Annuities: The Other Variable in Abusive Fund Trading . According to this article, regulators are taking a greater interest in variable annuities.
Based on the slew of money moving into and out of dozens of international funds within variable annuity accounts, the arena may have been a gold mine of questionable trading that took money right out of the pockets of long-term annuity investors.
Variable annuities -- a group of investment offerings, typically mutual funds, wrapped inside an insurance contract that guarantees part of the holder's investment -- seem to reside at the opposite end of the investment spectrum from go-go arbitragers and market-timers. The average participant is 65 years old, and 53% of annuity accounts hold less than $100,000, according to the National Association for Variable Annuities, an industry trade group. However, industry participants and watchers say a growing number of institutional clients have jumped into variable annuity contracts in recent years for market-timing purposes, because such contracts allow investors to move freely among funds on a tax-deferred basis.
Rich Muny
Based on the slew of money moving into and out of dozens of international funds within variable annuity accounts, the arena may have been a gold mine of questionable trading that took money right out of the pockets of long-term annuity investors.
Variable annuities -- a group of investment offerings, typically mutual funds, wrapped inside an insurance contract that guarantees part of the holder's investment -- seem to reside at the opposite end of the investment spectrum from go-go arbitragers and market-timers. The average participant is 65 years old, and 53% of annuity accounts hold less than $100,000, according to the National Association for Variable Annuities, an industry trade group. However, industry participants and watchers say a growing number of institutional clients have jumped into variable annuity contracts in recent years for market-timing purposes, because such contracts allow investors to move freely among funds on a tax-deferred basis.
Rich Muny
