Insurance

The UK is leading the world when it comes to hedging the longevity risk contained in many defined benefit pension plans. In a $3 billion deal, Rothesay Life will be assuming the longevity-related liabilities of 55 percent of the plan participants of the RSA Insurance Group pension plan . Goldman Sachs is the parent company of Rothesay Life. Liability swaps such as this are poised to gain traction in the UK, but are essentially non-existent in the United States since certain legal aspects of the...

Brett Arends writes a personal finance column for the Wall Street Journal. He is one of the more interesting and popular personal finance writers in the industry. Although a subscription is required to read the Wall Street Journal, Arends' column (among other Journal features) is highly recommended. For the past two weeks, Arends has written columns that focus on annuities. The columns can be accessed by clicking here and here . Both articles are highly recommended. Topics addressed include:...

Variable annuity sales in the United States continue to decline in the wake of the financial crisis and capital market turmoil. First quarter sales of variable annuities totaled $30.4 billion. This represents a 26% decrease from the same period a year ago. Total variable annuity sales for 2008 totaled $154.8 billion, a drop of 15.1% from 2007. The top 5 variable annuity companies in terms of revenue were lead by MetLife : By individual companies, MetLife re-captured the No. 1 spot, with $3.7...