March 30, 2007
Recently a financial advisor asked me to compare Wealth2k’s The Income for Life Model® program with another popular income distribution program called The Grangaard Strategy, developed by Paul Grangaard, CPA. This inquiry surfaced because of advertising which characterizes The Grangaard Strategy as, “The 6.6% Retirement Income Solution™”, and states, “Expert Explains How to Increase [...]
A diverse and interesting group of individuals have recently agreed to have me interview them for this blog. These individuals- all innovators and thought leaders- represent a wide spectrum of industry sectors as well as academia. In the near future, look for interviews with Paul Lofties, Head of Wealth Management Services at Securities America Investments, [...]
March 28, 2007
Arthur Pickering, CLU is Senior Vice President for Distribution at Forethought Financial Group. He is responsible for annuity and life insurance distribution through banks, broker-dealers and IMOs. Forethought is currently making a splash in the indexed annuity marketplace due to its just released 3-year indexed annuity product which offers three index strategies, a [...]
In recent weeks I’ve both spoken and written about a shift taking place in the manner in which people acquire information. A transition is taking place as information is increasingly conveyed electronically; consumers learn more and more by watching rather than be reading. As proof of the magnitude of the shift, I’ve pointed to [...]
March 26, 2007
“When a product becomes indistinguishable from others like it and consumers buy on price alone, it becomes a commodity.”
The tiny market share captured by immediate annuities has been the subject of numerous articles, academic papers and countless meetings within insurance companies. Even an informative interview at this blog http://davidmacchiablog.com/?p=26.
Many reasons for the underutilization of this [...]
March 22, 2007
Occasionally we have the good fortune to meet someone through business who becomes very special to us. Over my 30-year career I’ve been blessed with my share of such relationships. None, however, have I come to admire more than Phil Lubinski.
Phil is a Certified Financial Planner who is based in Denver. I [...]
March 21, 2007
Garth Bernard, FSA, MAAA, is Vice President in the Retirement Strategies Group at MetLife. He is a staunch and articulate advocate of immediate annuities and he holds strong views on why these products have not been used more extensively.
Macchia: Garth, although immediate annuities provide income-generation which the consumer cannot outlive, they still represent [...]
A reader who wishes to remain anonymous has written to me in response to my March 9 post referencing ING’s announcement that it will perform suitability review for fixed annuity sales in all states. This individual is highly experienced in compliance and regulatory matters and is presently employed by a life insurance company that offers [...]
March 20, 2007
Starting tomorrow, look for the first in a continuing series of interviews featuring financial services industry innovators. My goal is to engage these individuals in a candid discussion about what they perceive to be the next-generation of products and solutions emanating from their respective industries, as well as the present and future challenges that [...]
March 19, 2007
I’d like to “move on” but the implications arising out of the March 7 complaints issued by Massachusetts Secretary of State, William Galvin, against two annuity producers won’t let me. Give me rest! In the near future we’re likely to see some remarkable transformations in how annuity producers present themselves (and their [...]
March 16, 2007
Regular readers of my articles know that I have sought to focus financial services industry leaders on the importance of using Internet based communications strategies to help financial advisors both better interact with and meet the expectations of web-savvy consumers. The goal is to realize the positive impact that will result through the combination of [...]
March 14, 2007
Viacom today sued YouTube and its owner, Google, for $1,000,000,000 over copyright infringement. In the complaint YouTube and Google are accused of “massive intentional copyright infringement.” With YouTube streaming more than three-billion videos each month, “massive” seems an apt description. I guess YouTube doesn’t fit Viacom’s definition of “compliant.”
I think about this big-bucks lawsuit [...]