Insurance Forums

Life Insurance community denounces racial injustice in joint statement

The leaders of several high-profile associations and organizations representing the U.S. life insurance community banded together to release a statement June 1 on behalf of the industry denouncing racial injustice in light of the protests stemming...

Posted: Jun 01, 2020

Big shift from universal life to IUL underway, Milliman finds

Total individual universal life insurance sales decreased 31% between 2017 and late 2019 , while indexed universal life (IUL) sales increased 16% during the same time period, according to a new study by Milliman. The global consulting and a...

Posted: May 27, 2020

Deferred annuity sales hang tough in Q1 despite effects of COVID-19

Total first quarter sales for all deferred annuities amounted to $52.7 billion, a decline of 1.1% when compared to the previous quarter and a decline of 4.0% when compared to the same period last year, according to the latest edition of Wink’s...

Posted: May 25, 2020

Dramatic shift in retirement investment risk tolerance could be boon for annuities

Americans’ appetite for retirement investment risk has been declining since the COVID-19 pandemic started messing with the markets, which could be good news for annuity products, according to a new study. One in four Americans say they have...

Posted: May 20, 2020

Americans say emotional intelligence is ‘most trustworthy’ quality in an advisor

The COVID-19 pandemic, its associated market volatility and new regulations to combat the fallout have all served as reminders that trust is the foundation of any advisor-client relationship. A recent Harris Poll study conducted on behalf o...

Posted: May 19, 2020

Reality Check: May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month

This year the coronavirus pandemic has taken center stage, but that doesn’t mean May isn’t still Dis...

Posted: May 13, 2020

Iowa Insurance Division adopts final ‘Best Interest’ rule for annuity sales

The Iowa Insurance Division filed an adopted regulation to require annuity agents to act in the best interest of their customers on May 11. Iowa’s annuity standards follow efforts by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to de...

Posted: May 11, 2020

Urban Institute: 25-43 million Americans could lose employer-based health coverage during pandemic

Between 25 and 43 million Americans could lose their employer-based health insurance if the unemployment rate hits 20% in the coming months, according to a

Posted: May 06, 2020

Millennials poised to spur major growth in Critical Illness market?

At some point, a more normal life will resume. When it does, Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Crit...

Posted: May 04, 2020

What to look for (and stay away from) in carrier options when selling Final Expense over the phone

Are you considering selling final expense over the phone due to the COVID-19 pandemic? More and more agents daily are considering shifting gears from face-to-face sales to over-the-phone sales to combat the growing difficulty of getting in-...

Posted: Apr 29, 2020

Preston Rutledge retiring as Assistant Secretary of Labor

Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Preston Rutledge announced his plans to step down from the agency recently, prompting the Department of Labor and retirement industry associations to quickly chi...

Posted: Apr 28, 2020

Fixed annuity sales fall in Q1, but variable annuity sales rise

Fixed annuity products were already forecast to have a challenging 2020—and then COVID-19 threw the hammer down in March, leading to double-digit declines across the board. Total fixed annuity sales were $29.5 billion in the first quarter,...

Posted: Apr 22, 2020

Getting back to growth: A 3-phase approach

We are entering a time that could be the greatest prospecting opportunity we’ve seen in over two decades. That’s a pretty bold statement, isn’t it? I have been in this business for over 25 years. I’ve helped advisors stand out and gr...

Posted: Apr 20, 2020

IRI offers 5-point plan to help retirement savers recover from COVID-19

The U.S. government is providing a robust response to address the immediate health and economic hardship millions of Americans dealing with during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further measures are being considered by Congress and the Trump Administratio...

Posted: Apr 16, 2020

Jury still out on whether COVID-19 will boost or damage life insurance market

Hearing some mixed messages about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on life insurance? You’re not alone. The media will tell stories of life insurers saying how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge surge in interest, but then you might hear...

Posted: Apr 14, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic erodes Americans’ economic confidence, fuels financial concerns

How quickly things can change. A new LIMRA study finds just 25% of Americans have a favorable view of the economy, down from 56% in January 2020, which marked the highest consumer sentiment about the economy since LIMRA began tracking the metric i...

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Medicare Advantage industry adapting to COVID-19 challenges

While many physical locations are closed during COVID-19 containment efforts, the Medicare Advantage industry continues serving the nation’s most vulnerable population. However, operations are rapidly changing according to Patrick Phillips,...

Posted: Apr 06, 2020

Moody’s downgrades U.S. life insurance outlook to ‘negative’

The outlook for the U.S. life insurance sector has been changed from stable to negative, owing to the unprecedented economic turmoil from the coronavirus pandemic amid the decline in U.S. Treasury rates and a higher likelihood of a prolonged low r...

Posted: Apr 01, 2020

New Yorkers affected by COVID-19 may defer paying life insurance premiums for 90 days

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) adopted an emergency regulation March 30 requiring New York State regulated issuers of life insurance and annuity contracts, property and casualty insurers and premium finance agencies to p...

Posted: Mar 30, 2020

Congress finalizes $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill including retirement plan aid

A massive $2 trillion measure to bolster U.S. efforts to combat the COVID-19 health and economic crisis is expected to pass Thursday after White House and Congressional leaders finalized a deal late Tuesday night. The proposal includes a pr...

Posted: Mar 25, 2020

Back on top: Familiar company claims title as 2019’s top annuity seller

Jackson National Life was the top overall seller of annuities in 2019, according to the Secure Retirement Institute’s recently released U.S. annuity sales rankings, reclaiming the lead position after losing it to AIG in 2018. “J...

Posted: Mar 24, 2020

How COVID-19 is, or is not, impacting the life insurance business and the ability to obtain coverage

As part of the panic that has consumed the world surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, many consumers are asking whether insurance companies are doing anything different, or perhaps, postponing the ability of consumers to obtain life insurance, for g...

Posted: Mar 18, 2020

Sandwich Generation is completely overwhelmed, worried they may never retire

New research from Haven Life Insurance Agency (Haven Life) (conducted before the coronavirus pandemic) reveals that the Sandwich Generation is struggling physically,...

Posted: Mar 17, 2020

2020 CMO Outlook: Chris Calabro, SVP and CMO of Ohio National

Insurance Forums asked top marketing executives at a number of leading life insurance and annuity carriers to share their thoughts on the current state of some of the most important trends impacting the business, their concerns and their strategie...

Posted: Mar 12, 2020

SEC adopts investor disclosure improvements for variable annuities and variable life contracts

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a long-awaited final rule March 11 to streamline the disclosur...

Posted: Mar 11, 2020