On Wall Street

News

• Market Meltdown Hits Senior Citizens Hard

  The financial crisis now has many older Americans panicking about their futures, according to a new survey.

• Prudential Offers Investment Trusts to Retirement Plans

  Prudential Financial's Fixed Income Management unit has made its nine fixed income collective trust funds available to defined contribution plans, providing individual plan participants access to institutional products through their company retirement plans.

• Fidelity Launches Credit Card With IRA Points

  Fidelity Investments has created a credit card in partnership with American Express that allows customers to transfer rewards from retail purchases to their individual retirement accounts.

• ING Announces Retirement Business Reorganization

  ING Group NV has realigned its U.S. wealth management business. The new structure simplifies the business model by separating annuities from retirement services, the Dutch company announced.

• Led by New York Life Products, Fixed Annuity Sales Rise 54% in Third Quarter

  Buttressed by favorable interest rates and sought by investors looking for shelter from falling equity prices, U.S. fixed annuity sales set a new quarterly record.

• Boomers' Golden Years Don't Glitter As Brightly

  Rather than looking forward to globe-trotting or golf, pre-retirees ages 45 and older are now worrying about saving enough money to afford daily expenses during retirement.

• Durbin Tapped as New President of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services

  Morgan Stanley's Michael Durbin will take the reigns of Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services; current president John W. "Jack" Callahan will head a new functional sales organization at the firm.

• Matches Made in...D.C.

  In a matter of hours Friday, four large insurance companies announced marriages with troubled thrift companies, and the Office of Thrift Supervision played the role of matchmaker.

• SEC Reviewing 4,000 Comments on Indexed Annuity Rule, Official Says

  Traditional fixed annuities and so-called synthetic annuities will not be affected by proposed Rule 151, a senior SEC official told attendees of a legal conference.

• Schwab Proposes Eight-Step Savings Plan

  Charles Schwab on Wednesday unveiled an eight-step plan to help people prioritize both their short-term and long-term savings objectives.

• Protective Offers L-Share Variable Annuity

  Protective Life Insurance Company has launched ProtectiveRewards Elite variable annuity, an L-share contract designed for people who want "a balance of innovative product features along with competitive fee structures."

• Securian: Target Date Funds Get Too Conservative Too Soon

  A new white paper sponsored by Securian Financial Group warns Americans that the popular target date funds in many retirement plans may noth generate enough retirement savings.

• Nationwide Loses $346.4 Million in Third Quarter

  Nationwide Financial Services reported a third-quarter loss on large investment losses related to the recent financial crisis.

• Don't Panic About AIG Annuities, Pennsylvania Regulators Say

  Pennsylvania's insurance regulators are warning annuity owners to fend off agents or brokers who try to panic them into a 1035 exchange by telling them that the issuers are insolvent.

• Retirement Savings Plunge $2 Trillion

  American workers have lost as much as $2 trillion in their pensions and retirement savings in the past 15 months, witnesses told a hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee.

• Economy Is Worst They've Seen, Say Americans Over Age 60

  More than half of Americans over age 60 say current economic conditions are the worst they've experienced, but they haven't rushed to withdraw retirement funds, according to a new poll.

• Wachovia Offering Phone Consultations on Retirement

  Starting this month, Wachovia Retirement Services will offer free retirement consultation services by phone to any of the employees of the 6,400 companies for which Wachovia is the 401(k) provider.

• Morningstar Launches Retirement Payout Funds

  Morningstar Investment Services has launched a new managed account service consisting of a line-up of three actively managed portfolios designed to generate retirement income over specified time horizons and risk levels.

• Small Steps Can Reverse Retirement Income Shortfall

  Retirees need to replace 126% of their final pay at retirement in order to cover rising healthcare costs, longevity risk, and declining pension and medical benefits.

• Chasing Boomer Dollars

  Financial advisors will scramble to acquire the millions of prospective baby boomer clients entering retirement over the next two decades. Firms are competing by launching various retirement-income funds and cheaper immediate annuities.

• Most Americans Clueless About How Much They Need to Retire

  Many don't know how to think about retirement savings, ING survey says