Investments

Jackson National Life Insurance announced it achieved record sales and deposits of $15.2 billion and record profit of $670 million in 2009. Sales and deposits were 8% higher than 2008, and net income increased from a net loss of $1 billion in 2008, primarily due to the positive impact of movement in non-operating derivative holdings and hedging practices for its annuities.

Folio Institutional, a division of FOLIOfn, has teamed up with Alliance Benefit Group Carolinas to offer a turn-key, web-based 401(k) platform that offers transparency, simplicity, low cost and is customizable. It includes custody, trading, recordkeeping and administration, and is available to advisers for just 95 basis points.

Eagle Asset Management has launched the Eagle Investment Grade Bond Fund, a mutual fund modeled on its High Quality Taxable fixed income separately managed accounts portfolio.

Prospects and clients might say they're feeling upbeat about the economy, but their money isn't talking.

The company increased sales by 14% last year, surpassing $1 billion for the first time in its history.

The reasons to buy long-term care insurance aren’t new. What is new, though, is who boomer clients are buying such insurance for: their parents.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is expected to file long-awaited rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would implement the final phase of its transparency system for auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand obligations.

Muni Provisions Could Cost $20 billion

Money market funds are welcoming the Federal Reserve’s offer to buy an estimated $1 trillion in reverse repos, as the economy continues to rebound and the government looks to reduce the $2 trillion it pumped into the capital markets.

Financial planners and advisers hope that by boosting marketing they can expand their practices this year, according to a survey released by TD Ameritrade Institutional.

Investors continue to stuff municipal bond mutual funds with cash, supporting bond prices even as by some measures they are nearly as expensive as they have ever been.

Capital Fulfillment Group has debuted ClickOne, a summary prospectus tool in compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Using patented technologies, it is designed to offer a simple and cost-effective way for mutual fund companies to equip investors with summary prospectuses via print-on-demand. CFG estimates this will reduce asset management firms' printing costs by 80%.

AlphaOne Capital Partners, a hedge fund and alternative investments boutique founded by former Gartmore CEO Paul J. Hondros, has selected SEI to provide a complete outsourcing solution, including a full range middle- and back-office services.

America’s millionaires are bouncing back. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including their primary residence, grew 16% to 7.8 million in 2009, up from 6.7 million the year before, Spectrem Group’s “Affluent Market Insights 2010” report shows. In 2008, the millionaire population declined 27%.

Guaranteed living benefits may now be synonymous with variable annuities, but unless insurers rein in costs and restore benefits, sales may continue to slide.

But the Regions wealth management unit refuses to roll over.

House Counsel: 28% Rate Unlikely

As the market has, indeed, rebounded nicely, Congress is likely to reinstate the RMDs this year, experts say.

Driven by the success of exchange-traded fund provider BlackRock, ETFs appear to be gaining notable market share in 401(k) plans, and while their use so far has primarily been among small companies, once the trend catches on among larger employers, ETFs’ popularity in 401(k) plans could become quite notable.

Registered investment advisers are thinking outside their more typical client prospecting and communications streams and product mix this year.