Greg was a reporter for InvestmentNews from 2015 to 2019, covering defined-contribution plans, retirement planning, insurance, taxes and estate planning, before then moving to CNBC as a Personal Finance Reporter. He tweets at: @GregIacurci
AXA Equitable and Ohio National have recently tried switching consumers out of VAs with rich benefits through buyouts and exchanges.
Ingham Retirement Group, which works primarily with employer-sponsored plans, left because the firm's brokerage business had been declining.
Consolidation, unbundled platforms and the use of proprietary funds play a role, according to retirement plan advisers.
$9.5-billion Independent Financial Partners to jump ship, create its own broker-dealer.
Concurrent concern brewing over a pilot program being beta-tested through next year, possibly longer.
Its 401(k) Solutions business, only four years old, has amassed more than $400 million.
Devika Kamboh, president of the New York chapter's board, described "nefarious" activities among its directors, and said the national Financial Planning Association suggested she overlook the potential violations.
After six years of declines, sales could improve slightly if rising interest rates help insurers more easily support their guarantees.
A bipartisan effort in Congress to ease annuity use in 401(k)s follows years of related academic research.
Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America shed the most money on the indexed side, and Prudential Annuities on the variable end, both losing more than $2 billion in sales year-over-year.
