Consumers perceive annuities more positively than financial professionals give them credit for, according to The Future of Retirement Income, a new study released by Genworth.
The study, a culmination of in-depth interviews, focus groups and quantitative surveys with financial professionals, annuity owners and non annuity owners, revealed that 68 percent of non annuity owners have a neutral to positive impression of annuities. For annuity owners, it’s even higher: 91 percent neutral to positive. In addition, the majority of annuity owners are satisfied with access to their account, fees and asset growth.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54358-genworth-financial-pros-underestimate-appeal-of-annuities-among-consumers
The latest World Gold Council Gold Demand Trends report, which covers the period April-June 2013, highlights how recent falls in the gold price have generated significant increases in demand, most notably from consumers in China and India – by far the biggest markets for gold – compared with the same time last year.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/60363-world-gold-council-gold-demand-trends-report-q2-2013
Walmart today launched an online destination on Walmart.com that gives shoppers who want to buy unique and interesting products the opportunity to do so while supporting small women-owned businesses around the world. With each purchase, consumers lift and empower the women behind these products to create new jobs and improve both their own lives and the lives of their families and communities. At launch, Empowering Women Together will offer shoppers more than 200 items from 19 businesses in nine countries.To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/60460-walmart-launches-empowering-women-together-initiative-online
WebMD Health Corp. (Nasdaq: WBMD), the leading source of health information, announced today the launch of the WebMD Pregnancy app, a free iPhone® app offering expectant moms WebMD’s physician-reviewed pregnancy information that is customizable to fit a woman’s unique pregnancy. The WebMD Pregnancy App is WebMD’s latest addition to its multi-screen platform approach which provides actionable health information when consumers want it most, enabling them to better manage their health. WebMD is the leader in mobile for health information, with WebMD’s mobile apps for consumers having been downloaded over 16 million times.1
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/60045-webmd-launches-new-pregnancy-app-for-iphone
1appFigures data through December 26, 2012; includes WebMD App, WebMD Baby App, WebMD Pain Coach App
A new national marketing campaign starring Wallace & Gromit, is setting out to inspire Britons to take a holiday at home this year. Led by VisitEngland and supported by the home nation tourist boards of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, ‘Great Adventure’ is focused on a television advertisement encouraging consumers to book through their local travel agent.
Now, the national tourist board has released some cracking behind the scenes footage with Wallace & Gromit offering a peek at how the ad was made.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/61919-visitengland-ad-campaign-wallace-gromit
Triumph, the brand that has been listening to women for over 120 years, is pleased to announce the findings of its recent survey of over 10,000 women. The result of which has inspired the brand to make a commitment to support consumers in selecting the best fitting lingerie for them, dubbed ‘Stand Up for Fit’.
Previous to this survey, Triumph discovered there were a surprisingly high number of online searches each month on issues around bra size and set out to survey women in order to find out what issues were found when choosing their lingerie. Despite finding that concerns included comfort, shape and fit, all ranking in the top attributes when choosing lingerie, over 76% of these women admitted to wearing the wrong bra size.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/64183-triumph-bra-celebrates-100th-anniversary
The cost of long term care continues rising at a rate outpacing inflation creating significant financial planning challenges for the nearly 12 million Americans currently in need of long term care services. According to the Genworth (NYSE: GNW) 2014 Cost of Care Survey released today, the cost of receiving in-home care continues to rise, though at a more moderate rate of growth. This is good news for consumers as almost three quarters of people needing long term care prefer receiving it in their homes, according to Genworth’s extensive claims data (Long term care claims Experience Data for Genworth Life Insurance Company and affiliates – December 1974-June 30, 2013).
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/70631511-genworth-2014-cost-of-care-survey-results
Ally Bank, the direct banking subsidiary of Ally Financial Inc., today launched a new advertising campaign highlighting its leading customer service approach and the ease of banking with Ally. The latest ads illustrate Ally Bank’s understanding of innate consumer skepticism when it comes to banking, in general, and aim to debunk common misconceptions consumers may have about Ally’s direct banking model, in particular.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/63401-ally-bank-new-ad-campaign-ease-of-banking-customer-service
WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD), the leading source of health information, today announced at the mHealth Summit that it is expanding the beta program for its Patient Instructions feature, which enables physicians who use Medscape Mobile to securely send education and instructions on thousands of conditions, procedures and drugs to their patients who use the WebMD app for iPhone, or access WebMD on a PC or other mobile device. The company also previewed a forthcoming version of its WebMD app that leverages the 2net™ Platform from Qualcomm Life, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), to enable health-conscious consumers to access and manage wireless health data from a wide array of fitness, wellness and medical devices directly from the app.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/60050-webmd-accelerates-consumer-provider-connectivity-personalized-mobile-app
WebMD Health Corp. (Nasdaq: WBMD), the leading source of health information, today announced the launch of its Health Care Reform Center (webmd.com/myhealthcare) for consumers and the ACA Resource Center for physicians (medscape.com/resource/aca), examples of our commitment to educate consumers and physicians and to provide actionable guidance about the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Health Care Reform Center will include a series of live chats with experts, offering consumers personalized information to prepare for future health insurance decisions and navigate the health insurance marketplace at any stage of their journey—from young Americans who were previously uninsured to older Americans.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/60046-webmd-health-care-reform-center-consumer-physician-educational-website
Vioxx Settlement
This is an important announcement for consumers about the prescription drug Vioxx. Vioxx was a drug commonly used to treat pain and inflammation in adults with arthritis.
A settlement was reached with the manufacturer of Vioxx and will provide refunds to anyone who paid for the medication. Consumers are eligible to get $50 or more. Personal injury claims related to this drug are not included in this settlement.
The deadline to file a claim is approaching – claims must be filed by May 6, 2014.
Details are available at http://www.VioxxSettlement.com or by calling 1-866-439-6932.
Parking crashes usually don’t result in serious injuries, but repair costs can quickly mount, along with the hassle of going without the family vehicle while waiting for the body shop to finish work. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has launched a rear crash prevention ratings program to help consumers identify models with the technology that can prevent or mitigate low-speed backing crashes. Two systems earn the highest rating of superior, and four earn the second-highest rating of advanced.
Rear crash prevention encompasses several technologies. Parking sensors issue warning beeps and/or seat vibrations when the equipped vehicle gets too close to another vehicle or object directly behind it, or, in some cases, in front of it. Rear cross-traffic alert warns drivers of approaching vehicles that might cross their path as they back up. Rear automatic emergency braking systems detect objects behind a reversing vehicle and may automatically brake if the driver doesn’t heed alerts to stop.
IIHS engineers evaluated rear autobrake systems on six popular 2017 model vehicles — the BMW 5 series sedan, Cadillac XT5 SUV, Infiniti QX60 SUV, Jeep Cherokee SUV, Subaru Outback wagon and Toyota Prius hatchback.
Under the three-tier rating scheme, models with optional or standard rear crash prevention systems are rated superior, advanced or basic. Ratings are determined by whether the vehicles have available rear autobrake and, if so, how it performs in a series of car-to-car and car-to-pole tests with different approach angles. The availability of parking sensors and rear cross-traffic alert also is factored in.
The Outback and XT5 earn a superior rating when equipped with optional rear autobrake, parking sensors and rear cross-traffic alert. The Cherokee, 5 series, QX60 and Prius earn an advanced rating with this optional gear.
