediate Annuity Has Liquidity

A new immediate annuity includes several liquidity options that are designed to appeal to baby boomers.

Issued by Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, the policy provides a guaranteed lifetime income for the purchaser and also allows the annuitant to receive unscheduled lump sum payments via the liquidity options.

One liquidity option allows partial withdrawals as of the fifth, 10th, and 15th contract anniversaries, according to the Binghamton, N.Y., insurer.

Another liquidity option, available with term certain annuities, permits the owner to withdraw the present value of the remaining term certain payments...

National Underwriter: Immediate Annuity Has Liquidity

 

Is the Twitter Appeal Dropping for Insurers?

Is Twitter losing its excitement for the insurance industry or has it become just one task too many in a busy day. Twitter does require a lot of time and effort, it needs to be monitored, and you need to think about what the objective of the next ‘tweet’ might be; to direct traffic to the blog, to the website, to help drive up follower count?

In the last measurement period, the number of tweets posted by insurance company tweeters fell for the first time since we started measuring. This has not stopped the growth in followers; the increase is still impressive. But why this drop in activity at a time of the year when you might expect the opposite? In some companies we spoke to, a busy September for marketing personnel just took time away from twitter. In other companies, it was the maturity of social media causing the slow down, more people wanting to understand the strategy – the too many cooks syndrome...

Customer Respect: Is the Twitter Appeal Dropping for Insurers?

 

Alleged Ponzi scheme victim says trust betrayed

Before a federal indictment last week accused Julia Ann Schmidt of Whitney of a large-scale Ponzi scheme, a 50-year-old businessman was driving the streets of Waco, looking to map the ruse that he claims cost him $100,000.

But address by address, Lynn Byrom says, he became more convinced that the business cards he’d been given were phony. The people he believed were ensuring big returns on his money had never heard of the woman he knew as Ann Schmidt...

Waco Tribune: Alleged Ponzi scheme victim says trust betrayed

 

Increasing Signs Of Stress At Citi?

A reader sends in this morsel from Citi, offering to take (and keep quiet about) a 47% loss on a Citi credit card account if only the user will pay before year's end. A few things occur to us on reading this letter:

1. If widespread, this would appear to be awfully desperate on Citi's part. Perhaps, combined with the massive spike in APR we've seen elsewhere, things are beginning to slip? Of course, this is mere speculation based on a single anecdotal case but it does make us very curious...

Zero Hedge: Increasing Signs Of Stress At Citi?

 

Jeremy Grantham: Sucker's Rally Almost Over

Jeremy Grantham of Boston-based GMO called the crash. He also called the rally. He also called a whole bunch of stuff before that--although, as he is the first to admit, like other value folks, he does have the habit of being early.

Not this time, though.

Within days of the March low, Jeremy published "Reinvesting While Terrified," in which he observed that it was time to bet the farm. He soon called for a stimulus-fueled rally that would take the S&P 500 to 1000-1100, which is where we are now. He also laid out his expectation that the market would then move sideways for 7 years...

Insider: Jeremy Grantham: Sucker's Rally Almost Over

Monday, October 26, 2009

 

'Huge potential for Indian life insurance market amid challenges’

With the uptick in the economy, the Indian life insurance market has regained the positive growth in terms of new business premium (NBP) this year. While India remains the most promising market due to its inherent advantages over China, it is not without challenges...

India Times: 'Huge potential for Indian life insurance market amid challenges’

 

Finance advisers mostly a sales force, report says

THE financial advice industry has been dealt a blow with evidence that some of its biggest names - AMP, Colonial, and BT - are mostly telling clients simply to buy products offered by their parent companies.

A report obtained by the Herald shows that despite widespread calls for the industry to reform, financial advisers working for leading fund managers almost invariably advise clients to invest in their parent company's superannuation products...

Brisbane Times (Australia): Finance advisers mostly a sales force, report says

 

The details on annuities tell a different story than all the hype

My internal alarm goes off automatically whenever someone tells me that their adviser has recommended moving all their money into annuities. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for annuities in some portfolios, and when annuities are the perfect fit, go for it...

I have worked in financial services for many years and was fully licensed in variable, life and health insurance as well as securities. I saw circumstances when annuities played a role in a comprehensive strategy to assure guaranteed income in retirement. But now I am hearing about people putting all of their money in annuities, even their IRA's, so I am wondering when did annuities became a one size fits all product?

Nevada Appeal: The details on annuities tell a different story than all the hype

 

Big earnings announcements in Life Insurance industry this week; MET, LNC, GNW, RGA, DFG

...MetLife, Inc. (MET) is the biggest announcement (in terms of market cap) in the industry this week on Thursday. The company has posted a 8.10% gain in stock price since about the time of its last earnings release, while the Life Insurance industry overall has returned 12.72% gain in the same period.

Investors will watch the MET release closely as it may be an indicator for the stocks that follow it this week in the same industry and the overall health of the group...

Learning Markets: Big earnings announcements in Life Insurance industry this week; MET, LNC, GNW, RGA, DFG

 

Guardian Insurance Cancels Policies in Certain States

Guardian Life Insurance, a New York-based insurance company, has begun canceling lines of coverage and specific policies in entire states in order to avoid paying high-cost claims; they are canceling coverage in entire states, such as Colorado, and certain policies in states such as New York, New Jersey and South Carolina because they are barred from discriminating specifically against policyholders that file large claims each month. The company only took aim at the plans whose claims were the highest...

InjuryBoard: Guardian Insurance Cancels Policies in Certain States

 

Taking It To The Street(.com)

Jim "Dykstra Is One Of The Great Ones In The Business" Cramer's thestreet.com appears to be suffering. The company failed to produce their 10-Q filing for the second quarter explaining that "the Company has identified an issue relating to its recording of certain revenue in a non-core business, Promotions.com, that the Company acquired in August 2007...." Nasdaq promptly sent thestreet.com an official notice of the firm's failure to comply with listing rules (to wit Rule 5250(c)(1)) and gave the firm until October 12th to explain themselves. Apparently, no explanation has been forthcoming (or at least if it has we have been unable to uncover it- EDGAR doesn't list ANY filings by the company after August) nor does it appear that Nasdaq has yet seen fit to bless thestreet.com with an extension. It seems just one of the latest hurdles for the sound effects driven firm. A literal "abandon ship" exercise seems to have gripped the company's executive and professional advisory corps...

Zero Hedge: Taking It To The Street(.com)

Friday, October 23, 2009

 

Roubini: A Big Crash Is Coming, But I Don't Believe In Gold

Nouriel Roubini believes that a "wall of liquidity" is chasing all kinds of assets, yet once the economy disappoints expectations, it will all come crashing down.

Yet for Dr. Doom, gold isn't the answer...

Business Insider: Roubini: A Big Crash Is Coming, But I Don't Believe In Gold

 

Freddie Mac Annualized Defaults Hit Record High At 7.3%, Even As Lending Increases

In September, Freddie Mac's loan defaults set an annualized record, after hitting a stunning 7.3%. Even worse, the rate of decline among single-family loans increased substantially month over month, from 3.13% in August to 3.33% in September, (and 1.22% in the prior year, just after the GSE's ended up being nationalized: a 270% increase YoY). The rate of defaults has now climbed for 28 straight months...

Zero Hedge: Freddie Mac Annualized Defaults Hit Record High At 7.3%, Even As Lending Increases

 

Bestselling Author Sues Wealth Management Firm

Bestselling crime novelist Patricia Cornwell has filed a lawsuit against a New York City wealth management firm that claims she lost multimillions because it mismanaged her income, business and investments.

Cornwell, her firm CEI Enterprises Inc. and her spouse, Harvard neuroscientist Staci Gruber, filed the lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts against Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP, a financial advisory and accounting firm that serves high-net-worth individuals...

FA Mag: Bestselling Author Sues Wealth Management Firm

 

CFPA Won’t Regulate Annuities, Life Insurance

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which was signed off by the House Financial Services Industry Committee earlier and is now headed to the House and Senate, will not regulate annuities and life insurance...

BIC: CFPA Won’t Regulate Annuities, Life Insurance

 

Editorial: Credit scoring is hurting insurance customers

If you have a few black marks on your credit history, you'll probably pay more to insure your home or car than your creditworthy neighbor – even if you're a good driver or responsible homeowner.

If this sounds unfair, it is...

Dallas News: Editorial: Credit scoring is hurting insurance customers

 

Investment Brokers In Two States Face Fraud Charges

Investors looking for a safe and profitable place to put their money still face the risk of fraud, unless they carefully select their broker or investment advisor. In the wake of the Bernard Madoff swindle, law enforcement officials continue to level charges against investment brokers they say violate not only the law, but investors' trust.

In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Tom Corbett has filed criminal charges against a Beaver County man accused of operating a $2 million "Ponzi scheme," defrauding credit unions in Armstrong, Westmoreland and Luzerne counties...

Consumer Affairs: Investment Brokers In Two States Face Fraud Charges

Thursday, October 22, 2009

 

Aviva Seeks Deal to Expand in U.S.

To Use Proceeds From Dutch Unit's Listing; Avoiding 'Toxic Characteristics'

Aviva PLC anticipates using some proceeds from selling shares in its Dutch financial-services unit for a deal that would help it expand its U.S. life-insurance operations, said Chief Executive Andrew Moss... U.K.-based Aviva, which operates across Europe and has some operations in Asia, is seeking ways to broaden the product line and sales channels of the Iowa-based insurer it bought in 2006, now called Aviva USA...

WSJ: Aviva Seeks Deal to Expand in U.S.

 

Pacific Life Ranked Number One in Indexed UL and Variable UL Sales

Pacific Life Insurance Company achieved across-the-board gains in sales rankings
for the second quarter of 2009, according to LIMRA International. The company
ranked number one in indexed universal life (IUL), variable universal life (VUL)
and survivorship VUL insurance sales.1

Pacific Life Insurance Company`s Pacific Indexed Accumulator III2 was also the
industry`s top-selling IUL product for Q2 2009, according to LifeSpecs...

Reuters: Pacific Life Ranked Number One in Indexed UL and Variable UL Sales

 

Viewpoint: Untapped Potential in Life Insurance

The middle-income market is significantly underinsured when it comes to life insurance. So why aren't these households flocking to their bank to buy this product? After all, they should be open to recommendations from their bankers, where trust regarding financial matters already is well established.

Bankers are increasingly called upon to function as advisors and financial planners as well as traditional service providers. Life insurance can be an important addition to the array of products offered by licensed bankers and series 7 financial advisors, acting as a "protective wrapper" for savings, 529 plans, retirement products and debt...

BIC: Viewpoint: Untapped Potential in Life Insurance

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

 

Fitch Expects CMBS Loss Severity To Rise Markedly Next Year

As anyone who has spent even a day looking at securitization tranching or CDS trading will tell you, there are two critical components to any investment that involves risky fixed income: cumulative loss probability and loss severity: the first tells about how likely any given security is to default within a given amount of time, while the second determines what the final recovery will be assuming there is an actual even of default. The two are usually tied in very closely, as any (forced) delays in reaching a default state usually come at the expense of exhausting any underlying asset value (and in some cases being primed by additional layer of debt which get a first look on assets in the case of liquidation).

Which is why today's announcement by Fitch that CMBS loss severity is expected to risk markedly next year should be viewed with extreme caution...

Zero Hedge: Fitch Expects CMBS Loss Severity To Rise Markedly Next Year

 

The Story Of 21 Year Old With The Underwater FHA Loan Is Even Worse Than You Think

A few days ago we told the story of Denise Tejada, the 21 year old California woman who bought a house with an FHA backed loan with almost no money down.

Readers were outraged...

...But as it turns out, the gamble was even more insane that we originally reported.

Business Insider: The Story Of 21 Year Old With The Underwater FHA Loan Is Even Worse Than You Think

 

MERS: This APPEARS To Be Unlawful!

This is interesting....

In mortgage foreclosure cases, the plaintiff has standing as the holder of the note and the mortgage. When MERS forecloses, MERS is the mortgagee and it is the holder of the note because a MERS officer will be in possession of the original note endorsed in blank, which makes MERS a holder of the bearer paper. MERS will not foreclose unless the note is endorsed in blank and held by MERS.

There's a key question as to whether those "assignments" by MERS are actually being performed by MERS, or whether they're effectively forgeries, as has been talked about before (e.g. it appears that the endorser is in fact an employee of the recipient of the note, not an officer of MERS), but we'll leave that one alone for now.

But....

Denninger: MERS: This APPEARS To Be Unlawful!

 

Fixing the Insurance Systems Ecosystem

By leveraging an enterprise architecture, insurance IT organizations can simplify their system portfolios, reducing maintenance burdens and improving development capabilities, according to 2006 Elite 8 honoree John Kellington, now SVP, ACORD.

Insurance CIOs have a very challenging role. In order to be successful, they require financial acumen, deep technical experience and an understanding of the supported business. Meanwhile the operational environment of managing hundreds of systems along with the need for new application development creates a resource strain that seems never-ending... This scenario will remain the same unless CIOs can fix their ecosystems...

I&T: Fixing the Insurance Systems Ecosystem

 

AXA to Sell Chinese Insurer Stake

French insurer AXA SA is looking to raise around $1 billion from the sale of its stake in China's fourth-largest life insurer, Taikang Life Insurance Co., according to people familiar with the situation... A sale of AXA's 15.6% stake in unlisted Taikang Life would represent the largest sale of a Chinese insurance asset in a year when a number of foreign banks have sold off major stakes in the Chinese financial sector to strengthen their balance sheets...

WSJ: AXA to Sell Chinese Insurer Stake

 

Insurers Offer Speed Underwriting

Registered reps who have shunned life insurance for their clients due to complex, time-consuming underwriting can breathe a sigh of relief. Insurers now offer “simplified issue underwriting,” a typically automated and more efficient medical underwriting process.

A 2009 survey by LIMRA of 29 insurance companies reveals that half of all types of simplified issue products can be underwritten in five days. And over 90 percent are completed within ten days. LIMRA defines the underwriting time as the “time from receipt of application to an offer of insurance being made/or the application being rejected.” By contrast, about half of the applications for a fully underwritten policy take at least 20 days to get an answer...

Registered Rep: Insurers Offer Speed Underwriting

 

Federal indictment details alleged Ponzi scheme involving 68-year-old Whitney woman

A four-page federal indictment alleges that 68-year-old Julia Ann Schmidt pretended to be a field manager for a Belgium-based investment firm and even hired a man to impersonate a company official to steal more than $500,000 in a large-scale Ponzi scheme...

Waco Tribune: Federal indictment details alleged Ponzi scheme involving 68-year-old Whitney woman

 

Variable Annuity Value Proposition Erodes

Mutual fund sales outpaced those of annuities during the second quarter, and more of the same is expected through next year.

Data released this month by Kehrer-Limra shows mutual fund sales up 55.9%, to $10.6 billion, in the quarter compared with the previous one and variable annuity sales up 17%, to $10.3 billion. Variable annuity sales were down 19.5% from a year earlier, and mutual funds sales were down 31.2%, according to the Princeton, N.J., research firm...

BIC: Variable Annuity Value Proposition Erodes

 

Blue Frog Solutions Launches AFFIRM for Annuities Compliance and Order Management

Blue Frog Solutions Launches AFFIRM(TM) for Annuities Compliance and Order
Management System Version 1.8


...Affirm(TM) for Annuities is a compliance and order management system designed to
integrate a carrier's complex product rules with a distributor's compliance
processing to generate transactions that are "in good order" (IGO)...

Reuters: Blue Frog Solutions Launches AFFIRM for Annuities Compliance and Order Management

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

 

Should Insider Trading Be Legalized?

[Enforcement seems] like an impossible task. In that case, why not just legalize insider trading? ...Amazingly enough, there are some who endorse this very idea.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, “You want more insider trading, not less. You want to give the people most likely to have knowledge about deficiencies of the company an incentive to make the public aware of that..."

Minyanville: Should Insider Trading Be Legalized?

 

Nicolas Cage Sues Ex-Manager for $20M

Nicolas Cage claims his "incompetent business manager, Samuel J. Levin ... lined his pockets with several million dollars in business management fees while sending Cage down a path toward financial ruin." Cage claims in Santa Monica Superior Court that Levin paid himself "millions of dollars" since 2001, while inflicting "catastrophic losses" on Cage from "highly speculative and risky real estate investments..."

Courthouse News: Nicolas Cage Sues Ex-Manager for $20M

 

California To Sue "Major Bank" Today -- It Is Keeping Which One A Secret

A penchant for build-up and suspense apparently is not limited to Hollywood.

California's attorney general's office announced yesterday that it would unveil a lawsuit alleging that a major bank committed fraud against Calpers and Calstrs, two of the United States' largest pension funds, Reuters reported...

Business Insider: California To Sue "Major Bank" Today -- It Is Keeping Which One A Secret

 

Cancer Survivor Sues Investment Advisor

A teenaged cancer survivor trusted a financial advisor with money to cover his treatment and future college expenses.

$25,000 raised in a fundraiser turned over to Michael "Red" Welke of growth partners Inc. But Alex Stowe says within months of writing the check he was shocked when Welke told him the money was gone...

WOWT: Cancer Survivor Sues Investment Advisor

 

Where The Hell Is The Outrage?

The number of articles and opinions on Goldman Sachs earnings, bonuses, and influence peddling over the past several days is quite stunning.

Many have pointed out the problems; few have expressed outrage over what is happening in general, not just at Goldman Sachs. Let's take a look...

GEA: Where The Hell Is The Outrage?

 

The Changing Mindset Of Variable Annuity (VA) Providers

A year ago it was hard for me to keep variable annuity (VA) wholesalers out of my office. The features offered by various insurance companies would change so rapidly that I'd have to take meetings to stay up-to-date.* There was essentially a competition between insurers to load more and greater guarantees onto their products to attract the most new money. But when the stock market started collapsing, the reaction by insurers was very interesting. You see, the majority of annuity contract holders never use the guarantees they pay for. The rider expenses and other fees paid by contract holders which provide them the peace-of-mind they are looking for also keep the insurance companies running profitable businesses...

iStockAnalyst: The Changing Mindset Of Variable Annuity (VA) Providers

Monday, October 19, 2009

 

CA: Is the Home Affordable Modification Program Helping?

California is still unable to find the key to job growth. Last Friday new data showed that the California unemployment rate broke through another record coming in at 12.2 percent. Data for August was revised upward to 12.3 percent. Good news right? Well the reason the unemployment rate fell in September was because thousands of Californians gave up looking for work...

DHB: CA: Is the Home Affordable Modification Program Helping?

 

BB&T report slumps as credit issues weigh

BB&T Corp (BBT.N) said on Monday third-quarter profit fell 56 percent as continuing credit issues weighed on results.

Net income for the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based company was $157 million, or 23 cents per share, down from $362 million, or 65 cents, a year earlier...

Reuters: BB&T report slumps as credit issues weigh

 

8 Trades the Insiders Allegedly Made

The government's case in what it is calling the largest insider trading case involving a U.S. hedge fund contains a detailed list of trades involving household-name companies.

Investigators have pieced together a case that alleges more than $25 million in illegal gains based on trading in 2006-09 on companies including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Akamai (AKAM), Clearwire (CLWR), Google (GOOG), Hilton, Polycom (PLCM) and Sun Microsystems (JAVA), among others...

Yahoo!: 8 Trades the Insiders Allegedly Made

 

Head of L.A.'s largest city pension agency resigns

The president of Los Angeles' largest employee retirement system has resigned, becoming the sixth pension appointee of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to quit over the last six months...

LA Times: Head of L.A.'s largest city pension agency resigns

 

Firms eye embedded guarantees to lure advisers

Many firms, including Pimco, Russell Investments and John Hancock, are planning or discussing the addition of guarantees to their mutual funds to provide scared investors with a floor on their investments, but advisers are skeptical about such promises...

Investment News: Firms eye embedded guarantees to lure advisers

 

Insurance sales without the paper trail

The mountain of paper advisers create when they sell an insurance policy or annuity contract is about to shrink... A subsidiary of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. today is launching Attachments, a technology platform designed to reduce paper processing for insurance carriers and their distribution networks...

Investment News: Insurance sales without the paper trail

Friday, October 16, 2009

 

Beverly Hills investment advisor pleads guilty in Ponzi scam

A Beverly Hills investment advisor accused of using millions of dollars from investors to bankroll girlfriends' businesses and finance a movie pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal fraud charges that could lead to 20 years in jail.

Michael E. McCready, 47, admitted to swindling at least 25 clients out of $9 million in a Ponzi scheme in which new clients' money was used to pay off other investors...

LA Times: Beverly Hills investment advisor pleads guilty in Ponzi scam

 

At foreclosure auctions, broken dreams on sale

The seven-bedroom, three-bath house in this city's West Garfield Park neighborhood had once been someone's American Dream.

But at a recent auction of about 100 foreclosed houses and condos, it was just Property No. 20 -- and drawing no bids from a roomful of buyers despite its bargain-basement price [of $7,000]...

Yahoo! News: At foreclosure auctions, broken dreams on sale

 

Protective Closes $800 Million of Debt Offerings and the Repurchase of Surplus Notes

Protective Life Corporation ("Protective") (NYSE: PL) confirmed today that on October 9, 2009 it closed on offerings of $400 million of its senior notes due in 2019, $100 million of its senior notes due in 2024, and $300 million of its senior notes due in 2039, for an aggregate principal amount of $800 million...

...Protective used the net proceeds to purchase $800 million of newly issued
surplus notes from its indirect wholly-owned insurance subsidiary, Golden Gate
Captive Insurance Company ("Golden Gate")...

Reuters: Protective Closes $800 Million of Debt Offerings and the Repurchase of Surplus Notes

 

NAIC Moves To Reevaluate Some Rating Firm Work

State regulators, possibly within days, will approve the hiring of a firm to reassess the evaluations of 17,600 residential mortgage-backed securities downgraded by the major credit rating firms, an official said.

A request for proposals to evaluate the securities is being prepared by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, according to Hampton Finer, a New York deputy insurance commissioner. The NAIC is acting on a request by a life insurer trade group...

P&C: NAIC Moves To Reevaluate Some Rating Firm Work

 

AIG To Report $1.4 Billion Loss Net Of Tax On Nan Shan Sale

American International Group Inc.'s (AIG) $2.15 billion sale of its Taiwan life insurance unit will result in a $1.4 billion loss...

WSJ: AIG To Report $1.4 Billion Loss Net Of Tax On Nan Shan Sale (Subscription required)

 

Pacific Life Makes Tracking Performance of Life Insurance Policies Easier

...Planned Performance Tracking automates and simplifies many of the time-consuming service tasks around life insurance. With a few clicks, a life insurance professional can:

* Compare the values projected in a baseline illustration against a current in-force illustration so adjustments can be made, if needed, to help keep a policy`s performance on track.
* Send new business or in-force illustrations from Navigator to Planned Performance Tracking to create a baseline for benchmarking.
* Schedule future in-force illustrations, which include a Policy Tracking Report, by creating a baseline with Navigator and sending it to Planned Performance Tracking...

Reuters: Pacific Life Makes Tracking Performance of Life Insurance Policies Easier

 

Inflation: Good for Annuities?

Supporters of annuity plans, who often bill them as "personal pensions," are touting their recession era durability and pushing for federal tax breaks they say will advance their adoption.

The economic downturn seems to have had no ill effect on the immediate annuity market, which saw sales increase 30% in 2008, even as financial markets crashed...

Main Street: Inflation: Good for Annuities?

 

The Ongoing Cover Up of the Truth Behind the Financial Crisis May Lead to Another Crash

William K. Black - professor of economics and the senior regulator during the S & L crisis - says that that the government's entire strategy now - as during the S&L crisis - is to cover up how bad things are ("the entire strategy is to keep people from getting the facts")...

Zero Hedge: The Ongoing Cover Up of the Truth Behind the Financial Crisis May Lead to Another Crash

 

Georgia Real Estate: Hard Hit By The Recession

The current housing forecast for the state of Georgia looks less than sunny. Evidence of this can be seen in images of Atlanta developments vacated mid-completion, historic Savannah properties in foreclosure, and in Augusta, military families being displaced because of delinquent mortgages. Severe job losses and a struggling economy have eroded housing prices in this once booming southern market, with Atlanta faring worst, as its residential deflation is projected to exceed 14% for 2009...

NuWire Investor: Georgia Real Estate: Hard Hit By The Recession

Thursday, October 15, 2009

 

Push on to expand $8,000 tax credit

Some want to expand the tax credit for homebuyers. Supporters say it could stem price declines. Critics say it would just be a costly, temporary fix.

Congress is considering proposals to greatly expand a soon-to-expire $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers -- potentially applying it to all but the wealthiest homebuyers...

CNN: Push on to expand $8,000 tax credit

 

Annuity Sales Dip Sharply in Second Quarter

Bank holding company (BHC) annuity fee income was up in the first half of this year, despite a weak second quarter, according to the Michael White-ABIA Bank Annuity Fee Income Report released today.

Bank holding companies sold $1.33 billion of annuities in the first half of 2009, according to call reports submitted to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). That’s 1.7% higher than the same period in 2008, according to that FDIC data compiled by Michael White Associates, a consultant in Radnor, Pa...

BIC: Annuity Sales Dip Sharply in Second Quarter

 

Lincoln Financial Group Launches Lincoln GrowSmart Fixed Annuity

Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE:LNC) today announced the introduction of its new single purchase payment product, Lincoln GrowSmart(SM) fixed annuity offered through broker dealer distribution. This new retirement solution helps people secure their financial futures by offering guaranteed tax deferred growth without market risk and the protection of a guaranteed death benefit for clients' beneficiaries. The solution also offers clients the flexibility of multiple interest rate guarantee periods to meet their specific needs...

Reuters: Lincoln Financial Group Launches Lincoln GrowSmart(SM) Fixed Annuity

 

Home Foreclosures Rise 5% from Summer to Fall. Why? What else? Unemployment.

In the July to September quarter, foreclosures affected nearly 938,000 properties, compared to about 890,000 in the prior three months, according to a report by Realty Trac Inc.

Foreclosure-related filings are on pace to hit around 3.5 million in 2009, up from just 2.3 million last year... Unemployment is the culprit, and many analysts don’t expect this figure to peak till the middle of 2010...

Zero Hedge: Home Foreclosures Rise 5% from Summer to Fall. Why? What else? Unemployment

 

JPMorgan: "You Are Seeing Several Hundred Additional Smaller Regional Based Banks Go"

From the JPM Earnings call (full transcript below as we comb through it - numerous interesting datapoints):

Meredith Whitney: Will you comment on the last question timing of commercial real estate, if it's been waiting and when do you think it affects the industry? Do you have derivative exposure, meaning derivative to someone else's real estate exposure?

Zero Hedge: JPMorgan: "You Are Seeing Several Hundred Additional Smaller Regional Based Banks Go"

 

Ohio: High court fines companies $6M for alleged annuity scheme

The Ohio Supreme Court is making two out-of-state companies pay more than $6 million in fines, saying the firms preyed on thousands of elderly Ohioans in dispensing unauthorized legal advice and selling unnecessary annuities and other estate-planning products.

The state’s high court in a unanimous decision levied a $6.39 million fine on American Family Prepaid Legal Corp., Heritage Marketing and Insurance Services Inc. and co-owners Jeffrey and Stanley Norman. The fine stems from an estimated 3,800 instances of unauthorized law practice through a so-called “trust mill” the companies’ agents operated from 2003 to 2005...

BizJournals: High court fines companies $6M for alleged annuity scheme

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

 

"BofA Email: Shareholders Will Get Screwed"

The "good" news keeps coming for those pursuing claims against Bank of America.

Earlier this week they found out they will get their hands on documents that show what BofA's lawyers were telling it during the frantic time of the Merrill merger...

Business Insider: BofA Email: Shareholders Will Get Screwed

 

Paulson Buys 9.9% Of Insurer Conseco

After making repeated killings as a short (and being compensated for it), John Paulson is now actively looking for undervalued long opportunities (that are not misreported by the NYPost). Such seems to be the reasoning behind his latest disclosed involvement in insurer Conseco, where he is now the proud owner of 9.9% of the common stock after a $280 million investment...

Zero Hedge: Paulson Buys 9.9% Of Insurer Conseco

 

Southern California Housing Market: 60,000 Properties Listed on the MLS but over 100,000 in Shadow Inventory

You know things are going well for the economy when Bernard Madoff is fighting in prison over the stock market. Maybe the argument revolved around dollar cost averaging into this easy money rally. Here in California, specifically in Southern California there seems to be a lot of energy getting behind the housing bottom parade...

Doctor Housing Bubble: Southern California Housing Market: 60,000 Properties Listed on the MLS but over 100,000 in Shadow Inventory

 

SuperFreakonomics: 9/11 Cost Terrorists $300K, New Plots Include Life Insurance

...The September 11, 2001 tragedy was funded for little more than $300,000. Preventing a repeat is an obvious priority for many nations. Levitt and Dubner report that a British bank fraud expert has found that (university) students with first and last names of Muslim origin, making an initial deposit of about $4,000 followed by small withdrawals, not conducting transactions on Friday (mandatory prayer), renting, having a mobile phone, and not having life insurance are much more likely than others to be a terrorist - and suggest such an individual would reduce his odds of being detected by eg. buying life insurance...

Basil and Spice: SuperFreakonomics: 9/11 Cost Terrorists $300K, New Plots Include Life Insurance

 

Long-Term Care Annuities to Go Tax Free

Think shelling-out for your own home-health services, an assisted-living facility or nursing-home care may be in your future? Good news: Come New Year’s Day, these services can be yours tax-free.

Thanks to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, starting Jan. 1, 2010, you’ll no longer have to pay federal income tax on an annuity’s proceeds — if you use those proceeds to pay for long-term-care coverage. That means that the chronically ill or disabled will no longer have to rely solely on a regular long-term-care insurance policy or Medicaid to fund their medical and non-medical care...

SmartMoney: Long-Term Care Annuities to Go Tax Free

 

ING Launches My Retirement Outlook - Unique Web Planning Tool that Integrates Defined Benefit Analysis

ING's U.S. Retirement Services operations announced today that it has introduced a dynamic new web tool for customers - specifically education professionals using the ING Educator's Direct 403(b) offering in Delaware - to help them determine if they are on track to achieve their financial objectives in retirement.

The tool, My Retirement Outlook, takes a unique approach to retirement
planning by providing both a retirement and a paycheck analysis function for
users. It also integrates three main retirement income streams into the
calculation: 1) traditional pension plan (defined benefit) assets, 2) Social
Security benefits, and 3) personal savings...

Reuters: ING Launches My Retirement Outlook - Unique Web Planning Tool that Integrates Defined Benefit Analysis

 

Jury: Allianz deceived customers, but no damages

A federal jury has found that Allianz Life Insurance Co. used deceptive practices in selling certain annuities but awarded no monetary damages in the case, giving both sides reason to declare victory...

...The case centered around the sale of two-tiered index annuities between 2000 and 2007. Such annuities offer the buyer an option of annuitizing the policy, which means giving up the principal investment to the insurance company in exchange for a stream of income. However, fewer than 5 percent of customers annuitize. Those who do not annuitize do not receive the advertised upfront bonus...

Forbes: Jury: Allianz deceived customers, but no damages

 

A split decision in Allianz Life annuity lawsuit

Some experts wonder if verdict gives companies a license to deceive.

A four-year legal saga, which pitted hundreds of thousands of older Americans against an insurance giant from Golden Valley, has come to a quiet -- and seemingly contradictory -- end.

A federal jury ruled late Monday that Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America used deceptive practices in selling a certain type of investment product known as an equity-indexed annuity, which is linked to the stock market.

But in a surprising twist, the 11-person jury awarded no damages to the estimated 340,000 people nationwide who bought the annuities earlier this decade, noting that no one was directly harmed from the deceptive sales practices...

Star-Tribune: A split decision in Allianz Life annuity lawsuit

 

Thoughts on the Economy: Problems and Solutions

John Mauldin has proposed some interesting solutions for fixing the economy in his weekly E-Letter Killing The Goose. Let's take a look, first at the problem, then at various solutions.

Long-time readers know that I think the Fed has been able to get away with its rather large monetization program because of the massive deflationary forces let loose in the world by the credit crisis, which is forcing a monster deleveraging regime all over the world.

And this brings us to our conundrum. You cannot continue to run deficits significantly larger than nominal GDP for too long without risking the demise of the economic system...

Mish: Thoughts on the Economy: Problems and Solutions

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

 

Is The Dollar Doomed?

When Bloomberg runs articles like this, you have to wonder....

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two-quarter rout in almost two decades...

World leaders are acting on threats to dump the dollar while the Obama administration shows a willingness to tolerate a weaker currency in an effort to boost exports and the economy as long as it doesn’t drive away the nation’s creditors...

Denninger: Is The Dollar Doomed?

 

Gold Analysis, Real or False Breakout?

Gold has broken out above $1000 and everyone believes that it is headed towards $1500, $1200 being the immediate next target. Technically and otherwise, there has been lot of talk that Gold should be valued @ $2000 - $5000 range based on the real $$$ terms when compared to 1980's. However, if that were so easy, it would have already happened. Here are some of SB comments to the respective articles on the Internet...

Market Oracle: Gold Analysis, Real or False Breakout?

 

Five Major Pension Problems - One Simple Solution

Even with this huge rally in stocks and corporate bonds, pension plans are in incredibly poor shape...

The financial crisis has blown a hole in the rosy forecasts of pension funds that cover teachers, police officers and other government employees, casting into doubt as never before whether these public systems will be able to keep their promises to future generations of retirees... Within 15 years, public systems on average will have less half the money they need to pay pension benefits, according to an analysis by Pricewaterhouse Coopers...

Mish: Five Major Pension Problems - One Simple Solution

 

Guardian Life Covering Swine Flu Vaccine Costs

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, a mutual life insurer and provider of employee benefits for small and midsize companies, said Monday it will cover 100 percent of the costs of the swine flu vaccine for employees and eligible dependents enrolled in a fully insured Guardian medical plan...

NY Times: Guardian Life Covering Swine Flu Vaccine Costs

 

Insurance agent sentenced to 13 years in prison

A former Sacramento life insurance agent has been sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $434,000 in restitution for stealing from her clients to fund her gambling habit... Maria Elna Flora, 59, of Sacramento, was sentenced last week after pleading no contest to one count of first degree burglary and 11 counts of grand theft, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said Monday...

BizJournals: Insurance agent sentenced to 13 years in prison

 

Guardian Reopens Life Insurance Discussion with Life Insurance as an Asset Class Campaign

In an industry-leading effort to broaden the public's perception of the role of life insurance, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), one of the largest mutual life insurance companies and a leading provider of employee benefits, today announced the launch of a new awareness campaign designed to highlight the important role life insurance should play in a total financial strategy...

Reuters: Guardian Reopens Life Insurance Discussion with Life Insurance as an Asset Class Campaign

 

AIG sells Taiwan insurance unit for $2.15 billion

American International Group (AIG.N) has agreed to sell it's Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15 billion, a key step in its effort to raise cash after a U.S. government bailout last year saved the company from collapse...

Reuters: AIG sells Taiwan insurance unit for $2.15 billion

 

Coventry Praises California`s New Life Settlement Law

California`s Governor signed one of the strongest laws in the nation to regulate
life settlements, ensuring that California`s life insurance policyowners are
able to obtain the best value for life insurance policies that are likely to be
lapsed or surrendered...

Reuters: Coventry Praises California`s New Life Settlement Law

 

Aegon to raise $650 mln from life business

Dutch insurer Aegon (AEGN.AS) will make an extra $650 million in regulatory capital available to its U.S. operations by tapping future life insurance profits in a 10-year transaction with JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N).

Aegon said on Tuesday the deal is tied to a book of life insurance business. The company owns the U.S. insurer Transamerica, as well as other smaller brands...

Reuters: Aegon to raise $650 mln from life business

Monday, October 12, 2009

 

Writedowns on Mortgage Servicing Make Even JPMorgan Vulnerable

The four biggest U.S. banks by assets may have to take writedowns on $55 billion of mortgage- collection contracts after marking them up by $11 billion in the second quarter, casting a shadow over earnings. ...

Bloomberg: Writedowns on Mortgage Servicing Make Even JPMorgan Vulnerable

 

Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Banks Shift Reserves

Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two- quarter rout in almost two decades.

Policy makers boosted foreign currency holdings by $413 billion last quarter, the most since at least 2003, to $7.3 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nations reporting currency breakdowns put 63 percent of the new cash into euros and yen in April, May and June, the latest Barclays Capital data show. That’s the highest percentage in any quarter with more than an $80 billion increase...

Bloomberg: Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Banks Shift Reserves

 

The FINRA Trojan Horse

Registered investment advisors might soon have a new regulator. FINRA looks interested. This is not good news.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the self-regulatory organization ("SRO") for the broker-dealer ("BD") community. FINRA has 4,768 member firms that employ 645,670 registered representatives ("RRs")--that works out to about an average of 135 RRs per FINRA member.

In 2004, FINRA had 5,191 member firms. In the past five years alone, 423 BDs have vanished from the rolls of the SRO. Some 8.2% of FINRA's firms have apparently gone out of business since the onset of the Great Recession. That's a bad sign for the BD community and certainly hits FINRA in its own pocketbook, as its revenue comes from firms it regulates...

Forbes: The FINRA Trojan Horse

 

HRA or HSA? The ABCs of insurance

Q. How do I tell an HRA from an HSA?

HRAs are employer-funded accounts that help pay out-of-pocket costs. That money belongs to the company and stays with it if a worker leaves. In contrast, customers own health savings accounts, or HSAs, which let them set aside pre-tax dollars for health costs. Unused money stays in the accounts, earning interest...

Charlotte Observer: HRA or HSA? The ABCs of insurance

 

Insurance distributor reaches deal to offer UnitedHealthcare plans

One of the nation’s largest independent career agency distribution groups has reached a deal to sell four insurance plans from UnitedHealthcare’s Golden Rule Insurance Co...

IFA Web News: Insurance distributor reaches deal to offer UnitedHealthcare plans

 

The Financialization of Health and Everything Else in the Universe

...there is a huge untapped market of some 50 million people who are not paying insurance premiums—and the number grows every year because employers drop coverage and people can’t afford premiums. Solution? Health insurance “reform” that requires everyone to turn over their pay to Wall Street. Can’t afford the premiums? That is OK—Uncle Sam will kick in a few hundred billion to help out the insurers. Of course, do not expect more health care or better health outcomes because that has nothing to do with “reform”. “Heckuvajob” Baucus is more concerned about Wall Street’s insurers, who see a missed opportunity. They’ll collect the extra premiums and deny the claims. This is just another bailout of the financial system, because the tens of trillions of dollars already committed are not nearly enough...

Wall Street Pit: The Financialization of Health and Everything Else in the Universe

 

Market Hits 'Universal Life' Policies

Universal life insurance has grown in popularity thanks to its flexibility. But policyholders may not realize their coverage could be dwindling.

Universal life is considered permanent life insurance, yet it actually has an expiration date that's usually set past most life expectancies. But lower interest rates, a falling stock market -- or a combination of both -- may limit how long these policies remain in force...

WSJ: Market Hits 'Universal Life' Policies

 

As insurers gain in wealth management race, hurdles remain high

In the long battle to position themselves as wealth managers, life insurance companies still have to prove to financial advisers that they can do more than sell annuities.

“There are a number of carriers that have done well in wealth management, including MetLife Inc., Axa [Financial Inc.] and ING [Groep NV]...”

Investment News: As insurers gain in wealth management race, hurdles remain high

 

Special-needs families call for special expertise

Altman recommends that families of special-needs children invest in cash-value life insurance and disability insurance.

Before his son Josh was born, certified financial planner Larry Altman's specialty was workplace retirement planning. But when his son arrived with the neural tube defect spina sifida, he added special-needs financial planning to his list of expertise...

Star-Tribune: Special-needs families call for special expertise

 

Taking on the next steps in annuity regulation

Companies, distributors, regulators and consumers — we're all trying to keep pace with the changes in the marketplace, particularly when it comes to annuities. And even more changes came when the National Association of Insurance Commissioners recently convened its fall meeting in National Harbor, Md., and yet again considered whether and how to address the evolving needs of the many stakeholders with interests in how annuities are sold and to whom...

Investment News: Taking on the next steps in annuity regulation

 

Makers of wireless health devices bemoan slow FDA approval process

Low reimbursement rates from insurance companies also an issue

Makers of wireless electronic health devices bemoaned the federal product approval process and stingy insurance reimbursements for life-saving technology that they argued could reduce overall national health-care costs...

ComputerWorld: Makers of wireless health devices bemoan slow FDA approval process

 

Inflation or Deflation: Who Cares?

Though they might disagree on what lies ahead, most financial pundits will agree on one thing: to make money in the next decade, you have to "get it right" on the deflation or inflation question. From at least one point of view, the debate is a red herring and a distraction.

For supposedly being the global answer to investment decisions, the answer (whichever one you select) offers precious little guidance when it comes to actually making investment decisions...

Seeking Alpha: Inflation or Deflation: Who Cares?

Friday, October 09, 2009

 

What If Employees Are 'Too Poor to Retire?'

A new report prepared by CFO Research Services and Prudential shows that “although there has been some improvement in capital markets since the beginning of the year, many employees' near-term plans to retire are in jeopardy.”

Senior finance executives at large companies are concerned that if older employees can't afford to exit the workforce and thereby make room for younger workers, “workforce productivity and overall employee morale can suffer and companies can find it difficult to retain rising stars when paths to promotion are effectively closed.”

What If Employees Are 'Too Poor to Retire?'
Source: Retirement Income Journal

 

Understanding Fixed Annuities In Today's Marketplace

With today’s economic environment, many people are concerned with the market impact on their retirement savings and what that will mean to their overall retirement plans. Many people are choosing conservative insurance products with less risk but are still seeking some type of upside potential. People are looking for savings solutions that will provide opportunities for growth combined with protection from market downturns. Fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) can help address these challenges by offering more potential for growth than a traditional fixed asset and protection from market downturns.

Understanding Fixed Annuities In Today's Marketplace
Source: Life Insurance Selling

 

Baby Boomer Marketing: Where Do I Begin?

Baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) are the fastest growing, wealthiest, and most sophisticated group of purchasers. It is estimated that they spend approximately $2.3 trillion each year on consumer goods and services. While the initial class will turn 64 next year, the youngest will not reach that age until the year 2028. With 18 years between the first and last, they will remain a significant consumer group for several years. Their purchasing decisions are influenced by both old and new media, which is important for financial advisors to remember when marketing to members of this generation.

Baby Boomer Marketing: Where Do I Begin?
Source: Producers Web

 

Why Term Life Insurance Is The Smart Choice In The Current Economic Environment

Every month almost one million Americans consider and purchase a new life insurance policy; and in today's economic environment, when consumers are looking to reduce costs, term life insurance offers one of the most affordable ways to protect a family, according to SelectQuote (www.selectquote.com), the nation's top term life insurance broker and the leading online source for term life insurance information and comparisons.

Why Term Life Insurance Is The Smart Choice In The Current Economic Environment
Source: Insurance News Net

 

Life Settlement ‘Hit Hard’ by Recession, Conning Says

The life-settlement market, where investors buy insurance policies from the original owners and collect their benefits, “was hit hard” when the recession cut the cash available to fund the purchases, Conning & Co. said.

“The economic crisis was the major impediment to growth in the U.S. life settlements markets in 2008, as the credit markets froze in the second half and life settlements buyers had difficulty financing new premiums,” said Scott Hawkins, an analyst at Hartford, Connecticut-based Conning in a statement today...

Bloomberg: Life Settlement ‘Hit Hard’ by Recession, Conning Says

 

California: Legislation targets those who bet on death

New efforts are underway in Sacramento to regulate how investors buy and sell existing life insurance policies, a practice that critics contend allows speculators to make money by wagering on when a person will die.

Currently, an estimated $27 trillion worth of life insurance is in force, most of it to provide financial security for survivors. But in recent years, older Americans have increasingly been selling their policies for cash to investors who see an opportunity for profit as they take over the premium payments and then collect proceeds when people die...

LA Times: Legislation targets those who bet on death

 

California Sale Pushes Munis Down, Lifts Yields Most Since June

California, which raised yields and scaled back its bond sale to $4.1 billion this week, led a surge in fixed-rate municipal issuance that drove benchmark rates higher by the most in almost four months... The Bond Buyer 20 index, which tracks 20-year general obligation bonds, jumped 12 basis points, or 0.12 percentage point, to 4.06 percent yesterday, after reaching a 42-year low last week.

State and local governments sold at least $6.3 billion of tax-exempt debt and $4.5 billion of taxable Build America Bonds and other securities... The total is the largest since Aug. 14, when $11.1 billion came to market...

Bloomberg: California Sale Pushes Munis Down, Lifts Yields Most Since June

Thursday, October 08, 2009

 

John Hancock Survey of Top Producers Finds Anxious Clients Working Even More Closely with Advisers

A John Hancock Funds survey of more than 300 top financial advisers has found that bonds between clients and advisers have been reinforced as a result of the market volatility that began in 2008. Advisers report that their contact with clients is up sharply, and that more than half of their clients are actively investing or working on rebalancing their portfolios. And advisers expect to stay busy: most believe overwhelmingly that they will gain clients over the next 12 months, and overall they anticipate that markets will improve by the end of 2010.

John Hancock Survey of Top Producers Finds Anxious Clients Working Even More Closely with Advisers
Source: Yahoo! Finance

 

Whole Life Insurance: Is It An Overlooked Foundation of Business Succession Planning?

When its owner for more than four decades passed away suddenly, Troy Belting and Supply Co. in Watervliet, NY could have collapsed, as do many family businesses that lose their leaders. Instead, the company continued to operate and grow, thanks in part to a succession plan funded by life insurance.

Whole Life Insurance: Is It An Overlooked Foundation of Business Succession Planning?
Source: PR Newswire

 

Average 401(k) Balance Fell 24% in 2008

Workers who had already been investing in their 401(k) for at least five years through 2008 saw their balances drop an average of 24% last year, compared with the S&P 500’s sharp 37% decline, the Investment Company Institute and the Employee Benefit Research Institute said.

Average 401(k) Balance Fell 24% in 2008
Source: Financial-Planning

 

Consider Long-Term Care Insurance Now

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reduced Medicare funding for nursing homes by an estimated $16 billion over the next 10 years. Twenty-four states already have reduced Medicaid funding this year. And $313 billion of additional cuts have been proposed by the administration to fund health care reform.

Consider Long-Term Care Insurance Now
Source: Chicago Sun-Times

 

Here Comes Another $2 Billion Loss For Citigroup

According to Bloomberg's survey, Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan (JPM) will both clock in with earnings of over $2 billion. Citigroup meanwhile, will return to the red, and lose $2.5 billion. That follows two straight quarters of "profits" that were the result of clever accounting...

Business Insider: Here Comes Another $2 Billion Loss For Citigroup

 

Penn Treaty May Need $1 Billion to Pay Claims, Regulator Says

Penn Treaty Network American Insurance Co., facing the biggest insurer failure in at least five years, may need more than $1 billion in additional funds to pay claims, a state regulator said.

Penn Treaty “is far more insolvent than originally believed,” Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario’s office said in an Oct. 2 request for liquidation. Penn Treaty American Corp., the Allentown, Pennsylvania-based parent of the insurer, included the document in a regulatory filing yesterday...

Bloomberg: Penn Treaty May Need $1 Billion to Pay Claims, Regulator Says

 

Cost of lying on your life insurance application

...If you think that lying on your application is the only way to get cheap life insurance, keep reading. Because by lying during the life insurance application process, you may end up hurting the ones you love most by leaving them financially unprotected when you die.

Life insurance companies have the right to question any personal information you provide on your life insurance application, especially if they believe something to be untrue or exaggerated. After discovering a lie on a life insurance application, the carrier can and will cancel the policy. To avoid this from happening, it’s important to understand your rights when applying for life insurance coverage...

AccuQuote: Cost of lying on your life insurance application

 

Buyers, sellers come out as gold price surges

Louis Chorney knows gold is hot these days by the increased number of customers streaming into his Tremont Street store... “Business is definitely busier,” said Chorney, owner of Colonial Trading Co., which buys and sells precious metal products.

Colonial Trading could get even busier in coming weeks and months if current gold-price trends hold... The price of gold yesterday hit an all-time high of $1,049 an ounce, capping a remarkable recovery in prices since this time last year, when gold sank to $700 an ounce amid concerns of a worldwide financial meltdown...

Boston Herald: Buyers, sellers come out as gold price surges

 

FSI Supports a Universal Standard of Care for Financial Advice

Group wants to close examination and enforcement gap between B/Ds and RIAs: The Financial Services Institute (FSI), the lobbying and policy advocacy voice for independent broker-dealers and their affiliated financial advisors, has issued a statement on October 6 urging the House Financial Services Committee to apply a new universal standard of care to broker/dealers in addition to investment advisors under the proposed Investor Protection Act of 2009 (IPA)...

Investment Advisor: FSI Supports a Universal Standard of Care for Financial Advice

 

Succession Planning: RIAs Need a Well-Planned Exit Strategy

RIAs are adjusting their professional practices in many ways to deal with the tough economy. While succession planning should be an essential part of this retooling, it’s something advisors tend to overlook.

Our research reveals that the seasoning of the advisor population has been a notable trend in the advisory industry in recent years. Investment advisory practices are established and experienced—about half of financial advisors have been in the advisory business for at least 10 years...

Investment Advisor: Succession Planning: RIAs Need a Well-Planned Exit Strategy

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

 

House Panel Gears Up For Insurance Office Hearing

Life groups today are asking Congress to create a Federal Insurance Office, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is saying regulators might support a FIO bill, if the bill left solvency issues to the states.

The American Council of Life Insurers, Washington, and the NAIC, Kansas City, Mo., are sending witnesses to a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Obama administration financial services proposals.

The hearing includes separate panels on 3 components of the proposals: investor protection; oversight over private pools of capital; and creation of a National Insurance Office...

National Underwriter: House Panel Gears Up For Insurance Office Hearing

 

Ponzi suspect returns life insurance money

A man accused in an alleged $53 million "Billionaire Boys Club" Ponzi scheme has repaid nearly $33,000 he borrowed from his life insurance policies in violation of a court order freezing assets in the case... John J. Bravata delivered a cashier's check to the receiver in the case on Monday, his attorney said in a court filing today.

...On July 26, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit alleging civil fraud and the unlicensed sale of securities against Bravata, 41, of Brighton, Richard J. Trabulsy, 26, of Northville and their companies: BBC Equities and Bravata Financial Group... Under the alleged scheme, more than 400 investors were promised returns of 8 percent or more while the principals spent millions on luxury homes, boats, jewelry, gambling, exotic vacations and expensive cars...

DetNews: Ponzi suspect returns life insurance money

 

Indicted former NM investment advisor says investments were politically connected

Buried in Andrew Cuomo’s press release about Saul Meyer’s guilty plea to a felony is this blockbuster paragraph:

“In addition, from 2004 through February 2009, Aldus acted as an adviser to the New Mexico State Investment Council (“SIC”) and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (“ERB”) in the State of New Mexico. Meyer admitted that on numerous occasions, contrary to his fiduciary duty to SIC and ERB, he ensured that Aldus recommended proposed investments that were pushed on him by politically-connected individuals in New Mexico, knowing that these politically-connected individuals or their associates stood to benefit financially or politically from the investments and that the investments were not necessarily in the best economic interest of New Mexico.”

NM Independent: Indicted former NM investment advisor says investments were politically connected

 

Study: FIA Returns “Competitive”

A new study on index annuity performance is countering some negative conclusions about this performance that have been circulating.

The negative conclusions have appeared in both in theoretical academic papers and in articles in the popular press, contend David F. Babbel, Geoffrey VanderPal and Jack Marrion in research findings the three have posted online at the Wharton Financial Institutions Center...

National Underwriter: Study: FIA Returns “Competitive”

 

Life Insurer To Go Public

Symetra Financial Corp. plans to make an initial public offering of common stock.

Symetra, Bellevue, Wash., says the IPO will include some stock that it owns and some held by existing stockholders. The stock to be sold will have a total value of about $575 million.

Symetra hopes to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SYA..."

National Underwriter: Life Insurer To Go Public

 

Actuary Reviews Illustration Proposal

Insurers that try to illustrate annuity performance graphically should provide at least 2 standard illustrations, a veteran actuary says.

Steven Ostlund of the Alabama Department of Insurance has given that recommendation in a comment letter submitted to the Annuity Disclosures Working Group at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo...

National Underwriter: Actuary Reviews Illustration Proposal

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

 

A Primer on GLWBs, Pt. 1

Over the past several months, a number of insurance carriers have made significant changes to their income riders or have pulled income riders from their annuity lineup altogether. In light of these changes, how prepared are you to continue providing income rider options to your clients?

A Primer on GLWBs, Pt. 1
Source: Producers Web

 

Large Companies will Dominate Wealth Management

Sallie Krawcheck, the recently installed head of wealth management at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, said that the road ahead would not be easy for the few large brokerage firms left.

Krawcheck noted that the purported trend of advisors migrating toward the independent channel has been reversed over the past year, she said. The independent channel actually shrunk last year, according to Bank of America’s internal research. She said the reason that channel lost ground could be “summed up in two words: Bernie and Madoff.” Investors have grown wary of the lone advisor hanging their shingle, she said, and instead look for peace-of-mind from a large firm with broad wealth management capability.

Large Companies will Dominate Wealth Management
Source: Financial Planning

 

Transamerica Enhances Annual Retirement Plan Review with Comparative Industry Analysis and Detailed Action Plan

With the help of Transamerica Retirement Services’ enhanced Annual Retirement Plan Review, retirement plan sponsors in the small and mid-sized market now have access to an expanded suite of information to help ensure their plans remain competitive and are meeting the needs of their participants. Transamerica’s customized Annual Retirement Plan Review provides sponsors with a comparative industry assessment of their defined contribution plan, backed by a list of research-based opportunities to help improve the plan so that it remains an industry-competitive benefit for employees. Transamerica has also added additional levels of transparency to the report’s extensive fee information.

Transamerica Enhances Annual Retirement Plan Review with Comparative Industry Analysis and Detailed Action Plan
Source: Earthtimes

 

Deep Thoughts From Kyle Bass

The man who made billions shorting subprime shares his latest observations...

Zero Hedge: Deep Thoughts From Kyle Bass

 

NY Life Insurance Co launches $1 bln 30-yr notes

New York Life Insurance Co on Monday launched a $1.0 billion 30-year surplus note sale, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service... The notes are expected to yield 275 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, according to IFR...

Reuters: NY Life Insurance Co launches $1 bln 30-yr notes

 

The Business of Life Insurance: Betting on Your Own Mortality

Wall Street Wants to Securitize Life Insurance and Some See Another Debacle in the Offing

After Dr. Eddie Powell lost both his legs to a hospital infection, he desperately needed financial help to support his practice and three children in medical school. So the 61-year-old did what more and more cash-strapped Baby Boomers are doing these days: He sold his life insurance. "For close to a million dollars of insurance, I got a hundred and some thousand dollars," Powell said... Coventry, a life settlement company, took Powell's policies, bundled them with others and sold them to banks or hedge funds as investments...

ABC: The Business of Life Insurance: Betting on Your Own Mortality

 

Life Insurer Symetra Financial Files For $575M IPO

Symetra Financial Corp. intends to sell up to $575 million of stock through an initial public offering, joining a wave of companies looking to tap equity markets...

WSJ: Life Insurer Symetra Financial Files For $575M IPO

 

TIAA-CREF Insurance Arm Stripped of Aaa by Moody’s

TIAA-CREF, the retirement-planning firm that manages about $363 billion, had the Aaa debt rating of its insurance arm stripped by Moody’s Investors Service after $4.1 billion of net losses in the 18 months ended June 30...

Bloomberg: TIAA-CREF Insurance Arm Stripped of Aaa by Moody’s

 

AIG, Hartford Losses Mean Customers Look to Mutuals

Publicly traded insurers, a group that includes American International Group Inc. and Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., are losing business to mutual companies as clients seek “safe havens,” A.M. Best said... Mutuals, which are owned by their policyholders, made up 30.1 percent of the U.S. market in 2008, compared with 28.7 percent in 2007...

Bloomberg: AIG, Hartford Losses Mean Customers Look to Mutuals

 

Citi Personal Wealth Management Goes Fee-Only

Citi Personal Wealth Management is shifting its investment advisory model to a fee-only service and plans to work with RIAs in an effort to broaden its geographic coverage, the company announced today. The company plans to eliminate commission-based compensation by 2011, while also transitioning Citi Personal Wealth Management advisors to function solely as investment advisory representatives...

BIC: Citi Personal Wealth Management Goes Fee-Only

 

New twist on annuities in 401(k)s

Several money managers are scrambling to design investment options embedded with annuities or income guarantees in what they hope will be the next major evolution in defined contribution plans.

So far, though, they're having a tough time winning over clients. But the timing should be perfect. With 401(k) and other DC plans now the main retirement vehicle for many workers, the industry has been shifting away from focusing on asset accumulation to retirement income and the distribution phase. Plus, last year's market collapse further highlighted the need for plans to better protect assets, particularly for those participants at or near retirement...

Pension & Investments: New twist on annuities in 401(k)s

 

Amazon launches mobile payment service

Amazon Payments today launched a new service that brings the company's payment processing tools to mobile devices. Amazon Mobile Payments Service (MPS) includes a set of APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow mobile developers and merchants to provide payment options to their customers within mobile Web sites and applications--including the convenience of Amazon's 1-Click checkout system.

There are already a number of mobile payment providers, but Amazon is the big dog of the e-commerce world with an enormous amount of customer accounts already in use. This could be an excellent option for companies that offer mass-market mobile applications and are looking for ways to easily accept payments...
CNet: Amazon launches mobile payment service

Monday, October 05, 2009

 

Cuomo Settles With Coventry On Life Insurance Buy-Outs

Life insurance settlement firm Coventry First LLC will pay New York $10.6 million and give customers $1.4 million to settle a 2006 civil lawsuit filed by the state's attorney general.

Coventry wasn't assessed any penalty or fine in ending the case...

WSJ: Cuomo Settles With Coventry On Life Insurance Buy-Outs (Subscription required)

 

Penn Treaty Pushed Toward Biggest Insurer Failure Since 2004

Penn Treaty Network American Insurance Co., the provider of long-term care coverage for 120,000 customers, was pushed by a Pennsylvania regulator toward liquidation in what may be the biggest forced breakup of an insurer in the U.S. in at least five years.

Penn Treaty and a unit “do not have the ability to pay future claims without significant rate increases,” Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario said yesterday in a statement. “In the current circumstances, those rate increases simply would not be fair to policyholders...”

Bloomberg: Penn Treaty Pushed Toward Biggest Insurer Failure Since 2004

 

A Short Question For Senior Officials Of The New York Fed

At the height of the financial panic last fall Goldman Sachs became a bank holding company, which enabled it to borrow directly from the Federal Reserve. It also became subject to supervision by the Federal Reserve Board (with the NY Fed on point) – hence the brouhaha over Steven Friedman’s shareholdings.

Goldman is also currently engaged in private equity investments in nonfinancial firms around the world, as seen for example in its recent deal with Geely Automotive Holdings in China (People’s Daily; CNBC). US banks or bank holding companies would not generally be allowed to undertake such transactions - in fact, it is annoyed bankers who have asked me to take this up.

Would someone from the NY Fed kindly explain the precise nature of the waiver that has been granted to Goldman so that it can operate in this fashion?

Baseline Scenario: A Short Question For Senior Officials Of The New York Fed

 

September Unemployment: ACTUAL LOSS 995k

Headlines: 263,000 "jobs lost" and unemployment rate up to 9.8%.

That's not good - there goes the "second derivative" argument.

Weekly earnings are also down by $1.54, which is bad news too.

But the Household Data is VASTLY worse than reported...

Market Ticker: September Unemployment: ACTUAL LOSS 995k

 

Bank Annuity Income Off 15%

Aggregate revenue from annuities at 20 operating banks plunged 15% in second quarter 2009, according to a new report... Annuities accounted for 61% of brokerage revenues in these banks for the quarter, says Heywood Sloane, managing director of the Bank Insurance and Securities Association, Wayne, Pa., which issued the report.

By comparison, in first quarter 2009, annuities accounted for 68% of brokerage revenues, says BISA...

National Underwriter: Bank Annuity Income Off 15%

 

Charitable Gift Annuities - A Cautionary Tale

A few months ago I met with the Director of Development of a large nonprofit organization headquartered in New York State (NYS) to discuss their mature Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) program established more than ten years ago.

This experienced leader explained that the Board had been assured by the consultant who developed the program that there was absolutely no need to register the annuity in New York State. When I posed the possibility that the Board had been given incorrect information, the individual ended the call saying: “Our professional would never have recommended we embark on such a complex process without a thorough knowledge of what was required...”

On Philanthropy: Charitable Gift Annuities - A Cautionary Tale

 

No let up in debt deflation!

I know very well that some are tired of hearing about this issue, but I feel a need to return to it at a time when officials persist in circulating apocalyptic forecasts of a resurge in hyperinflation, based on the explosive growth in government debt and in central bank balance sheets, along with the super easy monetary policies.

As such, I would like to cite Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto, whose background in economic enables her to gauge the changes in the economic situation with a certain distance...

China Investor: No let up in debt deflation!

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