iShares US Financials

The great American deleveraging has largely been limited to the financial sector (XLF) (IYF). Non-financial debt is still much higher than historical averages.

In a Bloomberg survey of 37 analysts, 19 analysts (51%) have assigned a “buy” rating to Wells Fargo (WFC) while 13 (35%) have rated it as “hold.” The stock currently has five “sell” ratings.

The market leader in the fixed annuity industry is Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America with 13% market share, followed by New York Life with 8%.

According to Brian Duperreault, chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG), a company in any industry has to take the digitization path for long-term growth and success.

Revenue and earnings Realty Income (O), a retail REIT engaged in US real estate investment, recorded 8% revenue growth in 2016, compared with 10% growth in 2015. The growth was driven by rentals and tenant reimbursements. Its operating costs and other expenses (including interest expenses) rose 6% in 2016 and 8% in 2015. Its gains on asset […]

Wall Street analysts recommended a one-year price target of $116.07 per share on Prudential Financial (PRU), reflecting an increase of ~14.1% from the current price.

In 2Q17, on the basis of annualized new business premiums, sales in Prudential’s Individual Life business stood at $153 million, reflecting a marginal decline of ~3.8% year-over-year.

AIG’s pretax operating income for personal insurance stood at $330 million in 2Q17. In 2Q16, it stood at $152 million.

AIG is expected to post earnings per share of $1.22 in 3Q17, an ~20.3% decline from its 2Q17 earnings. AIG is expected to report revenues of ~$11.8 billion in 3Q17.

Wells Fargo (WFC) has been considered the strongest and most steady among the “too big to fail” banks in the United States for years.

In 1Q16, Wells Fargo’s revenue grew 4% to $22.2 billion. Bank of America’s (BAC) revenue fell 7% YoY (year-over-year) to $19.5 billion.

After seeing three straight years of losses, gold (GLD) performed extremely well at the beginning of 2016.

Term life insurance provides guaranteed benefits to beneficiaries for a specific period of time in case of the sudden death of the insured person.

Life insurance (PRU) (MET) policies come in various forms that cater to people in different age groups and with different financial goals.

Hurricanes Sandy, Ike, and Andrew remain near the top of the list of the costliest catastrophes in terms of insured losses.

Insured losses are the ones that impact the profitability of insurance companies.

The percentage points for catastrophe losses in the combined ratio have increased in recent years.

MetLife plans to grow its retail and group business in Latin America, capitalizing on the growing middle class, affluent class, and corporate needs.