- Asset Owners See Sustainability as Core to Future of Investing
Increasingly, they’re embracing ESG and factoring it into their strategy
A majority of asset owners globally actively integrate ESG factors into their investment process, according to a new survey published today by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. The new survey polled 110 public and corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth entities, insurance companies and other large asset owners…
read more - Within Crisis: Opportunity And Advantage
Ami Kassar suggests ways for business owners to take advantage of opportunities brought about by the pandemic
by Ami Kassar
There’s no denying that a societal crisis, especially a global one, can be a game changer for the business community. Plenty of business people – entrepreneurs and others – are dealing with real pain of these life-threatening, and business-threatening, situations. We can only hope for the best.
read more - Fitch: US Life, Health Insurers See Most Risk Amid Coronavirus Fallout
North American insurers face an onslaught from serious unforeseen downside risks amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic
North American insurers face key vulnerabilities and potentially unforeseen downside risks amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, including outsized investment exposure with market volatility exacerbating potential issuer defaults, increased mortality risk and elevated claims, according to Fitch Ratings.
read more - Return To Work Refocuses on The Employee Experience
Three key operational decisions to determine the most effective strategy
A Gartner, Inc. survey of 214 HR leaders in April found that 64% are prioritizing employee experience more highly now than before the coronavirus outbreak. To effectively choreograph the return to the workplace, HR leaders need to create new “employee journey maps” to identify and manage the moments that matter most to employees upon reentry…
read more - Markets React to Positive Outlook
Upbeat comments by the Federal Reserve Chairman and more signs of an economic turnaround combined to help fuel a powerful rally in the stock market last week
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.29%, while the Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 3.20%. The Nasdaq Composite index climbed 3.44% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, gained 3.87%.
read more - How Has The Pandemic Impacted Our Small Business Community?
From operations to access, capital to balance sheets, the severity of a struggle to rebalance and restart
With the novel coronavirus impacting small business community, the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) today highlighted the survey results of the State of Small Business Report conducted by the Small Business Roundtable and Facebook, which indicates that small and medium-sized businesses in the United States are being hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. NASE…
read more - COVID-19 Poses Unprecedented Threat to Retirement Security of US Workers
Confidence in retirement security dwindling
Twenty-three percent of workers who are employed or recently unemployed say their confidence in their ability to retire comfortably has declined in light of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Retirement Security Amid COVID-19: The Outlook of Three Generations, a new study released today by nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies® (TCRS).
read more - Industry Leaders See Recession, Job Losses & Protectionism As ’Top Of Mind’ Concerns
The big concern, however, is the possibility of another pandemic
Geneva, Switzerland, 19 May 2020 – Economic distress and social discontent will rise over the next 18 months unless world leaders, businesses and policy-makers work together to manage the fallout of the pandemic. As economies restart, there is an opportunity to embed greater societal equality and sustainability into the recovery, which would unleash a new…
read more - Reinsurers Brace for A Spate of Mortgage Losses
Exploring the 'spillover effect' in the wake of the pandemic
With mortgage delinquency rates expected to dramatically increase due to COVID-19 pandemic-related forbearance and job loss, AM Best has explored the spillover effect into the mortgage-related activities of the reinsurance industry. Reinsurers have been assuming incrementally more U.S. mortgage risk from two main sources: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (i.e., the government-sponsored enterprises [GSEs]); and…
read more - The Health And Well Being Of Our Retirement
Social security faces serious financial challenges
A new issue brief from the American Academy of Actuaries, An Actuarial Perspective on the 2020 Social Security Trustees Report, provides policymakers and the public with an actuarially informed overview of Social Security’s financial condition and projections of its condition.
read more - Double-Digit Increase for Registered Index-Linked Annuity Sales in 2020
FIA sales expected to drop more than 20% in 2020
Registered index-linked annuity (RILA) sales were $4.9 billion in the first quarter 2020, up 38% from the prior year results, according to final results from the Secure Retirement Institute® (SRITM) U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey. “Current market conditions favor RILA products more than fixed indexed annuities (FIA) as the increase in market volatility will help…
read more - Deferred Annuity Sales Barely Decline Despite Effects of Pandemic
Amidst the devastation of Covid-19 on the annuity industry, annuity sales are only down in the single digits
Wink’s Sales & Market Report is the insurance industry’s #1 resource for annuity sales data since 1997. Sixty-one indexed annuity providers, 48 fixed annuity providers, 68 multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) providers, 12 structured annuity providers, and 47 variable annuity providers participated in the 91st edition of Wink’s Sales & Market Report for 1st Quarter, 2020.…
read more - Reinventing The Workplace
When resilience can determine organizational survival, only 16% expect to increase investment
With COVID-19 creating urgency around workforce reinvention, it's clear that while organizations have doubled down on investments in technology over the past decade, many have significantly underinvested in how humans could adapt to and embrace new ways of working. Only 17% of respondents are making significant investments in reskilling to support their AI strategy with…
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