Despite worries about rising interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve Bank, demand for corporate and foreign bonds in the US market continued firm through Q1 2006. Even with firm demand, corporate bond prices weakened in Q1 2006 because a significant increases in new offerings by corporations seeking to finance stock buybacks. The graph shows the principal […]

Life insurance companies invest pension and life insurance reserves primarily in bonds, according to Federal Reserve Flow of Funds Table F117 for Q3 2005. As the graph shows, although life insurers directed a large portion of cash flows into equities and mutual funds in the years 1998-2000, they returned to a more conservative position after the […]

The Wall Street Journal has noted that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s investigation into kickbacks and other improper incentives in the insurance industry is widening and moving toward the area of employee-benefits. Since there are real problems with the proper exercise of fiduciary responsibility for 401(k) plans, there could be long-term implications for capital […]