Liquid

A group of banks and insurance companies recently formed a London-based trade group called the Life and Longevity Markets Association (LLMA). The LLMA aims to develop a liquid market for longevity risk that taps into broader capital markets rather than just the balance sheets of certain insurers and reinsurers. A core focus will be on longevity swaps and making the longevity swap transaction process more efficient. Longevity swaps serve as a risk transfer alternative to pension buyouts. The...

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has released a study that highlights the need for a greater focus on the use of bonds in retirement. The study indicates that 86 percent of households approaching retirement hold a bank account, while only 33 percent own stocks directly and only 7 percent own bonds directly. The author suggests that the focus on safe, highly liquid accounts that provide a guaranteed return of capital is short-sighted and often risky. The notion of a return on...