Retirement planning

The increase in both market volatility and interest from the Baby Boomers in generating retirement income should be a slam-dunk for variable annuities.

The U.S. Department of Labor's new regulations on 401(k) fee disclosures will serve as a wake-up call to plan sponsors and participants alike, once they stop hitting the snooze alarm, that is.

INDIANAPOLIS-The husband and wife team had lots of experience. They had worked at large mutual fund shops, then struck out on their own.

Total estimated inflows to long-term mutual funds were $6.12 billion for the week ended Wednesday, September 12, according to data from the Investment Company Institute.

CLS Investments, a third party money manager, has promoted Todd Clarke to the position of chief executive officer.

Charles Schwab is looking to make a statement in the exchange-traded fund space, even if its CEO Walt Bettinger wants to downplay the significance of the move.

Cynthia Egan, head of retirement plan services at T. Rowe Price, is retiring on December 31.

A greater number of Americans believe that their personal finances and the economy are in better shape than they were a year ago, according to a new survey from a unit of JPMorgan Chase.

ING U.S., the holding company for ING U.S.'s core Retirement, Investment Management and Insurance businesses, has expanded the roles and responsibilities for some members of its executive team.

Janus Capital Group is growing its defined contribution investment only unit with addition of Ruben Gonzalez as a retirement director, Money Management Executive has learned.

ING U.S.’s Retirement business has hired Jamie Ohl as president of Tax-Exempt Markets for the company’s institutional retirement operations.

The Insured Retirement Institute announced Wednesday it elected Larry Roth chairman of its board of directors.

The departure of Chief Executive Officer Mark Fetting from embattled money manager Legg Mason has the firm reshuffling its top management in the face of a looming face-off with hedge fund manager Nelson Peltz of Trian Fund Management.

Dimensional Fund Advisor has made its way onto Paychex’s Open Fund Select and Advisor Select platforms. Paychex provides of payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing services, including 401(k) plan recordkeeping, for small- to medium-sized businesses.

ING has launched a new program called The Opportunity to Articulate Your Value in effort to help advisors stay on top of rapid changes in regulations and compensation in the retirement space.

Seventy-three percent of annuity owners and 17% of non-owners agreed that annuities are an important part of a retirement strategy, compared to 55% and 8%, respectively a year earlier, according to the survey of investors and financial advisors released at the IRI 2012 Annual Meeting,

"The industry has been in an interesting transformation," said Catherine J. Weatherford, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute. "The financial crisis hit banks rapidly, but for the life insurance industry, it took a while for the issues from the crisis to develop."

Franklin Templeton has expanded its defined contribution investment only team this year with the addition of four wholesalers.

Indexed annuity sales increased 8.3% and income annuities were up 6.1% in the second quarter, according to Beacon Research. It was the second-best quarter ever for those product types, Beacon said in a press release. Total fixed annuity sales were also up, but with a more muted 1% gain in the quarter. And they declined 17.2% from the year-ago period. …

The branchless bank is combining retail banking, retirement and insurance services in its online banking site.