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It’s Not Too Early to Start 2024 Tax Planning

What You Need to Know A good first step is to assess clients’ likely tax situations and what, if anything, will be different from 2023. In many cases, tax and financial planning for the current year can affect future years. Consider taking steps now to reduce future RMDs, such as making a Roth conversion, buying a QLAC or taking a QCD. While we are in the heart of tax season for the 2023 tax year, it’s a good time to think about tax planning for 2024. It’s early enough in the year for any changes to have an effect, and taxes are likely top of mind with clients.  Here are some things to consider for clients’ tax and financial planning for 2024 and beyond. Projected 2024 Income A first step is to look at clients’ projected income for 2024. This will guide a wide range of tax planning tasks within the realm of their overall financial planning for the year. A good place to start is to review their 2023 tax return. Will their 2024 income situation be relatively the same, or will it be significantly higher or lower? Changes in the amount of investment income, compensation from their job and a...

Climate-Resilient Real Estate: Innovative Alliance by Two Climate-Tech Startups 0

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Climate-Resilient Real Estate: Innovative Alliance by Two Climate-Tech Startups

San Francisco, CA (Mar. 12, 2023) – ClimateCheck and ClimateFirst are pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind partnership to enable commercial real estate (CRE) stakeholders to assess financial risk due to climate change. The new comprehensive approach includes Climate Value at Risk (CVaR) analysis to determine the value of assets that could be damaged or destroyed as a result of climate-driven disaster and recommends property resilience measures. Together, the leading climate-tech startups are offering a unified and actionable solution to empower real estate stakeholders — including owners, investors, and asset managers — to manage climate risks effectively and promptly. Leveraging the combined expertise of both platforms, clients gain access to comprehensive climate-risk assessments and transform challenges into opportunities for building asset resilience. The new dual solution benefits from a blend of climate and building science: ClimateCheck identifies property-specific climate hazard risk and ClimateFirst assigns a value to each risk and delivers a comprehensive mitigation plan. “We provide our clients with granular information about the risk of climate hazards to their property. Through our partnership with ClimateFirst, our clients can now also gain insight into the material financial impact of climate-driven disasters such as wildfire or flood. This enables them to prioritize...

New findings by LIMRA and Vymo Show How Insurance Companies Can Support the New Generation of Workforce 0

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New findings by LIMRA and Vymo Show How Insurance Companies Can Support the New Generation of Workforce

The report features interviews with industry experts and young agents, explaining what Millennials and Gen Z seek from their insurance careers, their technology preferences, and how carriers can help them grow in their roles San Francisco, CA (Mar. 7, 2023) – This new generation is navigating an era of unprecedented changes, from the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic to the silent resignations, layoffs, and a heightened awareness around mental health. But even amidst global economic uncertainties, the allure of traditional perks like job security and financial opportunities, though still important, has been overshadowed by a significant shift in aspirations. Vymo, the leading Sales Engagement Platform for financial institutions, in collaboration with LIMRA, the largest trade association supporting the insurance and related financial services industry, recently released a report to understand how Millennials and Gen-Zs want to live and work. Titled ‘The Bridge’, it provides perspectives and frameworks to help insurance companies support the younger demography joining the workforce. In-depth conversations with insurance organizations, agents, and experts reveal that today’s candidates are gravitating towards roles with the potential to create substantial societal impact and the promise of making a meaningful difference. There is a strong emphasis on the ability to help...

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Waymo’s Robotaxi Expands into Los Angeles, Starting Free Rides in Parts of City

Article 0 Comments Robotaxis will begin cruising the streets of Los Angeles this week when Google spinoff Waymo starts offering free rides to some of the roughly 50,000 people who have signed up for its driverless ride-hailing service. Waymo is expanding into Los Angeles, the second largest U.S. city, seven months after California regulators authorized its robotaxis to begin charging for around-the-clock rides throughout San Francisco. That came despite objections from local officials who asserted the driverless vehicles posed unacceptable risks to public safety. Although Waymo isn’t charging for rides in its robotaxis in Los Angeles to start, the company said in a blog post announcing the expansion that it will eventually collect fares from passengers there too. Waymo also hopes to begin commercial operations in Austin, Texas, later this year, a goal that makes its robotaxi service available in four major U.S. cities 15 years after it began as a secret project within Google. Waymo’s robotaxis have been charging for rides in Phoenix since 2020 For now, Waymo’s free rides in Los Angeles will cover a 63-square-mile (101-square-kilometer) area spanning from Santa Monica to downtown. Waymo is launching operations in Los Angeles two weeks after the California Public Utilities...

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Chubb’s Greenberg Defends Issuing Appeal Bond to Trump: ‘We Don’t Take Sides’

Article 0 Comments Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg, recognizing the criticism swirling around his company’s involvement in recently providing Donald Trump with a $91.6 million appeal bond, penned a letter to explain. “When Chubb issues an appeal bond, it isn’t making judgements about the claims, even when the claims involve reprehensible conduct,” Greenberg said in the letter to brokers, clients, and investors. “I realize how polarizing and emotional this case and the defendant are and how easy it would be for Chubb to just say no,” Greenberg added. “However, we support the rule of law and our role in it. We considered this the right thing to do and we frankly left our personal feelings aside.” Evan G. Greenberg The surety bond contract was issued by Chubb’s Federal Insurance Co. and signed by Trump early last week. It allows the former president to appeal the $83.3 million verdict against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. In January, a federal jury in Manhattan awarded the sum of a $65 million punitive award and $18.3 million in compensatory damages to Carroll after the trial. Federal will pay if Trump loses the appeal or fails to pay. Greenberg said Carroll—as the plaintiff...

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NFL Players Draft Ameriprise for Financial Advice

Ameriprise Financial announced this week that the National Football League Players Association, the union of professional football players, has selected the firm as an institutional financial advisor partner. Through the new partnership, designated Ameriprise financial advisors will work individually with current and retired NFL players to provide holistic financial advice and help them reach their goals, both during their professional careers and afterward. As noted in Ameriprise’s announcement, the NFLPA established its institutional financial advisors program in 2019 to connect active and retired players with reputable wealth management firms that can help them plan for and live out their financial legacies. Ameriprise is the sixth financial institution to be selected to the program, joining UBS, Morgan Stanley, AllianceBernstein, Bessemer Trust and Goldman Sachs. Ameriprise was chosen, according to the announcement, because of its focus on serving clients through goals-based advice and its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The firm also has a wide range of products and services to address the distinctive financial situations of NFL players.

New Conning Study Offers Insights on AI and Transformative Technology 0

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New Conning Study Offers Insights on AI and Transformative Technology

Hartford, CT (Mar. 12, 2024) – The insurance industry continues to adapt and find opportunities for technological transformation utilizing Generative AI. Developing and piloting these technologies will require significant investments in time and resources. This will apply upward pressure on expense ratios over the near-term with Generative AI driving the shifts in the type of staff and positions needed to run a modern insurance company. Amidst that background, Conning Insurance Research conducted its Annual Survey of C-suite executives and decision makers on AI adoption in the insurance industry. It published the results in a new study: “Transformative AI Technology: Insights from Conning’s Executive Survey.” “This is our second-year surveying industry executives on technology transformations and this year’s results show 77% of the respondents indicated that they are in some stage of adopting AI as part of their value chain, this is up 16 percentage points from 61% in 2023,” said Manu Mazumdar, a Director and Head of Data Analytics and Insurance Technology in Conning’s Insurance Research group. “Insurers are adapting, developing, and piloting innovative AI applications in pursuit of greater efficiency to drive customer and distributor satisfaction. In addition, insurers have access to a wider and larger selection of data...

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4 ‘Reasonable’ Choices, If You Must Own U.S. Stocks: Grantham

“The paradox that worries me here for the U.S. market is that we start from a Shiller P/E and corporate profit margins that are near record levels and therefore predicting near perfection, yet we face in reality not just a very risky disturbed geopolitical world, with growing concerns about democracy, equality, and capitalism, but also an unprecedented list of long-term negatives beginning to bite,” Grantham said. “The stark contrast between apparent embedded enthusiasm and these likely problems seems extreme, illogical, and dangerous,” he explained. Most institutions must own U.S. stocks, however, and “there is a reasonable choice of relatively attractive investments — relative, that is, to the broad U.S. market,” he wrote. Grantham outlined several areas that investors seeking U.S. stocks might consider, especially for portfolio diversification. 1. Quality Stocks U.S. quality stocks, with high stable return on equity and a pristine balance sheet, aren’t particularly cheap now, Grantham noted. Plus, they “have a long history of slightly underperforming in bull markets. But they also have a long track record of “substantially outperforming in bear markets,” explained Grantham, adding that these stock did perform “unusually well in the recent run-up.” “In addition, their long-term performance is remarkable. AAA bonds return...

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Nord Stream Sues Insurers in London Over 2022 Pipeline Blasts

Article 0 Comments Nord Stream is seeking more than 400 million euros ($436 million) from its insurers over explosions in 2022 which ruptured pipelines designed to transport Russian gas to Germany, court filings show. Nord Stream AG names Lloyd’s Insurance Co. and Arch Insurance (EU) DAC as defendants in its lawsuit, which was filed at London’s High Court last month. Switzerland-based Nord Stream confirmed in an email there is a contractual dispute in London commercial courts between itself and insurers of the pipeline system. Re/Insurers Grapple With How to Respond to Claims From Nord Stream Pipeline Blasts “However, we ask for understanding that we are not in a position to provide any detailed comments to the legal proceedings,” Nord Stream’s communications team said. Court filings state that Nord Stream’s current preliminary estimate of “the costs to dewater and stabilize the pipeline, to undertake a full repair and to replace the lost gas inventory” is between 1.2 billion and 1.35 billion euros. Nord Stream’s lawsuit also says one of the pipelines looked “mangled and deformed” in one area where it had been damaged, but “appeared smooth and to have been cut” in another. Lloyd’s declined to comment. Arch did not immediately...

12 Tax Changes in Biden’s Second-Term Agenda 0

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12 Tax Changes in Biden’s Second-Term Agenda

Start Slideshow President Joe Biden’s budget proposal — which calls for sweeping tax increases on corporations and the wealthy — is the opening round of a looming tax fight set to consume Washington next year. Congress will be forced into tough negotiations over the future of the tax code, with large portions of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 cuts set to expire at the end of 2025. Many lower- and middle-income households will see a tax increase if lawmakers don’t act, providing motivation for both Democrats and Republicans. Trump has vowed to push for the “biggest tax cuts” ever if returned to power. Biden, meanwhile, is seeking higher levies on large businesses and investors, while preserving some of his rival’s cuts. See the gallery for details on the tax proposals in Biden’s budget request released Monday. (Credit: Shutterstock) Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Start Slideshow