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Genome Sequencing Represents a Gusher of Productivity in Healthcare
While the national debate on healthcare comes to a climax in Congress, there is clear evidence of enormous productivity gains in healthcare.
It is reported that the cost of genome sequencing continues to plummet in a Moore's Law fashion.
The total cost of sequencing an entire human genome started at $3 billion.
Employee Benefit Research Institute Publishes Retirement Confidence Survey
The Employee Benefit Research Institute recently published its 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey.
The report concludes that historically low levels of confidence have stabilized but the amounts of retirement savings and overall preparation continue to decline.
Morningstar Publishes List of Fund Managers that have Created and Destroyed Most Wealth
Morningstar recently published findings from a study that ranks U.S. fund managers based on the amount of wealth they have created or destroyed for their clients over the past decade.
Study Shows Health Care Costs are a Major Risk in Retirement
The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College just published a study that examines the distribution of health spending after age 65.
The results are eye-opening and should serve to reinforce the fact that health costs are one of the major risk factors for retirees.
The findings include:
Secondary Market for Annuities Under Regulatory Pressure
Investment News reports that state insurance regulators from 35 states have voted to allows insurance carriers to terminate an annuity benefits if the owner sells the contract.
The vote deals a blow to the nascent secondary market for annuities since it would be increasingly difficult to sell an annuity into the secondary market.
LIMRA Top 20 List Reveals the Level of Concentration Within the Annuity Industry
The trade Group LIMRA just published a list of the 20 companies that sold the most individual annuities in the United States during the fourth quarter 2009.
The list reveals the level of concentration among product manufacturers in the annuity industry.
Individual Annuity Sales Decline in 2009
LIMRA reports that total individual annuity sales declined by 11 percent in 2009.
Sales of all types of individual annuity products in the United States totaled $234.9 billion in 2009.
Variable annuity sales totaled $127 billion, a decrease of 18 percent for the year.
Indexed annuity sales totaled $29.4 billion, an increase of 9 percent relative to 2008.
The Head of Retirement and Services at BofA Merrill Lynch Offers Views on Retirement Planning Reform
Andy Sieg is the head of Retirement Planning and Services for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Sieg provides his views on retirement planning reform in a recent op-ed piece in Investment Advisor.
Among Sieg's points are:
Life Insurers Suing Broker Dealers Over Sale of Variable Annuities to Terminally Ill Annuitants
Investment News reports that two life insurance companies are suing a handful of broker dealers over the sale of variable annuities to terminally ill annuitants.
The suit involves a Rhode Island-based attorney who allegedly solicited terminally ill people through advertising and an offer of $2,000 per variable annuity purchase.
Global Consulting Firm Mercer Launches a Pension Buyout Index
The global consulting firm Mercer recently launched a pension buyout index.
