Banks

Recent decisions by MassMutual would appear to indicate that the company is becoming less interested in and committed to the variable annuity marketplace. The company has recently scaled-back on some of its variable annuity product features or riders. The departure of one of MassMutual's top annuity experts, Jerome Golden, would also seem to indicate waning interest in the space. The company also indicated that it will place renewed emphasis on distribution through career agents rather than...

Corporate pension plans face the real risk of having their plan participants live longer than what is projected by actuaries. In other words, similar to an individual who considers an annuity to offset the risk of outliving their assets in retirement, pension plans must deal with longevity risk . A new derivatives market is evolving to deal with longevity risk on an institutional scale. Many of the deals thus far have been between investment banks such as JP Morgan and insurance companies that...

Currrent annuity owners and prospective purchasers need to keep an eye on the financial ratings of annuity providers. "While the biggest financial headlines over the past few months have focused on bailing out banks and other businesses with taxpayer money, many owners of annuities and life insurance are following another rescue attempt, with some bewilderment: efforts by insurers to get tens of billions of dollars in relief from state insurance regulators. The proliferation of relief efforts...