Bond

The U.S. life and annuity insurer MetLife appears to be in a strong position relative to its competitors. MetLife is one of the leading providers of variable annuities in the United States. At a recent industry conference, MetLife's CEO explained that one of his primary concerns involves extending the company's leading position by taking advantage of acquisition and new business opportunities that have resulted from the financial crisis: MetLife shunned U.S. rescue funds and padded its finances...

As mentioned recently , global investors have been signaling their unease with the U.S. budget deficit by selling bonds and subsequently driving up yields on U.S. debt. The U.S. government's decision to employ trillions of dollars in deficit spending as a way to try and kick-start the economy has resulted in higher inflation expectations and higher borrowing rates on everything from mortgages to credit card debt. The yield on 10 year Treauries has increased 1.5% from the start of the year. This...

Yields on the 10 year Treasury have been climbing consistently over the past several days, ending above 3.7% today. Increasing interest rates are welcomed by insurers and consumers who are still considering an annuity purchase. The trend is troublesome, though, for those who have recently locked themselves into a fixed annuity without inflation protection. Similar to the 1970s and 1980s, global investors are driving up interest rates in light of concerns about inflation that could be ignited by...