Fees

The increasingly popular Finovate Conference Series just completed its spring event in San Francisco.

64 very interesting companies presented brief technology/product demos to a large audience of financial services media, analysts, investors, potential partners, competitors, and other industry participants.

All of the presenting companies are focused on technology innovation in finance, and most of the companies are young.

Below is a recap of some of the more interesting stories at the conference.  There are five companies/stories in each category.  The categories are intended to represent the perspectives of what could be considered core audience segments for the presenting companies.  In other words, each category lists the companies that might be...

Putnam Investments President and CEO Robert Reynolds spoke on the need to address America’s lifetime income challenge at the recent Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA) conference in Chicago.

While Reynolds has spent most of his career in leadership positions in the investment management industry, his...

An article on indexed annuities appeared in Bloomberg yesterday (click here to read).

The article is substantive and comes from a credible source.  It is provides a good explanation of why surrender fees need to be a front-and-center consideration for any consumer considering the purchase of an...

Coverage of annuities by the broader financial media tends to be negative, with much of the criticism focused on annuity expenses.

The criticism is typically accompanied by a blue-sky investing scenario that makes the case for annuities that much less compelling.  The theoretical retail...