Sales are estimated to fall to $40 billion next year, a level not seen since 2013. The drop would put an end to the products' nearly decade-long surge in growth.
One attorney called the lawsuit an "attack" on the investment-management structure within variable annuities.
Allianz, Voya, Symetra and Lincoln Financial are forging ahead into virtually uncharted waters for product development.
Mainstream media is educating clients, prospects, advisers and centers of influence about the undesirable consequences of an unmanaged life insurance policy.
But policy buyers on Healthcare.gov may be out of luck.
Finra says the firm failed to detect and prevent theft of approximately $1.3 million from an 89-year-old man's account.
The largest U.S. life insurer plans to cut expenses by about $1 billion as low interest rates squeeze investment income.
The settlement was part of a broader crackdown by regulators in five states on insurers who allegedly failed to make death benefit payouts on a timely basis.
Bad VA switches were supposed to be a thing of the past, but the independent broker-dealer industry should take heed of this fine.
Tight restrictions are placed on investment options in VAs with guaranteed income to reduce their risk. Returns have lagged as a result, frustrating advisers and investors.
The insurer's variable annuities dipped 39% year-over-year in the second quarter, offering a glimpse into the power of big distributors like Fidelity.
The laws create the possibility that clients' their long-term-care expenses may be shouldered by their children
Low interest rates and demographic trends continue to bolster indexed annuity sales. These dynamics also pushed deferred income annuities to their best all-time sales quarter.
Some insurers are turning away from L-share variable annuities as appetite wanes among broker-dealers.
The adviser allegedly hid improper annuity exchanges from his clients and broker-dealers in part by falsifying documents and misrepresenting some of the annuity features.
Life insurance and annuity carriers are focused on growing distribution through brokers. Direct-to-consumer sales, though, reign king.
Following record MetLife fine, regulator says VAs are now at the core of their focus: complex products marketed to seniors.
The insurer is trying to expand outside the affluent market with the purchase of a tech platform.
MetLife is the second major insurer to exit the brokerage business, in the sale of its adviser unit to MassMutual. Mergers may be on the rise due to the Labor Department's proposed fiduciary rule.
The move would allow insurers to sidestep additional risk in distributing through independent agents.
