CNBC and Annuities

I know it has been awhile since we have posted, sorry. The market has been a mess, but as you may have read, we knew that for awhile. We called the temporary bottom and were right, but we did not post that it was going to go lower. However, this latest rally is a bear market rally, so don’t get sucked into long-term buying. Anyhow, we were watching CNBC on Friday when we got all excited when the Power Lunch crew started talking about annuities . FINALLY, some real air time on these products, so we thought. They brought on
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The 20 Strongest Annuity Insurers

Many insurance companies that write annuities have suffered downgrades because of severe losses and capital deterioration. Many, however, have maintained strong capital levels that so far have cushioned the blow from the decline in the stock market. Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, better known as TIAA-CREF, is the largest annuity company to receive TheStreet.com Ratings' top ranking of A-plus. It lost $3.3 billion in 2008 but held $17.8 billion in capital at year-end... Street: The 20 Strongest Annuity Insurers
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Variable Annuity Prices Up, Despite Sales Drop

It's counterintuitive — wealth managers are ratcheting up the price and providing lower returns on variable annuities. Some providers have doubled prices in the past six months, and more changes are expected. Steve Mabry, a senior vice president of annuity product development for Axa Equitable, said the New York company repriced its variable annuity with a living benefit guarantee in November and again in February. "These products are dependent on the interest rate environment," Mabry said in an interview last week. "Based on the low interest rate condition and the high volatility in the equity markets, we felt it was
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Variable Annuity Assets Fall 13% to $1.1 Trillion

Assets in U.S. variable annuities declined 13 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31 as stock markets plunged and savers scaled back purchases... Total assets were $1.13 trillion at the end of 2008 compared with $1.3 trillion on Sept. 30, said NAVA Inc., a trade group for companies that sell the retirement products, in a statement today distributed by PR Newswire. Life insurers, which often guarantee minimum returns on the variable annuities they sell, suffered as the decline in assets forced them to set aside more capital to fund potential future payouts to customers. Prudential Financial Inc., the second-
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