Simplifying—and Selling—Stable Value
It’s hard to maximize sales and market share when consumers don’t fully understand or appreciate your brand— Imagine that automobile buyers didn’t know that Ferraris are fast, that Jeeps are designed to take on rugged terrain or that a Lexus is likely to deliver above-average reliability. This is something anyone in the stable value business […]
Sequence of Returns Risk: Worse Than You Thought
The stock market downturn that stretched from late 2007 through early 2009 gave recent and soon-to-be retirees a harsh lesson in the dangers of sequence of returns risk. That’s the risk that poor investment returns at or near retirement age will devastate your portfolio and result in you outliving your savings. It makes a strong […]
Stable Value: Overlooked Solution to Generating Retirement Income
Figuring out how best to convert retirement savings to a lifetime of retirement income has become the new holy grail of the retirement industry. Not coincidentally, it’s also of vital interest to the tens of millions of baby boomers who have retired over the past few years or will likely do so in the next […]
The Rise of Robo Advisors
In the nearly two decades since their debut, online investment advisory services have enjoyed modest success in convincing some investors to use them. Now they’ve got a sexy new name—“robo advisors”—and with it perhaps an improved chance of winning customers. Much has changed since industry pioneers like mPower and Financial Engines starting providing online investment […]
“Follow the Yield” for Stable Value Rate of Return Expectation
By Phil Connor, MassMutual When individuals are faced with a personal decision sometimes they’ll resort to that familiar advice of “follow your instinct.” For stable value investments, a phrase such as “follow the yield” comes to mind when endeavoring to determine how the rate of return on the investment may trend over time. Stable […]
Stable Times Volume 19 Issue 2
Download PDF The biannual publication of the Stable Value Investment Association that covers both industry concerns and association activities. Table of contents: Looking Back and Moving Forward Policy Maker Outlines Ideas for Improving Retirement Savings Plans Consumer Interest Groups Back Proposed New Fiduciary Standards Millennials’ Financial Outlook Better than Advertised—At Least for Some Fixed-Income Managers […]
Looking Back and Moving Forward
By Jim King, Prudential, SVIA Chairman As 2015 draws to a close, so does my tenure as Chairman of the Board of the Stable Value Investment Association. It’s been an eventful and exciting six years for me serving on the Board and for the stable value industry as a whole. As I sat down […]
Policy Maker Outlines Ideas for Improving Retirement Savings Plans
The modern defined contribution retirement savings plan—what most people today know as a 401(k)—is now three decades old. Its close cousins, 457 and 403(b) plans, have been around even longer. We’re still trying to get them right. The problem? While Americans held approximately $6.8 trillion in defined contribution plans at year-end 2014, according to the […]
Consumer Interest Groups Back Proposed New Fiduciary Standards
Proposed new fiduciary rules from the U.S. Department of Labor have drawn mixed reviews from the retirement industry, but consumer watchdog groups are fans. In April 2015, the DOL proposed expanding the definition of a fiduciary to effectively require anyone offering advice on or managing retirement accounts to act in the best interests of their […]
