Mutual Funds and Investment Assets
Two experts who believe that the life insurance industry's picture is far brighter than it first appears are Paul Hoffman and Anthony M. Santomero of the Wharton School's Financial Institutions Center. Their paper, "Life Insurance Firms in the Retirement Market: Is the News All Bad?" answers their own titular question with a decided "no." Hoffman and Santomero point to a number of facts that, while not completely reassuring to the industry, definitely show some profitable opportunities.
While mutual funds and brokerage houses have been expanding their market share, their inroads have been mostly at the expense of depository institutions, not life insurance companines. The retirement market is a growing financial feast, even if insurers do have to compete a little harder for their share of the bounty. By the end of 1996, total private retirement assets in the U.S. stood at almost $5.1 trillion, having increased as a share of total national wealth from 10.6% in 1983 to 13.6%.
Meanwhile, mutual funds and brokerage firms picked up more than 43% of the depository institutions' drop in IRA market share, increasing their own share from 15.8% to 37.9% for mutual funds and 14.7% to 35.8% in the case of brokerages. Insurers' share of the IRA market actually fell from 10.4% in 1990 to 7.8% in 1996.
A disturbing development for insurance companies is their loss of share of revenue, from 55% of sales fees for variable annuities in 1994 to only 43% the next year. The Wall Street Journal has predicted that insurers' share of these fees could fall to 30% by the year 2000.
For the life insurance industry, the stakes are clear. While its decline in competitiveness is not as serious as widely proclaimed, its share of the retirement market has been falling by more than 1% a year in recent years. Because its income from annuities has surpassed its income from life insurance since 1985, clearly it must continue to pursue the retirement segment. Now, however, it also needs to look to ways of solidifying and perhaps expanding its share of the 401(k) and IRA niches.
In an effort to maximize returns, many funds turned away from Jones' strategy, which focused on stock picking coupled with hedging, and chose instead to engage in riskier strategies based on long-term leverage. These tactics led to heavy losses in 1969-70, followed by a number of hedge fund closures during the bear market of 1973-74.
With media attention still focused on the recent failure of some hedge funds, there has been an increasing move towards their regulation. In 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted changes that require hedge fund managers and sponsors to register as investment advisors under the Investment Advisor's Act of 1940. This greatly increased the number of requirements placed on hedge funds, including keeping up-to-date performance records, hiring a compliance officer and creating a code of ethics. This was seen as an important move in protecting investors
Article Source: FxTradingStock.com
About the Author
Powered with: Seo Service
by: Brandon T. McMillian
Total views: 22
Word Count: 479
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011
Publish/Share this article
To use this article on your site click here to get the HTML code
Rating: Not yet rated
Login to vote
Related Articles
How to Invest in 2011 and Beyond Without a ClueWhat Is Forex Trading?
Quick Way To Trade In Shares
ATM Calendar Spreads, Are You Aware Of The Hidden Gotchas?
Emini Day Trading Requirements
The Coming Death Of The Dollar
Fantastic Fundraising Suggestions
Winning Big In The Share Market
