North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was off -1.6% in April year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Index. The year-to-date (YTD) decline of -4.6% over January-April 2006, compares less favorably to a -1.1% decline seen during the first four months of last year, January-April 2006/2005. Month-over-month, April's application volume was down -2.8% from March 2007 levels.
MIB Life Index Reports North American Life Insurance Activity Down 1.6% in April
Source: PR Newswire
The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) invites all interested parties to a FREE webinar this Friday, June 1st, 11 a.m. (EDT), to ensure financial and insurance professionals fully understand the impact of the current NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) proposal regarding a settlement industry model.
Life Insurance Settlement Association Webinar: Why The NAIC Model Settlement Act Is Bad
Source: Insurance News Net
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has created a commission to identify ways for New York to enhance its status as a world financial capital by modernizing its regulatory scheme and perhaps merging state regulation of insurance, banking and securities.
NY Gov. Spitzer Vows to Modernize State's Financial Services Regulation
Source: Insurance Journal
Building on its commitment to providing top-tier retirement savings options to employers of all sizes, the Principal Financial Group®, nation’s 401(k) leader1 and total retirement solutions innovator, is rolling out Principal Advantage® for Emerging Businesses. This new service package utilizes the Principal Advantage investment platform, and is offered exclusively through third party administrators (TPAs) to provide growing businesses a comprehensive, big plan service package at a competitive price.
Principal Financial Group Offers New Retirement Savings Platform for Underserved Micro-Market
Source: Business Wire
With apologies to The Who.I have been wondering whether this new BuyWrite ETN (BWV) could serve as substitute for a regular S&P 500 fund when combined with one or two other products.The idea would be to capture most of the effect with less volatility. My first thought is some sort of combo of BWV and iShares DJ Dividend Select Fund (DVY), which a few clients own.If SPY yields 1.5% a 50/50 mix of DVY, 3% yield, and BWV, no actual payout, obviously means no yield is given up.The thing that is given up is growth. You may have a negative opinion about growth but no growth makes for an undiversified portfolio. If you want to add growth, how much should you add? It appears that growth accounts ...
Filed under: Deals, Industry, Competitive strategy, Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Merrill Lynch (MER), Wachovia Corp (WB)In a move to make it one of the largest retail brokerage operations in the country, banking giant Wachovia (NYSE: WB) has bought AG Edwards (NYSE: AGE). The combined operations will become second only to Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER), and ahead of Citigroup's Smith Barney. The new operation should have about 15,000 brokers.It is easy to say that the move is simply a cost consolidation play. Wachovia says that it can take out about $400 million in duplicate costs, which should add to the profitability of the acquired assets.Wachovia, however, is cleverer than simply making the purchase as a simple earnings play. Retail brokers are huge ...
Filed under: Forecasts, Launches, Consumer experience, Apple Inc (AAPL), iPhoneThe old Wall Street expression I have heard a million times, mostly in the negative camp is "the company has too many moving parts." Well, the same can be said about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), but only in the positive camp. So as Apple hit a new 52-week and all-time high of $119, what is going on? Let's look briefly at all the "moving parts." Apple stock will be included in the NASDAQ 100 as of the end of trading today. It's definitely a prestigious move for Apple, and one the company did not have to request. NASDAQ determines who the member companies will be. Many structured portfolios must buy the shares to keep up with the 100 stocks ...
Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Motorola (MOT), Indices, Costco Wholesale (COST), Wachovia Corp (WB), Economic data, S and P 500Stock futures point to a high open as U.S. stocks look as if they're going to continue yesterday's late-day rally when the S&P 500 closed at a record close. Investors will have a lot to chew on today as not only another big acquisition in the financial sector is making headlines, but a wave of economic data is to be released.Yesterday, investors were concerned from a possible global sell-off as Chinese stock markets plunged 6.5%, causing declines in international markets. U.S. markets started the day on a down note, but then got a boost after minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting regarding interest-rate policy were released. ...
Filed under: Products and services, ScandalsSo maybe the pet food scare can't be blamed on China after all. The FDA announced that melamine, the same ingredient found in tainted kibble from China, has been used in animal feed ingredients made by a U.S. company. The ensuing recall involved feed made by Tembec BTLSR Inc. of Toledo, Ohio and used by Uniscope Inc. of Johnstown, Colorado.Officials said that the melamine in animal feed does not pose any threat to human health, but this is still a very interesting development in the pet food scare. It was previously thought to be limited to China, and many people have been blaming the Chinese for inadequate labeling and quality control practices.When the use of melamine in pet food was discovered in China, ...
Related Stocks: PALM Palm Inc. unveiled Wednesday the Palm Foleo -- a two-handed laptop-like gadget with a full-size keyboard and 10-inch display that is meant to serve as a companion for its smartphones. The 2.5-pound device is slated to retail for $599 (pre introductory rebate of $100); it helps users manage and edit their e-mails and other documents by communicating with their smartphones using Bluetooth. The Foleo has Wi-Fi and internet capabilities, but no hard drive. "There are times when people need a large screen and a full-size keyboard," Palm founder Jeff Hawkins said. "As smart phones get smaller, this need increases." He said he expects initial sales numbers to be small: "It's not going to ...
