BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire -03/07/12)- The Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA) announces the launch of the RIIA Market Insight (RMI) initiative, a research program that transcends traditional product and organizational silos by bringing together industry leaders, researchers and their collective data to create a 360-degree view of consumer households who buy and depend upon the industry's products and services. RIIA invites firms to join an advisory board to guide the RMI research and collaborate with board members and participating firms in the execution of the program.

Joining with RIIA as members of the RMI are the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Turner Consulting, LLC, Strategic Business Insights (SBI), Sagence Group, GDC Research, CANNEX, Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) with the goal of delivering a sophisticated, strategic use of analytics applied to rich, high quality market data which develop and expand insights that lead to accelerated business success.

The first member of the RMI Advisory Board is the National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA). NAFA is a national trade association exclusively dedicated to promoting the awareness and understanding of fixed annuities. "We are pleased to have NAFA as a founding Advisory Board member," says Francois Gadenne, Executive Director and Chair of RIIA. "We anticipate that NAFA will bring their depth of experience and focus on fixed annuities to our program and will help guide research related to this important product."

Eric Thomes, NAFA's Chair, agrees, "As a premier annuity-based association and chief advocate for fixed annuities, we need to understand the trends that affect our products and our members. Our seat on the Advisory Board will help us achieve this objective."

The RMI is seeking additional working group members and sponsors to help guide the development of the various databases, reports and services. "While we are starting with annuity database analytics, the RMI members and sponsors will expand that view across product, service and distribution silos," explains Elvin Turner, President of Turner Consulting, LLC, and RIIA's Director of Research.

To create a cross-silos retirement income research platform, RIIA is building a RMI Advisory Board that represents various views and expertise across the industry, with members from the annuity, mutual fund, investments, insurance, distribution, DC plans and other communities. Their common goal is to gain actionable information about market share, distribution channels, products, customer profiles and household spending, now and in the future, that will result in data-based decisions that improve business performance.

"The bottom line for us," concludes Kim O' Brien, NAFA's CEO, "is being able to view actual sales and sales potential of fixed annuities quickly after those sales occur and with a level of insight and understanding that was not possible before. That is the opportunity offered by this initiative."

To join the RMI or to request more information, please contact Francois Gadenne, Chairman and Executive Director, RIIA at (781) 738-0484 or Elvin Turner, Director of the Research Business Unit, RIIA at (860) 242-4878.

About the Retirement Income Industry Association (www.riia-usa.org)

Founded in 2006 by leading financial companies, advisors, associations and academics, the Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA) provides a rigorous, research-driven, household-focused foundation for developing retirement solutions to serve retirees today and into the future. A non-profit organization, RIIA achieves its mission through a unique View Across the Silos allowing members to see change and disruption before others while achieving competitive advantage through diverse discussions, advanced education, market insight, research, comprehensive data, standards and thought leadership for successful retirement income management. RIIA members span the entire industry and include banks, insurers, mutual fund companies, brokerage houses, financial advisors and distributors, plan sponsors, researchers, technology companies, marketing firms, academics, and industry media.

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Retirement Income Industry Association Creates Retirement Market Insight Initiative to Bring Database Analytics and ...