Annuities

Bank holding companies raked in $118.4 billion in wealth management income in 2011, up 1.35% from $116.9 billion in 2010. The increase comes despite a lackluster fourth quarter, the industry’s weakest since the beginning of 2009.

The Salt Lake City-based bank is ramping up its wealth management business with the support of third-party marketing firm PrimeVest Financial Services.

Mid-octogenarians could be getting a birthday gift from the IRS

New York Life says its Guaranteed Future Income Annuity product has garnered more than $500 million in premiums in less than a year.

As of March 31, U.S. retirement assets totaled $18.9 trillion, up 6.3% from $17.8 trillion in the previous quarter.

“The past few years of market volatility have demonstrated the importance of guaranteed income in retirement,” said Alison Salka, LIMRA corporate vice president and director of retirement research,

Advisors are more committed than ever to helping clients with their retirement income planning but they still face a host of challenges.

The new annuity products, which are being offered by wealth managers in the firm’s Advisor Asset Program, come in response to a growing demand among investors for a more guaranteed form of tax-deferred retirement income.

Income annuity sales in the first quarter climbed almost 23% to $2.16 billion from $1.75 billion a year ago. Indexed annuities, meanwhile, increased nearly 9% hitting $8.16 billion.

Insurance companies and broker-dealers sold $7.4 billion million in annuity products in April, down from $7.7 billion in March, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced.

MetLife noted as top seller of annuities, while Prudential leads variable annuity sales; overall, annuity sales decline markedly.

Morningstar has launched Annuity Intelligence, a web-based research and evaluation tool for advisors and broker-dealers charged with finding the best variable annuity products for their clients.

Indexed annuities were one bright spot in the market, hitting $8.1 billion in sales, up 14% from the year-ago period.

Jefferson National has beefed up its Monument Advisor variable annuity with a slew of new alternative investment options.

Fidelity Investments has added four mutual funds to a variable annuity product it launched in 2005, opting for simplicity in an era where advisors and clients are wary of complexity in variable annuities.

Clients interested in guaranteed lifetime income? Now you have one more option to offer, courtesy of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co.

The company has unveiled two new asset allocation portfolios and two new sub-advisors.

Revenue from the sale of investment and life insurance services at banks and credit unions increased 10% in 2011, led by a significant boost in advisory services.

Bank holding companies earned $2.84 billion from the sale of annuities in 2011, up 10.4% from the previous year, according to a new report from Michael White Associates.

Even though retirement portfolios have nearly recovered from the financial crisis, investors have not, say financial advisors in a recent survey.