--Are annuities the way to travel, or are you better off whipping out your trusty IPhone and beckoning a Uber?

--Questions…..questions. Okay, so, what are some of the trepidations surrounding annuities? 

--One factor, apparently, is inflexibility. It goes like this: with a fixed or fixed index annuity, your interest rate? Why, for the life of the contract, it’s locked in, according to annuityexpertadvice.com. Meaning? Well, if rates trek north, you’ll derive nothing stemming from a spike in returns. Conversely, if rates falter, you’re good because your investment’s shielded from receding.

--Then there’s the bugaboo of market fluctuations revolving around your investment that enters the equation with a variable annuity. With a drop in the stock market comes a decline in the value of your investment. 

--Meantime, customization also enters the picture. Risks most conceivably linked to annuities can be mitigated by the fact the annuities themselves are, by their nature, custom friendly, according to sophisticatedinvestor.com. A caveat, however: that features comes with the assumption you’re willing to fork out the cash for it.

Then there are annuity riders – provisions you invest in for annuities, the site continued. They rachet down the percentage of your annal annuity payout.

What are the fears of risks about an annuity?

With a fixed or fixed index annuity, your interest rate is locked in for the contract’s life. So if rates go up, you will not benefit from the higher returns. However, if rates go down, your investment is protected from declining.

With a variable annuity, your investment is subject to market fluctuations. If the stock market goes down, your investment value will also go down. ...

Are Annuities Good Or Bad? (2022) - The Annuity Expert

Pro: If You’re Looking for a Guaranteed Income Stream in Retirement, an Annuity Can Help

An annuity can be a good option if you’re looking for a guaranteed income stream in retirement. With an annuity, you make a lump sum payment upfront and then receive payments from the annuity provider for a set period of time, typically for the rest of your life. This can provide peace of mind knowing that you have a guaranteed income stream to cover your basic living expenses in retirement.

Con: Annuities Come with High Fees

One of the most significant drawbacks of annuities is that they come with high fees (typically variable annuities). These fees can eat away your investment returns, leaving you with less money than you started with. So be sure to review the fee structure of any annuity before investing carefully.

GeoWealth, a TAMP built for registered investment advisors, recently announced several upgrades to its platform that focuses on providing RIAs with more personalization in their investment management programs. This includes expanding its model marketplace by increasing its vetted manager menu by over 200 percent. Advisors that use GeoWealth’s platform have previously had the flexibility to build their own models, select third-party model portfolios, or combine the two through custom UMAs. GeoWealth has now enhanced the platform by onboarding SMAs and single asset class or "sleeve-level" strategies to be in the UMA allocations. The firm has also announced the launch of its internal Investment Consulting division and the release of its integrated Manager Portal module on the platform. The Portal will allow third-party managers and advisors managing portfolios, to communicate portfolio updates to the GeoWealth trading team for execution. Plus, the portal will also allow asset managers to load their collateral directly to the Model Center for easy access by advisors.

Finsum:GeoWealth recently announced that it upgraded its platform with the expansion of its model marketplace and release of an integrated Manager Portal.

Last week, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said that volatility in the markets can create additional restrictiveness in financial conditions. Last week, global markets saw increased volatility triggered by turbulence in the UK markets. Investors in the UK were spooked by the government’s program of unfunded tax cuts, which sent the pound tumbling and the cost of government debt spiking. In fact, volatility bets last week were at their highest levels since March 2020. Evans said that “The U.S. economy and inflation are going to be largely dictated by the stance of monetary policy and everything else that is going on supply shocks, the labor issues we're dealing with. It is a case that financial market volatility can add to additional financial restrictiveness. So, anything around the world in terms of policy or developments like Russia's invasion of Ukraine can add to additional restrictiveness." Still, he did not indicate that financial conditions would change the Fed’s current course.

Finsum: Chicago Fed President Charles Evans stated last week that market volatility can create additional restrictiveness in financial conditions, but gave no indication the Fed would change course.

A Texas statute that targets environmental, social, or governance funds, includes a notable number of funds that don’t have an ESG focus. Out of 348 funds singled out by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, 14% don’t qualify as ESG, according to Morningstar. In addition, almost 40% of the funds invest in the oil and gas industry based on data compiled by Bloomberg. The findings highlight just how much ESG investing has become a hot-button political issue. In fact, many of the leaders of investment firms that have been attacked for pushing ESG policies, have themselves been attacked for their continued investment in the oil and gas industry. In regards to the findings, Hortense Bioy, Global Director of Sustainability Research at Morningstar stated, “The fact that many funds on the banned fund list hold companies involved in the oil and gas industry raises questions about the research done by the Texas comptroller on these investments. Clearly, these funds aren’t boycotting energy companies.”

Finsum: A significant number of funds singled out by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar due to their ESG activities, don’t qualify as ESG.

Location? Location? Location?

Actually, it’s more a matter of opportunity -- at least in the case of market conditions and active fixed income, according to wellington.com.

Said the authors: In our judgement, having an opportunistic element to asset allocation implementation will be key to exploiting the regional imbalances that are likely to arise later this year and beyond,” stated the authors, who emphasized the views were theirs at the time of writing and that other teams might view the situation differently and make different investment decisions. They continued that by homing in on strategies evolving around global investment -- with flexible regional allocations – to pinpoint opportunities like early and teak heir geographic weights in light of fresh information, investors can cast their chips on the skills and depth of active portfolio managers.

Speaking of opportunity, inflation can be exactly that for investors in active fixed income, according to us/allianzgi.com.

While escalating price tags for goods and services are a blaring red flag for those who pluck down cash in conventional government bonds, when it comes to whipping up returns in the midst of climbing or receding inflation, let’s just say active managers have their ways.