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The book introduces and develops the basic actuarial models and underlying pricing of life-contingent pension annuities and life insurance from a unique financial perspective. The ideas and techniques are then applied to the real-world problem of generating sustainable retirement income towards the end of the human life-cycle. The role of lifetime income, longevity insurance, and systematic withdrawal plans are investigated in a parsimonious framework. The underlying technology and terminology of the book are based on continuous-time financial economics by merging analytic laws of mortality with the dynamics of equity markets and interest rates. Nonetheless, the book requires a minimal background in mathematics and emphasizes applications and examples more than proofs and theorems. It can serve as an ideal textbook for an applied course on wealth management and retirement planning in addition to being a reference for quantitatively-inclined financial planners.
“Simply put, we don’t outsource our strategic thinking,” states New York Life’s CEO, Sy Sternberg. “This might sound strange, but you would be surprised at how many companies have become dependent on external advisors, consultants, and researchers for much of their strategic decision making.
“Consultation and research can help you test your hunches and sharpen your thinking, but you can’t let those tools serve as a proxy for leadership.
“I encourage everyone on our team to think independently and to resist becoming intellectually captive to the pronouncements of ‘ experts’ or to the latest trends within the industry. In our business, it seems as though there is always someone eager to convince you that you must abandon your business model and adopt theirs. During the dot-com days, the experts were telling us that selling life insurance through agents was a thing of the past, and soon, all transactions would take place online.
“Had we listened to this advice, the results would have been disastrous. The fact is, we are not that easily blown off course. We have a strong culture. We have a clear understanding of our unique strengths. And most important of all, we know that leadership means doing your own thinking and going your own way.
“There have been several instances, in recent years, where New York Life has distinguished itself by not following the herd.
“In the late ’90s, during the height of the bull market, many insurance companies rushed to demutualize. Like New York Life, these mutual companies were not publicly traded and had no shareholders. In mutual companies, policyholders, not stockowners, vote for board members and receive all dividends.
“Our newly demutualized competitors were able to structure stock deals to acquire other publicly owned insurance companies. But, in 1998, when we looked at New York Life’s strong cash flow and our ample surplus, we concluded we had no need to issue stock to fund future growth.
“In a recent report on New York Life, the AM Best rating agency concurred: ‘Sy Sternberg and his board found that their company already had what other companies coveted and hoped to achieve through demutualization: a powerful brand, a productive distribution system, strong capitalization and revenues.’
“But the bigger issue was my personal belief that there is an inherent-conflict between managing a company for the needs of your policyholders versus the demands of shareholders. Investors tend to judge performance by how much you can maximize profits quarter-over-quarter or year-over-year. Policyholders, on the other hand, are looking for long-term security and stability 20 or 30 or 40 years into the future.
“The decision, for me, was absolutely clear: Our most important obligation is to serve the needs and respect the priorities of our policyholders.
“In the end, we gained some significant competitive advantages by maintaining our commitment to mutuality. We can still offer our customers participating (dividend-eligible) whole life, a product that continues to grow in popularity. More importantly, our mutuality lends us an important distinction: People know us as an insurance company whose every action is uniquely aligned with the interests of its policyholders.
“I also took what some might call a contrarian view on another recent trend in the industry: the move toward financial services consolidation. A few years ago, many of our competitors were busy reinventing themselves as financial services supermarkets, diversifying into banking and brokerages.
“All of the consultants and the brand experts were trying to tell me that our company was too narrowly focused. They even suggested we give some serious thought to changing the New York Life name, a move they claimed was necessary if we hoped to sell other, noninsurance products.
“My instinctive judgment said, ‘Our name is our most powerful asset. Why would I jeopardize that?’ Additionally, I had to conclude that, even in a mature market, there were enormous opportunities for growth in the life insurance business. First-year premiums for policies sold in the U.S. exceeded $11 billion annually. However, no single company had more than a 6 percent share of the U.S. life insurance market. In a fragmented market such as this, market share gains of just 2 or 3 percent will have an enormous impact on a company’s sales revenues.
“This is exactly what took place at New York Life. At the end of 2000, New York Life’s market share was about 4 percent. By 2002, we had doubled our sales by capturing another 3.4 percent of the market. When you couple this performance with our strong growth in emerging international markets, such as China and India, it is apparent that our narrow focus on life insurance is actually a strategy for rapid, robust growth.
“Certainly, we will continue to seek opportunities to market other financial products that are a good fit with our brand and our strengths. But rather than tinker with our identity, I think it would be far wiser to persuade consumers that the brand attributes of our life insurance business—financial strength, integrity, and humanity—are an integral part of everything else that we do.
“You move towards real leadership by becoming less dependent on others to do your strategic thinking for you. You move towards real leadership by demonstrating originality, independence, and confidence.
“How do you become a leader? The answer is simple: Learn to trust your own judgment. Learn to stand on your own two feet.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Top 15 Leadership Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Ceos
Have a clear vision, a specific direction, and a goal for your organization
Focus on the two or three things most important to your vision and goals. Don’t spread your attention too thin
Communicate your vision, strategy, goals, and mission to everyone involved—senior management, employees, suppliers, vendors, customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders
Listen to what others tell you. Be willing to accept and act upon criticism and suggestions
Surround yourself with the right people, a strong team
Treat your employees exceedingly well. Help them become successful in their careers and their lives
Apply the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you
Be in a business you love and are passionate about.
Constantly innovate to gain and sustain competitive advantage and serve your customers better
Plan everything. Leave nothing to chance
Be a leader and actually lead. Take responsibility. Make tough decisions
Lead by example. Don’t expect your people to do what you won’t or don’t do yourself
Listen to the people who are closest to the customers and the marketplace. They will give you your best advice and input
Set performance goals and establish metrics by which you can measure your performance and results
Be service-oriented. How can you make the lives of your employees and customers better, easier, and more rewarding?
For young families as yet without sufficient financial security to provide for expenses in the event of the premature death of the breadwinner or homemaker, life insurance provides essential protection. By far the cheapest and simplest way to obtain that protection is term life insurance, a no-frills deal whereby premiums buy insurance but do not create cash value.
The alternatives variously called cash value, straight, whole, permanent, or ordinary life insurance combine protection with an investment program.
The traditional cash value policy requires a fixed premium for the life of the insured and promises a fixed sum of money on the death of the insured. A portion of the premium covers expenses and actual insurance, the rest earns interest in a tax-deferred savings program, gradually building up a cash value. The latter can be cashed in by canceling the policy (hence the term ''cash surrender value"), can be used to buy more protection, or can be borrowed at a below-market or even zero interest rate with the loan balance deducted from the death benefit.
On the death of the insured, the beneficiary receives only the death benefit.
Variations called single-premium or limited-payment life policies, have higher up-front premiums so that a policy becomes paid-up the cash value becomes sufficient to cover the death benefit without further premiums. Later, if the insured is still living, the policy begins paying benefits that can supplement retirement income or be converted to an annuity, thus guaranteeing income for life.
The one serious drawback of cash value policies has been that the interest rate is not competitive with other investments. With soaring interest rates and inflation in the 1970s and in the excitement of new investment products spawned by deregulation in the 1980s, upwardly mobile young investors began questioning the value of insurance policies providing neither competitive investment returns nor the flexibility their dynamic personal financial circumstances required. Faced with cancellations and poor sales, insurers came forth with the following:
Universal Life, which clearly separates the cash value and protection elements of the policy and invests the cash value in a tax-deferred savings program tied to a money market rate. The cost of the insurance is fixed, based on the insured's age and sex, so depending on what the cash value portion earns (it is guaranteed to earn a minimum rate, but can earn more if market rates rise), the premium can vary. The insured may also change the amount of protection at any time. Flexibility is the main feature of this type of policy.
Variable Life, which has a fixed premium like straight life, but the cash value, goes into a choice of stock, bond, or money market portfolios, which the investor can alternate. The insurer guarantees a minimum death benefit regardless of portfolio performance, although excess gains buy additional coverage. The attraction here is capital growth opportunity.
Universal Variable Life, a mid-1980s innovation that combines the flexibility of universal life with the growth potential of variable life.
Even with modern policies, however, the question persists: Why sacrifice a portion of income to an insurance company when pure protection can be more cheaply obtained through term insurance and returns as good or better can be obtained by investing directly?
The answer depends on an individual's expertise, self-confidence, and willingness to spend time managing investments.
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What Is Cash Value Life Insurance?
Cash value life insurance is a contract combining payment to beneficiaries, in the event of the insured's premature death, with investment programs.
Buying, Selling, and Holding
How do I buy and sell it?
Through insurance brokers, insurance company sales agents, savings institutions, full service brokers, commercial banks, financial planners, and other financial services organizations.
Is there a minimum purchase amount, and what is the price range?
Annual premiums vary widely with the type of policy and such factors as the age and sex of the insured.
What fees and charges are involved?
Cost of coverage, sales commissions, and insurance company operating costs are built into premiums. Some policies have penalties for cancellation before specified dates.
Does it mature, expire, or otherwise terminate? Policies mature in 10 years to life, depending on the program.
Can I sell it quickly?
Yes. Policies can be canceled and cash values claimed anytime (although actual payment may require several weeks of processing time).
How is market value determined and how do I keep track of it? Policies are not traded in a secondary market. Cash values are determined by accumulated premiums plus investment income and performance.
Investment Objectives
Should I buy cash value life insurance if my objective is capital appreciation? Assuming death benefits are your primary objective, you might buy a variable life insurance policy or a universal variable life insurance policy with investments in a stock fund to gain capital appreciation.
Should I buy this if my objective is income? No, although policies combining annuities provide for income payments on annuitization.
To what extent does it protect against inflation?
Universal, variable, and universal variable policies can offer some inflation protection through adjustable death benefits and the investment of cash values in inflation-sensitive securities.
Is it suitable for tax deferred retirement accounts?
No; life insurance is not an eligible investment.
Can I borrow against it? Yes. Insurance companies will normally loan cash value at lower-than-market rates and reduce the death benefit by the amount of the loan.
Risk Considerations
How assured can I be of getting my full investment back? Insurance companies are highly regulated and there is little risk they will not meet commitments. However, policies that provide for market returns on cash value investments also carry market risk: e.g., a variable life policy invested in a bond fund would lose cash value if interest rates rose, while one invested in stocks would lose in a down market.
How assured is my income?
That depends on how cash values are invested. Policies that invest cash value in money market instruments, for example, are subject to fluctuating income.
Are there any other risks unique to cash value life insurance?
Although heavily regulated, insurance companies are potentially subject to mismanagement and fraud and are not themselves covered by federal protection in the sense that banks, for example, are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Is it commercially rated?
Yes. Insurance companies are rated by A.M. Best Co. or Weiss Research.
Tax Considerations
What tax advantages (or disadvantages) does it offer? Income earned on cash value accumulates and compounds tax-deferred. Though subject to federal estate taxes (after a $1 million exclusion) and local inheritance taxes, life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary avoid probate. Proceeds to beneficiaries are normally not subject to federal income taxes. Single-premium life insurance, which offers tax-free cash value accumulation and tax-free access to funds in the form of policy loans, was one of the few tax shelters to survive the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
In 1987, however, tax legislation made tax-free borrowings possible only when a test is met requiring substantial insurance coverage relative to premiums over a lengthy time period.
Economic Considerations
What economic factors most affect buy, hold, and sell decisions?
Inflation and volatility of interest rates gave rise to life insurance policies whose cash values vary with market conditions. Investors concerned about such factors can choose among such "new breed" alternatives, rather than buying traditional fixed-rate policies, and make their choices based on their expectations.
Thus an investor anticipating high inflation and high interest rates would not choose a variable life policy invested in fixed-income bonds but might choose one with a stock fund or one that is
money market-oriented. Variable and universal variable life insurance permit switching between bond, stock, and money market funds to afford maximum market flexibility.