Affluent investors across various age groups exhibit a lack of knowledge about alternative investments, with nearly 42% saying they have “no idea” what the term means, according to a just-released survey by Jackson National.
In its 2014 Alternative Investments Survey, Jackson National Life Insurance Co. found that of the 574 investors polled—which included affluent investors as young as 35 up to 65 that were not retired and had more than $200,000 in investable assets—52% of these investors defined alternative investments as “anything that is not a stock, bond or cash,” while close to 42% said they “honestly have no idea what alternative investments means.”
Of the 574 affluent investors polled, 327 respondents were currently working with an advisor. The survey notes that when the 327 were asked the same question about alternative investments, 141 (43.12%) also responded that they had “no idea what alternative investments means.”
Top 5 Airline Companies To Invest In Right Now: MBIA Inc (MBI)
MBIA Inc. (MBIA), incorporated on November 12, 1986, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates the financial guarantee insurance businesses in the industry and is a provider of asset management advisory services. These activities are managed through three business segments: United States public finance insurance, structured finance and international insurance, and advisory services. The Company�� United States public finance insurance business is operated through National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation and its subsidiaries (National), its structured finance and international insurance business is primarily operated through MBIA Insurance Corporation and its subsidiaries (MBIA Corp.), and its asset management advisory services business is primarily operated through Cutwater Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries (Cutwater). It also manages certain business activities through its corporate, asset/liability products, and conduit segments. The corporate segment includes revenues and expenses that arise from general corporate activities. Funding programs managed through the asset/liability products and conduit segments are in wind-down.
MBIA Corp. owns MBIA UK Insurance Limited (MBIA UK), a financial guarantee insurance company that is regulated and supervised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the United Kingdom and is authorized to carry out insurance business in the United Kingdom and in the European Economic Area on a cross border services basis. Its financial guarantee insurance generally provides investors with an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee of the payment of the principal, interest or other amounts owing on insured obligations when due or, in the event that the Company has the right at its discretion to accelerate insured obligations upon default or otherwise, upon its election to accelerate. The Company conducts its financial guarantee business, as well as related reinsurance, advisory and portfolio services, through its subsidiaries National Publi! c Finance Guarantee Corporation (National), its United States (United States) public finance-only financial guarantee company, and MBIA Insurance Corporation and its subsidiaries (MBIA Corp.), which write global structured finance and non-United States public finance financial guarantee insurance.
Insurance operations
The Company�� United States public finance insurance business is conducted through National, and its structured finance and international insurance operations are conducted through MBIA Corp. and its subsidiaries. It also issue insurance policies to guarantee the payment of principal and interest on municipal obligations being traded in the secondary market upon the request of a broker or an existing holder of uninsured bonds, where premium is generally paid by the owner of the obligation. In addition, the Company has provided financial guarantees to debt service reserve funds. The primary risk in its insurance operations is that of adverse credit performance in the insured portfolio. It seeks to maintain a diversified insured portfolio and have designed each insured portfolio with the aim of managing and diversifying risk based on a range of criteria, including revenue source, issue size, type of asset, industry concentrations, type of bond and geographic area.
Through the Company�� reinsurance of United States public finance financial guarantees from MBIA Corp. and Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), National�� insurance portfolio consists of municipal bonds, including tax-exempt and taxable indebtedness of United States political subdivisions, as well as utility districts, airports, health care institutions, higher educational facilities, student loan issuers, housing authorities and other similar agencies and obligations issued by private entities that finance projects that serve a substantial public purpose. Municipal bonds and privately issued bonds used for the financing of public purpose projects are generally supported by ! taxes, as! sessments, user fees or tariffs related to the use of these projects, lease payments or other similar types of revenue streams. As of December 31, 2012, MBIA Corp. had 899 policies outstanding in its insured portfolio. In addition, MBIA Corp. had 199 insurance policies outstanding relating to asset/liability products liabilities issued by MBIA Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Advisory Services
In the Company�� asset management advisory services business its registered investment advisors provide fixed-income asset management services for third parties and the investment portfolios of the Company and its affiliates (including the wind-down businesses) on a fee-for-service basis. Its advisory services are offered in two product lines, traditional and structured. Within the traditional product line, Cutwater offers cash management, customized asset management, discretionary asset management and fund accounting services to governments, insurance companies (including the Company�� insurance subsidiaries), corporations, pension funds, unions, endowments, foundations and investment companies in both pooled and separate account formats. These services are offered through registered investment advisers, and Cutwater receives asset management and administrative fees as compensation. Within the structured product line, Cutwater manages asset/liability programs and conduits (the wind-down businesses), Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and other funding vehicles for banks, insurance companies, program trustees and investment companies, and it earns base and performance fees for its services. Cutwater�� advisory services are offered through two principal operating subsidiaries: Cutwater Asset Management Corp. (Cutwater-AMC), an SEC-registered investment adviser and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm, and Cutwater Investor Services Corp. (Cutwater-ISC), an SEC-registered investment adviser.
Wind-down Business
The asset/liability produc! ts busine! ss historically raised funds for investment through two sources, such as issuance of customized investment agreements by the Company and one of its subsidiaries for bond proceeds and other funds, and issuance of medium-term notes (MTNs) with varying maturities issued by its subsidiary MBIA Global Funding, LLC (GFL). Each of these products is guaranteed by MBIA Corp. In addition, GFL would lend the proceeds of its GFL MTN issuances to MBIA Inc. (GFL Loans). The Company primarily purchased domestic securities and lent a portion of the proceeds from investment agreements and GFL MTNs to its subsidiary Euro Asset Acquisition Limited, which primarily purchased foreign assets as permitted under the Company�� investment guidelines. The Company�� conduit segment is principally operated through Meridian Funding Company, LLC (Meridian) and, formerly, Triple-A One Funding Corporation (Triple-A One). The conduits were used by banks and other financial institutions to raise funds for their customers in the capital markets. During 2012, Triple-A One was liquated. The conduits provided funding for multiple customers through special purpose vehicles that issued commercial paper and MTNs.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Amanda Alix]
But, it probably won't be that easy. The question of successor liability by B of A for Countrywide has come up before, in the recently settled battle between the bank and monoline insurer MBIA (NYSE: MBI ) . Earlier this year, the insurer filed with the New York courts a very long and colorful presentation in its bid to win summary judgment on this very issue. Despite its effort, however, New York State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten wouldn't rule either for or against�the question, citing disputed facts that needed more scrutiny. But, in a blow to Bank of America, she did decide that the successor liability issue should be heard in New York, rather than Delaware, which was B of A's preferred venue.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
MBIA (NYSE: MBI) was also up, gaining 8.18 percent to $14.41 after the company reported upbeat Q4 earnings.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) were down 6.97 percent to $7.55 after the company reported a Q4 loss of $1.37 per share on revenue of $517.3 million. It also withdrew its previous outlook. Capital One Financial downgraded the stock from Equalweight to Underweight and cut the price target from $8.00 to $6.00. - [By Jessica Alling]
Failure to mediate
Monday kicked off the renewed Article 77 hearing for Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC ) settlement with investors over mortgage-backed securities. Of course, AIG has been the loudest critic of the settlement, citing a similar case that was resolved with insurer MBIA (NYSE: MBI ) that received $0.60 on the dollar, when the current $8.5 billion price tag from B of A is just a fraction of that. Investors may be concerned that the recent refusal of mediation between the parties by B of A signals that the bank firmly believes a decision will be made in its favor -- thus signaling a loss for the insurer. As the hearing moves on, be sure to watch out for new signs that the deal will be approved. Though it may not end up being big enough to suit AIG, some money to recoup losses is better than none.
Top 5 Insurance Companies For 2014: Allianz SE (AZSEY)
Allianz SE is an integrated financial services provider. The Company serves approximately 75 million customers in about 70 countries. Allianz SE operates and manages its activities primarily through four operating segments: Property-Casualty, Life/Health, Asset Management, and Corporate and Other. On January 12, 2009, the Company completed the sale of Dresdner Bank AG (Dresdner Bank) to Commerzbank. In May 2010, the Company acquired six solar parks, each with up to one megawatt peak capacity, from BP Solar Italy, a unit of BP Alternative Energy.
Property-Casualty and Life/Health
The Company offers a variety of insurance products to both private and corporate customers, including motor liability and own damage, accident, general liability, fire and property, legal expense, credit and travel insurance. The Company offers a range of life and health insurance products on individual and group basis, including annuity, endowment and term insurance, unit-linked and investment- oriented products, as well as full private health and supplemental health and care insurance. Its product portfolio includes a wide array of property-casualty and life/health insurance products for both private and corporate customers. Its insurance products are distributed through a range of network of self-employed agents, brokers, banks and other channels.
Asset Management
The Company acts as a global provider of institutional and retail asset management products and services to third-party investors and provides investment management services to the Allianz Group�� insurance operations. The products for retail and institutional customers include equity and fixed income funds, as well as alternative products. The United States and Germany as well as France, Italy and the Asia-Pacific region represent the primary asset management markets. As of December 31, 2009, total assets managed by its Asset Management operations were ��1,202 billion. The Company serves a range of retail a! nd institutional asset management clients. Its institutional customers include corporate and public pension funds, insurance and other financial services companies, governments and charities, as well as financial advisors. Its retail asset management business is primarily conducted under the brand name Allianz Global Investors (AGI) through its operating companies worldwide. In the Company�� institutional asset management business, it operates under the brand names of its investment management entities (PIMCO, RCM, AGI Capital), with AGI serving as an endorsement brand.
Corporate and Other
The Corporate and Other includes Holding & Treasury, Banking and Alternative Investments. The Holding & Treasury includes the management and support of the the Company�� business through its strategy, risk, corporate finance, treasury, financial
control, communication, legal, human resources and technology functions. The Banking consists of the banking activities in Germany, France, Italy and Central and Eastern Europe. The banks offer a range of products for corporate and retail clients with the main focus on the latter. As of December 2009, it owned 130 banking agencies. The Alternative Investments provides global alternative investment management services in the private equity, real estate, renewable energy and infrastructure sectors mainly on behalf of the Company. The Alternative Investments also includes certain fully consolidated private equity investments.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Johanna Bennett]
But AirAsia (AIRA.KL) shares, which were also downgraded by AllianceDBS, fell 8.5% on the local exchange. The airplane�� lead insurer, Allianz SE (AZSEY), and the manufacturer, Airbus Group (EADSY), each fell roughly 1% in early afternoon market action.
Top 5 Insurance Companies For 2014: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)
Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement savings, investment, and insurance products and services worldwide. The company?s Retirement and Investor Services segment provides retirement savings and related investment products and services, including a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. This segment offers products and services to businesses for defined contribution pension plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, and employee stock ownership plan consulting services; and annuities, mutual funds, and bank products and services to the employees of its business customers and other individuals. Principal Financial Group?s Principal Global Investors segment offers a range of equity, fixed income, and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services to institutional inve stors. The company?s Principal International segment offers retirement products and services, annuities, mutual funds, institutional asset management, and life insurance accumulation products in Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand. Principal Financial Group?s U.S. Insurance Solutions segment offers individual life insurance, as well as specialty benefits in the United States. Its individual life insurance products include universal and variable universal life insurance and traditional life insurance; and specialty benefit products comprise group dental and vision insurance, individual and group disability insurance, and group life insurance, as well as fee-for-service claims administration and wellness services. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Patricio Kehoe] ts newest deal with private benefits company Liazon Corp., through which the firm will offer employer-sponsored group benefit plans to small and medium businesses. While the company already sells ancillary benefit plans, this deal will now also include dental, life insurance, disability insurance and critical illness coverage in an attempt to stay on top of the insurance industry. As an industry leader, Principal has over $466 billion in assets under management and 19 million customers, fragmented among small and medium-size businesses. Furthermore, its solid fourth quarter results have encouraged investment gurus like Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) to recently acquire large amounts of the company�� shares. So, let�� see what this insurer has in store for the future.
Broadening Horizons
Although Principal�� core business is in life insurance, the company has been pursuing a more diverse growth strategy lately, and is now focused on expanding its position in the retirement service and asset management segment. With almost 30,700 pension plans covering over 3.4 million customers, this business��growth rate has not only boosted overall profitability, marked by a 31% annual increase in operating earnings for fiscal 2013, but also helped offset the headwinds of low interest rates and volatility in the emerging markets. In fact, the fourth quarter showed a 65% boost in premium and fee income for the segmenta , consequence of the rollout of total retirement suite products.
Moreover, Principal�� emphasis on retirement products and its use of capital salesforce for distribution has added on to the natural switching cost advantage in the insurance industry. Since plan sponsors provided with pension assets rarely switch providers, the company will likely benefit in the long term from its persistency, as seen in the quarterly 9% bump in recurring deposits.
On another note, Principal�� fee-based b
- [By Michael Calia]
Principal Financial Group Inc.(PFG) said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 8.6%, touting its strong results for the period amid continued economic concern.
Top 5 Insurance Companies For 2014: Aflac Incorporated(AFL)
Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiary, American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (Aflac), provides supplemental health and life insurance. The company offers various voluntary supplemental insurance products, including cancer plans, general medical indemnity plans, medical/sickness riders, care plans, living benefit life plans, ordinary life insurance plans, and annuities in Japan. It also provides loss-of-income products, such as life and short-term disability plans; and products designed to protect individuals from depletion of assets, which comprise hospital indemnity, fixed-benefit dental, vision care, accident, cancer, critical illness/critical care, and hospital intensive care plans in the United States. The company sells its products through sales associates and brokers, affiliated corporate agencies, independent corporate agencies, and individual agencies. Aflac Incorporated was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Russ Krull]
Aflac (NYSE: AFL ) sold $700 million in 10-year notes. The money will go toward redeeming two yen-denominated notes with a principal value of about $340 million due in 2014 and $300 million in U.S. dollar-denominated notes due in 2015. Any money left over goes toward "general corporate purposes," including capital contributions to subsidiaries, if needed. With Japan's Central Bank aggressively easing, it's curious that Aflac chose to borrow dollars to pay back yen-denominated notes.
- [By Daniela Pylypczak]
Following the biggest one-day drop in more than six months, U.S. equities finally managed to rebound on Tuesday. After the closing bell, AFLAC (AFL) announced its fourth quarter results.
AFL reported earnings of $1.45 per share, up from from $1.24 per share in the Q4 of last year. Analysts expected to see EPS of $1.39. Revenue was�$5.8 billion, coming in below analysts’ estimate of $5.91 billion. The company said that revenue decreased�9.0% in the fourth quarter of 2013,�compared with $6.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012. A weaker yen/dollar exchange rate was noted as the primary cause of the decline; a�significant portion of Aflac’s business is in Japan.
AFL’s Earnings in BriefCEO Commentary
Daniel P. Amos, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented: “We are very pleased with Aflac’s financial performance for both the quarter and year. As the year progressed, operating earnings per diluted share were better than expected, and we finished the year slightly ahead of our expectation for operating earnings to increase 5%, excluding the impact of the yen…�Overall, we were pleased with our investment results in 2013, especially in light of the low-yield environment in both Japan and the U.S. �We position ourselves first to ensure we meet our policyholder obligations. We then seek to achieve a high degree of confidence in allocating capital to our shareholders while also pursuing investment strategies that enhance our overall income growth.”
AFL’s Dividend
The board of directors declared the first quarter cash dividend of $0.37 per share. The next dividend is payable on March 3, 2014, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 14, 2014.
Stock Performance�
AFLAC shares traded 1.2% higher on Tuesday. The stock is down 7.94% YTD.
- [By Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson]
In this segment of The Motley Fool's financials-focused show, Where the Money Is, banking analysts David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer rank insurance stocks. The stocks ranked include: Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) , Markel (NYSE: MKL ) , AIG (NYSE: AIG ) , and Aflac (NYSE: AFL ) . Berkshire Hathaway may be No.1 in the guy's hearts, but it is it also the top pick in their rankings?
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a new $71 price target (versus $61.99 close) at FBR Capital Markets.
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
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