It was only a matter of time before several leading U.S. life insurers with business dealings in Japan felt reverberations from the devastating 9.0 earthquake on March 11, followed by a major tsunami and nuclear reactor leaks. While industry observers are still assessing the long-term financial impact of these events on Aflac, MetLife and The Hartford, disaster may have been averted on their balance sheets.

A roundup of recent staff changes in the industry.

An analysis of Fidelity’s 74,000 HSA accounts has revealed several interesting trends regarding contribution rates and spending behavior.

North Carolinians are just sick about health insurance, doctors, medical billing and collection practices, health products and services — more so than questionable loans and lending practices, Do Not Call list violations and telemarketing schemes.

Consider this: LinkedIn now boasts more than 70 million members. Unfortunately, many advisers still believe that LinkedIn is just a site for posting a resume and looking for a job. While this may be true, it is also a powerful networking tool that can have a significant impact your bottom line.

With regulatory reform bringing a wave of changes to defined contribution plans, retirement plan advisers need to be even more conversant in the ins and outs of legislative requirements and other complexities. Which is why BlackRock is beefing up its commitment to advisers who work with these retirement plans.

A sluggish economy hasn’t slowed the nation’s health care consumerism movement, according to a recent analysis by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Employees improved all areas of their personal finances last year, according to a study by El Segundo, Calif.-based Financial Finesse, but many are concerned they haven't saved enough to retire.

On the heels of a politically charged debate and angry street protests in Wisconsin over stripping public employees of their collective-bargaining rights, producers who serve the public sector are now seeing similar efforts take shape across the nation.

Faced with the current challenges brought on by the financial crisis, company priorities have been forced to shift, and employees are left often with a lack of understanding and insufficient guidance on their benefits choices at work.

Benefit professionals have tirelessly lobbied for an end to the so-called use-it-or-lose it rule governing pretax employee contributions to a flexible spending account, which is now the centerpiece of a bipartisan proposal in Congress.

The barometer is falling when it comes to how well companies are helping employees focus on their retirement income as well as retirement savings. In a new report on Fortune 1000 companies, MetLife’s inaugural Qualified Retirement Plan Barometer assigned a score across all plan types of 59 out of a possible 100. The higher the barometer, the stronger the overall culture of retirement income. While individual scores vary, the companies that offer broad access to defined benefit and defined contribution plans outpace plan sponsors who offer only a DC plan or incidental access to a DB plan as well as a DC plan.

Target-date funds became the leading default investment option for auto-enrolled retirement plans for a reason: The simplicity of an age-appropriate, asset allocation strategy that grew more conservative as plan participants edged closer to retirement age.

Mike Brewer, president of Lockton Benefit Group, urged a U.S. House Committee March 10 to help employers reduce the costs and administrative burdens of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners task force is seeking comments from brokers, agents and advisers on the impact of PPACA’s medical loss ratio rules. The comments will be the basis of a meeting of the task force scheduled for later this month.

EBA inBrief is now daily! As of today, you will receive this e-newsletter Monday through Thursday each week; on Friday you will continue to receive our special edition Legal Alert e-newsletter.

Could a U.S. Department of Labor plan to broaden the definition of a fiduciary for the purpose of giving investment advice undermine the level of service that producers offer their employer clients?

The IRS is asking for $62 million to prepare for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2012, IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman told the House Appropriations Committee in testimony earlier this month.

From analyzing the developing definition of fiduciary to discussing the best ways for advisers to differentiate themselves from the competition, the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries 10th anniversary 401(k) SUMMIT gave more than 950 attendees plenty of tricks of the trade to improve their business and stay informed on industry developments.

EBA inBrief will increase in frequency next week, switching from Wednesday-only to daily. As of Monday, March 14, readers will receive inBrief Monday through Thursday, and will continue to receive our special edition Legal Alert newsletter on Fridays.