Howard J. Stock

Life insurance and annuities made modest gains in the third quarter of 2010 — gross written premiums were up 6% over the same period in 2009 — but the industry is far from healthy, warns a report from Aite Group in Boston.

BB&T Bank’s institutional division has added a fixed-annuity option to its 401(k) product, which is called ClearCourse. It’s a Genworth fixed annuity guaranteeing its buyers lifetime income stream.