Displaying items by tag: regulations

Annuities have been one of the hottest topics since the Secure Act 1.0, allowing them to be a part of retirement plans, and that could be ramping up. The House of Representatives has approved the Secure Act 2.0 with an overwhelming majority of 414-5. Provision 201 would allow the minimum requirements distribution age to be increased from 72 to 75. Another key part of the bill is the automatic enrollment in 401(k)s with a very high contribution percentage. Life insurers are ecstatic about the bill and many believe this will drastically increase the demand and supply of annuities.

Finsum: Most investors underate these small changes to legislation that really open the gates for investments and spur lots of interest.

The SEC has splashed headlines recently with crypto and ESG rule changes, and they are once again widening their scope. They have proposed a new rule which would force trading firms to register as dealers and fall under oversight. Algorithm and high frequency traders woud now fall under SEC guidelines and scrutiny. Gensler believes these traders provide an important liquidity function for the US financial system and should be overseen by the SEC. The rules would not apply to those that manage less than $50 million. These requirements would put high costs on many financial market participants and might not be justified according to experts.

Finsum: These measures are to prevent a 2020 Fed step in again, but it's difficult to see if this much oversight is warranted given how much it will cost.

Biden has hit a brick wall with his climate legislation, and now is going out of his way pleading that oil companies double down on drilling efforts to curb gas prices in response to Russia-Ukraine invasion. However, the SEC is expected to propose new regulation that will force companies to disclose data around their climate risks. This legislation will only come into effect as early as 2023, but it will put a major spotlight on the biggest polluters and carbon contributors. Many believe these changes will force companies to pay higher costs for their carbon use and maybe make it harder for companies to invest in green bonds and funds around these companies.

Finsum: This isn’t enough to end greenwashing; foriegn governments are well ahead of the US in terms of ESG regulation.

The 2019 Secure Act was THE critical piece of legislation for annuities in the 21st century, but that could change with the upcoming LIFE Act which is working its way to voting. Where the secure act made legal production of annuities easier and allowed them to be a part of retirement plans, the LIFE Act will allow annuities to be a 50% asset allocation by default from employers. Currently, the LIFE Act has strong bipartisan and posts a strong potential of passing, this would allow investors to double their baseline investment in annuities where it was previously capped at 25%.

Finsum: The ultra low rate environment has many investors more interested in turning to annuities for income than almost any other time before.

While ESG has run white-hot the last three years the main gripe was greenwashing, that was until now as anti-trust is on the horizon. An attorney from Arizona Mark Brnovich is opening an investigation into ESG investing with regards to anti-trust. The idea is pretty simple, while a top-down approach comes from legal agreements like the Paris accord, companies are suddenly allowed to coordinate and self-regulate among each other as to what constitutes good practices. Additionally, they may use ESG as a mechanism to compel or influence the removal of financing for companies from different industries. This coordination takes place through groups like the Climate Action 100+ rather than through the hush tones of a golf course but the effect is a coordinated one targeting companies or industries.

Finsum: There is a compelling case that without legal parameters ESG will turn into anti-energy coordination and tech-centric greenwashing campaign.