COLUMBUS, OH – The latest in Nationwide’s Agent Authority research found that economic uncertainty and unpredictable markets have forced business...

Prudential's individual solutions unit, consisting of annuities and life insurance, reported adjusted operating income of $185 million, down 43.4% mainly due to lower annuity sales. In response, the insurer has "repriced almost our entire product line," said Charlie Lowery, chairman and CEO.

Despite COVID-19 death numbers up to double what was expected in the spring, Principal is cutting its projected impact on earnings from $20 million to $10 million per 100,000 U.S. deaths from the virus. The insurer credits its diversified product lines for enabling it to remain financially strong.

Does the possession of a visa mean a prospect is declined for life insurance?

The Artificial Intelligence Working Group voted unanimously to adopt principles governing artificial intelligence last month, including the phrase "AI users should proactively avoid proxy discrimination against protected classes." A task force is deciding whether or not to keep that language going forward.

Globe Life estimates $45 million of COVID-related life claims for 2020, nearly double its first-quarter projection. Globe Life is one of the first life insurance companies to report second-quarter earnings. The quarter offers the first glimpse at how well insurers are countering the financial impacts of the worldwide pandemic.

Emotional intelligence is where “80% of you success lives,” according to Jamar Cobb-Dennard, a business broker at Indiana Business Advisors, who spoke about racial bias in the workplace in a webinar for the National African-American Insurance Association.

Several life insurers are reversing COVID-19 restrictions on underwriting, even as the pandemic continues to infect record numbers of Americans. Most insurers placed temporary age caps on underwriting in April as COVID-19 spread across the U.S. But policy sales suffered during the ensuing months.

Mentorship is the key in recruiting the next generation of Black advisors, and in helping them build their careers and eventually take over existing practices when the older generation of advisors is ready to retire.

NEW YORK, July 21, 2020 -- American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) today announced that it will relocate its global...

If you have clients who are concerned about what market volatility might mean for their loved ones, life insurance can provide peace of mind that generational wealth won’t get lost in the storms.

New York, July 20, 2020 - New York Life announced today that Co-Chief Operating Officer Craig DeSanto, 43, has been elected president...

When it comes to saving for the long term, millennials and Generation Z have time on their side. Although we are currently in a period of extreme market volatility, if millennials and Gen Z start investing early, there is the potential for their assets to compound and appreciate over the next 40-plus years.

OMAHA, Neb. – Mutual of Omaha today announced several new initiatives to address issues of racial equity and social justice,...

--Benefitfocus, Inc., a technology platform provider enabling rapid innovation for employers, health plans and consumers, has added a portfolio of financial protection solutions from Lincoln Financial Group to the ever-growing range of products and services in its Benefit Catalog.. They are a natural addition, "said Ray August, President& CEO of Benefitfocus.

MINNEAPOLIS – July 15, 2020 – In an effort to help its employees save for their own retirement, Allianz Life...

Vagnozzi, 51, established a series of investment funds named Pillar 1 through 8 to sell a portfolio of life insurance policies-- also known as“ life settlements.” Between April 2013 through August 2017, Vagnozzi sold five funds, none of which was registered with the SEC, the agency said. Vagnozzi is president and sole owner, and raised more than $32 million for the...

After pandemic-related declines in March thru April, U.S. life insurance application activity rose for the second consecutive month, up 1.2% in June year over year, according to the MIB Life Index.

NEWARK, N.J., July 13, 2020 - The first months of the COVID-19 pandemic largely wiped out three years of financial gains...

Prolific insurance executive and author John (Jack) A. Bogardus Jr., 92, died June 28 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee voted unanimously Friday to adopt language proposed by the American Council of Life Insurers to shore up Actuarial Guideline 49. Regulators conceded that the changes might not be ideal, but expressed a desire to do something to bring IUL illustrations more in line with actual returns.

Two-thirds (67%) of Americans say that the pandemic has been a wake-up call for them to reevaluate their finances, according to a new study by Life Happens, a nonprofit dedicated to educating consumers about the importance of life insurance and other related products for sound financial planning.

The Life Insurance and Annuities Committee will vote on language proposed by the American Council of Life Insurers to shore up Actuarial Guideline 49 and bring IUL illustrations more in line with actual returns. A consumer advocate is urging the committee to substitute tougher language.

The class action was filed in June 2016, in the Western District of Missouri by Michael Vogt and other individuals who owned universal life insurance policy form 94030 issued by State Farm. The lawsuit alleged that State Farm breached the terms of the policies by overcharging policyholders through cost of insurance provisions causing policies to lose value...

NEW YORK& HAMILTON, Bermuda---- KKR& Co. Inc. and Global Atlantic Financial Group Limited today announced the signing of a strategic transaction where KKR will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Global Atlantic, a leading retirement and life insurance company. Global Atlantic serves more than two million policyholders through its retirement and life...

Prudential Financial is pulling a popular guaranteed universal life product from the market and one industry analyst expects many more products to join it on the sidelines. The problem is ultra-low interest rates make it difficult to support guaranteed universal life designs.

-Foresters Financial™ today announces it is now one of very few industry players to offer standalone Children's Whole Life Insurance, with the launch of BrightFuture, its first product designed specifically for those currently under the age of 18 1. Available from July 5, 2020, a single BrightFuture application can be used to apply for coverage for up to six...

Susan Neely, CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers, is leading the organization through some choppy waters as the life insurance industry meets tough challenges. In an interview with Publisher Paul Feldman, Neely the fights that still lie ahead.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – On July 1, Nationwide makes history by completing its 18-month transition to operate as a fully independent...

A webinar presented by the National African American Insurance Association explores how individuals and companies can go beyond the promises and bring on real change .

Selling life insurance products in a pandemic is difficult, but longtime life insurance pro Marv Feldman reminds agents not to abandon the important techniques that connect them with clients. And there may be new opportunities to get life insurance to people who need it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is Part 2 of an interview featured in the July edition of InsuranceNewsNet Magazine between InsuranceNewsNet Publisher...

--Given this year's tax deadline is extended to July 15, now is an ideal time for consumers to reevaluate their retirement plans, assess how COVID-19 has impacted their financial goals and develop a strategy to optimize taxes in retirement. According to the 2019 Tax-Efficient Retirement Income survey conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of The...

--Amalgamated Life Insurance Company, a leading provider of comprehensive insurance solutions, announced that it and its affiliated companies, have completed a rebranding initiative designed to better reflect the "Amalgamated Family of Companies" and leverage the brand equity in the flagship company's name, "Amalgamated." They are as follows: the third party...

As Americans evaluate their finances during these challenging times, many financial professionals may be missing opportunities to shift conversations about retirement from accumulation to protection. The new 2020 Retirement Risk Readiness Study from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America surveyed three categories of Americans to get...

The Center for Economic Justice today challenged insurers and insurance regulators to match their public statements condemning systemic bias and inherent racism with concrete actions to address inherent racism in insurance.

The Florida Legislature sent a bill to the governor's desk Wednesday that would prohibit insurers from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling policies. It is not known if Gov. Ron DeSantis, R, will sign the bill, which is generally opposed by the insurance industry.

Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc., announced today its first United Kingdom longevity reinsurance transaction with Pension Insurance Corporation plc. “This transaction marks an important milestone in MetLife’ s strategy and gives us the opportunity to apply our experience managing risk to a new market,” said Graham Cox,...

The lawsuit focuses on a 10-year, $500,000 term life policy issued in 1999 to Kelly Douglas Couch, who hid his HIV-positive status and died in June 2005. Later in 1999, Couch transferred ownership of his policy to an investor in viatical settlements.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, low- and middle-class Americans were less prepared to deal with the death of a main breadwinner, according to a survey taken in January.

When the COVID-19 pandemic chased everyone indoors an insurance industry that relies on face-to-face contact suddenly had to change course. What happened is insurers, middlemen and agents all learned they can rely on technology to forge a new way of selling insurance products.

--Haven Life, the customer-centric life insurance agency backed and wholly owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Benefitfocus, the technology platform driving rapid innovation for employers and health plans, are today announcing a partnership that allows more individuals to digitally purchase the financial protection they need.

Despite the economic craziness -- or maybe because of it -- Americans are trusting insurance agents and companies more than ever, according to LIMRA data.

According to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study, insurers have made across-the-board improvements in clarity of information, but many still struggle with the balance of too much information and a minimalist approach.

COVID-19 has helped move a traditionally slow-to-evolve industry in a more chameleon-like way. Insurance carriers have made multiple changes to their underwriting guidelines and product portfolios. Products may have slightly different features or requirements, but they still blend seamlessly into individuals’ financial and retirement plans.

While the COVID-19 pandemic will likely impact the claims side of the insurance industry, it is also affecting another component: insurance company investment portfolios. The past decade’s historically low interest rates led insurers further into generally higher yielding assets, including IG corporate bonds.

MetLife Inc. has agreed to pay $84 million to settle an eight-year-old class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders who claim the insurer underreported its liabilities via claims to deceased policyholders. Plaintiffs claim that MetLife failed to include data from the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master File” in tabulating its reserves.

National Guardian Life Insurance Company today announced an agreement to sell certain closed-block businesses to Prosperity Life Assurance Limited. “This reinsurance transaction with NGL launches Prosperity Life Assurance Limited as an emerging provider of customized and innovative reinsurance solutions to the life insurance and annuity industry,”...

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is converting its Summer Meeting to a virtual format.

On a year-over-year basis, May 2020 index was up 5.2% with two less business days than in the 2019 comparative period. As carriers and agents adjust to the new normal and society returns, MIB cautioned against identifying any trends given the impact of the COVID-19 exogenous event.