Morningstar
Advisor transparency in Morningstar platformPosted by RJ and Makay on Apr 09, 2012 |
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Morningstar announced last week that it would begin to include advisor fee and commission data from PriceMetrix Inc. in its advisor workstation platform. The news was generally received well by advisors though many were concerned that greater transparency would lead to lowball pricing. Detailed pricing information provides insights into advisor attributes that clients require in a business relationship.
Net variable annuity (VA) sales in 2011 were the strongest since 2007, the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) reported Monday. The insurance segment’s total year’s net sales came in at $27.7 billion, a 28% increase from 2010. Fourth quarter 2011 net VA sales rose almost 35%, to $7.2 billion, up from $5.4 billion for the prior year’s period. Q4 2011 was the second strongest quarter since mid-2008, the IRA said.
Mutual fund company American Funds had outflows of $82 billion in 2011, or 9% of total assets, according to Morningstar. Once a favorite of financial advisors, the fund group has had lagging performance for the past several years, and recent outflows represent an industry record, far more than the $28 billion of 2011 outflows at Fidelity investments. Industry stalwart Vanguard, meanwhile, had inflows of $44 billion in 2011.
