RIIA’s Key Questions: The Evolution from 2006 to 2007
Francois Gadenne has graciously agreed to cover for me until my return on May 16. He will be contributing a variety of essays addressing contemporary and future retirement income opportunities and challenges.
This will be the last entry in this series as David is returning to his daily posts.
It seems appropriate, and very much in the spirit of RIIA, to close this series with questions and an invitation to add your voice to the discussion.
Do you remember what triggered the formation of RIIA?
The answer is a single word: Demographics.
Clearly, the future of retirement security will hinge on a variety of factors, including investing behaviors, personal savings rates, retirement age decisions, health/lifestyle choices, spending habits and the solvency of institutional promises from DB plans to Social Security and Medicare. Most importantly, the qualitative aspects of these factors will derive from the quantitative impact of 76 million Baby Boomers entering retirement. This demographic phenomenon will affect the retirement income industry long into the future.
Why did the Founding Members create RIIA? ( www.riia-usa.org )
The answer is our tag line: The View Across the Silos.
RIIA is an independent forum where all financial institutions concerned about retirement income can meet to discover what it will take to create the future –free from product, tool, process or business-silo assumptions.
So what are the key Questions and how did they evolve from 2006 to 2007?
Key Question #1 from the February 2006 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
Is the market shift from asset accumulation to distribution for income generation real?
Evolution of Key Question #1 at the February 2007 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
What is the scope and magnitude of retirees’ need to dip into their savings in order to supplement or maintain their retirement incomes?
Key Question #2 from the February 2006 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
Will the money-in-motion reach trillions of dollars?
Evolution of Key Question #2 at the February 2007 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
Will intermediary-based distribution meet demand adequately given expectations of declining advisor ranks and an increasing customer base?
Key Question #3 from the February 2006 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
Do large market segments lack convenient access to the products, tools and processes that match their needs?
Evolution of Key Question #3 at the February 2007 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
What third-party enabling developments must gain acceptance before the new retirement income solutions can emerge?
Key Question #4 from the February 2006 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
Are existing asset accumulation products, tools and processes likely to be inadequate for providing income generation?
Evolution of Key Question #4 at the February 2007 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
Will structured products be the new winners and become to mutual funds what mutual funds became to pre-401(k) insurance products?
Key Question #5 from the February 2006 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
Are early income generation products, tools and processes not likely to meet the entire volume of money-in-motion?
Evolution of Key Question #5 at the February 2007 Managing Retirement Income Conference:
What are the implications for the financial industry if key aspects of the retirement income business are governed by the economics of information technologies and subject to annual price-performance doubling laws?
Hummm…. What do you think?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Francois