Archive for the ‘Insurance’ Category

A Hot Job for Hard Times: The Life-Insurance Agent

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

One of the most old-fashioned occupations in finance is back in favor: the life-insurance agent.Some big insurers are adding thousands of agents and planning to sign up more. They're taking advantage of the weak job market to scoop up former real-estate agents, mortgage brokers, bankers and lawyers whose prospects have ...

Allianz Life’s MasterDex X still top of the indexed-annuity heap

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Sales of the popular product helped Allianz maintain its place as the top seller Sales of indexed annuities set a record last year, surpassing $30 billion — despite a modest 2.7% decline in sales in the fourth quarter... According to data from AnnuitySpecs.com's Indexed Sales and Market Report, sales of ...

Is AIG Overpriced? Maybe Not As Much As Barron’s Thinks

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

If you measured the worth of AIG by its stock price performance this year, you’d be at a real loss as to what conclusion to draw. And that seems exactly what investors are. After plunging to nearly as low as it was at the bottom of the financial crisis ...

Even With Net Income Loss, Phoenix Still Optimistic

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Facing a continued collapse of life insurance sales, The Phoenix Companies Inc. said Tuesday it has a net loss from operations of $2.8 million, or 2 cents a share in the third quarter, but in a sign of a turnaround, Phoenix said it formed its own distribution company and had ...

Target-Death-Date Funds?

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

INFLATION, ASSET ALLOCATION AND TARGET-DATE FUNDS were all top of mind at fund-tracker Morningstar's 21st annual Investment Conference, held in Chicago last week. The mood was mostly upbeat, as mutual-fund managers seem to believe the worst of the global recession has passed.Now it's on to inflation. "It's the No. 1 ...

MassMutual CEO Reese to Step Down

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Stuart H. Reese, who was named MassMutual's CEO in June 2005 after scandal engulfed the company's previous chief, will step down at the end of this year and become nonexecutive chairman of the board.MassMutual CEO Reese to Step DownSource: Hartford Courant

Retirees at Risk: Whole Life Insurance Cash Values Can Be Overlooked Source of Retirement

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Nearly 45 percent of households are "at risk" of not having enough to maintain their living standards in retirement, according to the National Retirement Risk Index*, a special project of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The index goes on to say, "explicitly including health care in the ...

Time to Replace the 4% Rule

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Retirement-Savings Withdrawal Strategy Is Flawed, but Replacement Is ComplexHow much -- when the time comes -- should you withdraw from your accounts earmarked for retirement? Answer that question correctly and you get to enjoy the retirement of your dreams. Answer it incorrectly and you either outlive your assets or you ...

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

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

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 ...

Hancock Promotes New Life-LTC Combo

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

John Hancock Life Insurance has brought out a single-premium whole life insurance product that offers a long term care insurance feature.Hancock, Boston, a unit of Manulife Financial Corp., Toronto, (TSX:MFC) says ithe new LifeCare product allows clients to move some assets into a policy that helps protect their family with ...