The concept is seductive: a financial product that provides upside exposure in the event that equity markets trend up and to the right while also providing a floor of protection in case the bottom falls-out from under markets again.

Sort of like having your cake and eating it too. Very tempting in light of the massive financial uncertainty that has existed for the past several years.

Mark J. Warshawsky is Director of Retirement Research at Towers Watson.

Dr. Warshawsky served as assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2004-2006 and he has held senior level economic research positions at the Federal Reserve Board, the Internal Revenue Service and TIAA-CREF.

Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) founder and co-chief investment officer Bill Gross offered a revised view of the global investing landscape in a letter published on the company’s website. 

As the manager of the Pimco Total Return Fund, Gross’s 2011 investment decisions were driven in part by the “new normal” thesis. 

The new normal view suggests that investors should seek emerging market debt because developed countries will experience a prolonged period of sluggish growth, high unemployment and inflation. 

“Trees grow” is an adage that has stuck with me over the past several years.

In a post financial crisis interview, a successful investment manager was talking about his decision to load-up on Citigroup and a handful of other banks in early 2009 when the decision to do so was difficult to say the least.

A recent article in Bloomberg discusses the state of capital market solutions for the transfer of longevity risk.

The reality is that the longevity market is still in its infancy and there are a number of obstacles that are affecting its development.

One of the main hurdles involves the fact that longevity risk is very long-term in nature.  Securities that mature over the course of 20 years are not hugely appealing to hedge fund managers who are providing quarterly performance reports to their clients.

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 annuity.

Meir Statman is the Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, and Visiting Professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

His research on behavioral finance has been supported by the National Science Foundation, CFA Institute, and Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) and has been published in the Journal of Finance, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management, and many other publications.

David Stipp has written about science, medicine, the environment and biotech since 1982 for The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Salon, Science and other publications. He led Fortune’s science and medical coverage from 1995 to 2005 as a senior writer, and from 1982 to 1995 covered science and medicine as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal.

In a basic sense, information theory measures the level of surprise in a message.

A highly informative message will come as a complete surprise and tell you something about which you had no previous knowledge.

Sounds pretty good, right—of what use is it to be told what you already know?  Well, there are actually cases where information is not so welcome.

The Dutch insurance and financial services giant Aegon appears to be rethinking its U.S. based variable annuity business.

It is reported that Aegon is making a move to apply a macro equity hedge to its in-force variable annuity contracts.

The company is also considering the sale of its life reinsurance business, Transamerica Re.