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The Red (Ink) Peril
Wed, Jan 25, 2012
A British Lord, professor emeritus and biographer of John Maynard Keynes explains why government debt is a misused scare tactic.
Industry Views
$300 Billion, Up for Grabs
Cogent Research's new 2012 Assets in Motion study can help you understand and benefit from the rising flow of money from qualified plans to rollover IRAs.
Burton Malkiel Talks About Efficient Markets
In this video sponsored by Vanguard, Burton Malkiel, Princeton professor and author of "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," talks with RIJ editor Kerry Pechter about what "efficient market" means to him. The 10th edition of "A Random Walk" has just been published.
New Income Solutions for Long Retirements
With the numbers of people over age 100 growing rapidly, there is an equally growing need for advisors to consider an array of retirement income solutions.
Annuity Issuers Slowly Enter The Digital Age
Annuity issuers are making a concerted effort to implement and promote paperless document delivery services.
401(k)s: They’re Not (Necessarily) Just for Employees Any More
A growing number of 401(k) plan sponsors, retirees, record keepers and regulators want retirees to stay in their plans well into, or even straight through, retirement, PIMCO has found.
The Future Of Online Customer Feedback Has Arrived
TIAA-CREF’s TC Listens website is an innovative new medium for obtaining client feedback online.
TIPS for Retirement Investing in the ‘New Normal’
TIPS can preserve purchasing power, provide systematic income and offer the assurance of a government guarantee for retirees depending on income from their investments.
Firms Back Variable Annuity Product Launches With Aggressive Online Marketing Campaigns
With variable annuity sales down, firms are intensifying online product marketing campaigns to reach more prospective investors.
Found in Translation
Annuity issuers are reaching out to non-English-speaking investors through websites written in Spanish and Asian languages, according to Corporate Insight.
Behavioral Economics and Retirement Investing
PIMCO and its Allianz affiliates recently sponsored a new study, “Behavioral Finance and the Post-Retirement Crisis.” PIMCO Retirement Product Manager Tom Streiff explains how the study’s findings can foster the development of successful retirement income products.
Annuity Issuers Embracing Social Media One Tweet At A Time
A growing number of annuity issuers are using creative approaches on Twitter to reach new audiences online.
Roth IRA Conversion Promotions Are All The Rage Online
Many firms have launched engaging online sales campaigns focusing on the Roth IRA conversion opportunities that will be available in 2010.
Annuity Firms Turn Their Focus To Online Client Security
Annuity firms introduced enhanced online security measures in 2009, but they remain laggards in the financial service industry.
Should Annuity Firms Care About Social Media?
The annuity industry has been slow to adopt social media. But given the industry’s target audiences, does it matter? Download an excerpt from the report "Social Media: Trends and Tactics in the Financial Services Industry."
Marketing Online Education To Advisors
Our latest research shows that dynamic displays, such as Flash interfaces, offer firms engaging new ways to present and market online educational content to advisors.
Industry Views are special reports that are sponsored and independent from RIJ's editorial content.
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Guest Column
Low Growth, High Inflation? It Could Happen.
Mon, Dec 19, 2011
"We have been buying inflation-linked bonds and selling government bond futures against them," writes the head of fixed income at Old Mutual Asset Managers.
Passive Equity Strategies Are Still Valid
Tue, Dec 13, 2011
A true passive strategy, history shows, was never meant to be limited to the S&P 500 or to any other single asset class, writes the owner of Strategic Distribution Institute LLC.
Put Your Money Where Your Neurons Are
Tue, Nov 22, 2011
The author of "Rational Exuberance" and co-creator of the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices heralds a new science that will help us understand economics by studying the physical structures that underlie brain processes.
The Implications of Europe’s Solvency II
Thu, Oct 20, 2011
As Europe raises its bar on insurance regulation, it's in America's best interest to follow suit, writes Ms. Toland, managing director, Retirement Income Consulting, at Strategic Insight.
12 Retirement Plan Concepts Financial Advisors Must Know
Wed, Sep 14, 2011
In this article, an ERISA attorney sets out to help retirement plan advisors understand basic retirement plan concepts that can help them develop and maintain their retirement plan book of business.
Bernanke Speaks. But What Did He Say?
Sun, Aug 28, 2011
Justin Wolfers teaches business and public policy at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The Great Contraction
Tue, Aug 23, 2011
'The global economy is badly overleveraged, and there is no quick escape without a scheme to transfer wealth from creditors to debtors, either through defaults, financial repression, or inflation,' writes Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff.
A Memo to Congress about Money
Sun, Jul 31, 2011
The donnybrook in Congress over debt and deficits stemmed partly from a mistaken belief that the government is like a player in a card game when it's actually more like a scorekeeper. Warren Mosler explains.
In Search of a Safer Bet
Tue, Jul 19, 2011
Asset transfer programs and managed risk funds are playing a significant role in revitalizing the VA industry, and their benefits may ultimately reach the wider world of investing, writes this close follower of the annuity business.
Summer Cliffhangers in the VA Soap Opera
Tue, Jul 12, 2011
Mr. McDonnell publishes Soleares Research, a website devoted to variable annuity industry news. Here's his take on the latest trends in VA contracts.
DC Plans and Deficit Reduction
Wed, Jun 15, 2011
"A big bulls-eye has been painted on the employer-sponsored defined contribution system," writes the president of the Profit Sharing Council of America.
Have Investment Managers Earned Their Fees?
Wed, Apr 06, 2011
To help readers evaluate their own investment managers, our guest columnist offers a summary of the first quarter's equity returns by style, sector, and country.
Why the Government Should Not Issue Annuities
Tue, Mar 08, 2011
Jeffrey Brown, Ph.D., disagrees with Henry T.C. Hu and Terrrance Odean's proposal for a government-sponsored, inflation-indexed individual annuity. The proposal was reported in last week's issue of RIJ.
Paradise Regained
Wed, Feb 16, 2011
A return to long-term interest rates of 5% to 6% will hurt Wall Street and McMansion owners in the short-run but help most Americans in the long run, says this columnist.
The New Madoff Windfall
Tue, Jan 25, 2011
Our occasional columnist explains why hedge funds are scooping up discounted claims against jailed Ponzi artist Bernard Madoff.
Cog-nomics and B-Finance: What's the Dif?
Mon, Sep 27, 2010
Behavioral finance is to cognitive economics as engineering is to physics, says the founder and CEO of inon.com, a UK pricing consultant.
Where's the Scandal?
Mon, Sep 20, 2010
Did the New York Fed blunder when it bought the CDOs owned by big banks and insured by AIG? So far, the government hasn't done badly, says our guest author.
Why We Need The Fiduciary Standard
Tue, Aug 31, 2010
It might rid the financial services marketplace of situations where the customer enters into transactions without knowing that there's an adversarial relationship, this well-known columnist believes.
Process First, Not Product
Tue, Aug 10, 2010
When clients discover that products have been sold to them without the adequate use of process, some advisors will surely face a day of reckoning, says the president of The Strategic Distribution Institute, LLC.
Are Stocks Really Cheap?
Wed, Jul 14, 2010
Cash levels as a percent of assets reached a cyclical high of 12% in 1991. Today, that ratio is less than 4%. With mutual funds already nearly fully invested, where will the money come from to take stocks higher?
Low Rates Keep U.S. Solvent. But for How Long?
Wed, May 19, 2010
Even Alan Greenspan is said to fret about the potential for a collapse in Treasury prices, reports this week's guest writer.
The Goldman Touch
Wed, Apr 28, 2010
The complex deal at the heart of the SEC’s case against Goldman Sachs may reveal Wall Street to be a labyrinth or casino, but it doesn’t necessarily establish fraud.
Off-Track Bettors
Wed, Apr 21, 2010
"It should be noncontroversial that we can’t afford any more innovation on Wall Street," says the author of several books on the financial system.
My Life as a ‘Dangerous Woman’
Wed, Apr 07, 2010
The New School economist and 401(k) critic reveals that her notoriety is, in part, the result of a misunderstanding that went viral--with help from Rush Limbaugh.
Insult to Injury: Disability’s Impact on a Retirement Plan
Tue, Mar 30, 2010
Even good retirement plans can backfire if you do not carefully consider the effect of disability and lost earning power on retirement savings.
Where’s The Alpha?
Tue, Feb 16, 2010
"Academics continue to create analytical solutions that rarely apply in the human world," says this Denver advisor.
A Fate Worse than Fargo
Wed, Sep 30, 2009
Part 2 of a two-part essay on the dark side of Boomer retirement. Discretion is advised.
Like Lambs to the Financial Slaughter
Tue, Sep 22, 2009
Part 1 of a two-part critical essay on how the American retiree became hostage to volatile markets.
The ‘Facebook-ing’ of Retirement Income
Tue, Aug 25, 2009
Should you be concerned about where you rank in search engine results? Yes, says David Macchia.
Rule 151A After the American Equity Decision: Not Only Isn’t It Dead; It Wasn’t Even Needed
Tue, Aug 04, 2009
Few who have written about this case seem to have noticed that the SEC didn't really need Rule 151A at all!
Matrix Of Corruption
Tue, Jun 09, 2009
Journalist and scholar Ed Epstein examines New York's ongoing public pension scandal, and the “placement agents” who use their political contacts, financial experience, powers of persuasion, and other means to extract pension fund money for private equity firms.
Remembering Our Roots: Putting the Income Back In Annuity
Tue, Apr 07, 2009
The immediate annuity, aka income annuity, aka "SPIA," is due for a comeback, says Garth Bernard of Retirement Income Solutions Enterprise, Inc.
