I’m writing this post, the first on this blog in over a year, on a quiet afternoon at a café in my Astoria neighborhood where I like to have a coffee and think and write. The recent heat wave has let up, thankfully, and the place has a nice mix of local people, sipping and relaxing...

This post is a follow up to my last one – admittedly on the late side – but I got some great feedback on that one and decided to let the ideas germinate a bit before I put them to paper. Now I am doing so...

This post contains some of my thoughts regarding the Department of Labor's new fiduciary standard, which has been hotly debated and is expected to have a major impact on the variable annuity business...

About a month ago I was catching up via phone with a longtime industry contact, who gave me a little food for thought I figured I’d share with you - it's about the topic of investment-only variable annuities (IOVAs)...

Temperatures here in New York City have risen of late, as well as humidity, typical of our summers. Last evening we endured torrential rain with thunder and lightning and we’re being hit with the same tonight. Not too many people are on the streets...

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s celebration and are jumping into 2014 with optimism. To my mind, there are plenty of things to be positive about: variable annuity players are toning down their risks, other product types are gaining ground, and quite a few observers expect total sales to rise. The growing popularity of Deferred Income Annuities (DIAs) seems to be evidence that some investors have warmed up to the idea of receiving traditional annuity payouts in retirement...

Last week I attended the annual LIMRA/LOMA/SOA Retirement Conference in Chicago and I probably should have posted something about it earlier, but I wanted to allow my impressions to percolate for a bit in my mind. Thus I’m hunkering down to share my thoughts with you today...