RIIA Awards 2017 | Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA) |

RIIA’s Thought Leadership Awards program recognizes authors of papers who demonstrate excellence in original thinking and industry leadership. It consists of two categories:

Practitioner Thought Leadership Award: Practitioner authors may range from financial advisors to product development managers to marketing communications experts.

Academic Thought Leadership Award: Scholars may include academics from across the realm of educational institutions.

In addition, RIIA offers Awards for Excellence.

RIIAs Excellence Awards: RIIA promotes a number of awards to showcase excellence and achievement “Across the Silos.” Recognizing innovation, excellence and thought leadership across the retirement income landscape, as the sponsor of these prestigious awards you will join the media partners in honoring the significant endeavors of the recipients of these awards during the conference.

Previous Award Winners

2014
The winners of RIIA’s third annual Retirement Management Journal® (RMJ®) Academic Thought Leadership Award were Michael E. Kitces, a partner and director of research for the Pinnacle Advisory Group and publisher of the Kitces Report and Nerd’s Eye View, and, Wade D. Pfau, a professor of retirement income at the American College. Kitces’ and Pfau’s award-winning paper, “The True Impact Of Immediate Annuities On Retirement Sustainability: A Total Wealth Perspective,” was featured in the Spring 2014 issue of the Retirement Management Journal.

2013
Anna M. Rappaport, FSA, MAAA, Chair of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Committee on Post Retirement Needs and internationally recognized expert on retirement systems and workforce issues, was chosen for her paper “Insights to Support Better Retirement Planning: Implications of and Key Findings from Recent Society of Actuaries Research.”

The winning paper includes the findings of two new SOA co-sponsored studies, “Running Out of Money” and “The New American Family”. It offers insights for financial advisors who want to better serve the post-retirement needs of the middle income market.

2012
The 2012 Academic Thought Leadership Award was shared by Wade Pfau, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Economics at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, Japan for his paper, “Choosing a Retirement-Income Strategy: Outcome Measures and Best Practices,” and a team of authors comprising David Blanchett, CFA, Head of Retirement Research; Maciej Kowara, Ph.D., CFA; Senior Research Consultant; and Peng Chen, Ph.D., CFA, President, from Morningstar Investment Management for their paper “Optimal Withdrawal Strategy for Retirement-Income Portfolios.”

Sherrie Grabot, CEO of GuidedChoice and Harry Markowitz, Ph. D., Chief Architect of Investment Solutions for GuidedChoice and professor of finance at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego, who is best known for his pioneering work in Modern Portfolio Theory, as well as Ming Wang, CIO, GuidedChoice Chief Architect of investment solutions for GuidedChoice and and Ganlin Xu, CTO, GuidedChoice, received the 2012 Practitioner Thought Leadership Award for their paper “Financial Guidance Theory, developed by Harry Markowitz, Ph.D.”.

Dylan Huang, Corporate Vice President, New York Life Insurance Company; Matthew Grove, Vice President, New York Life Insurance Company; and, Todd Taylor, Senior Actuarial Assistant, New York Life Insurance Company also received the Practitioner Thought Leadership Award for their paper “The Efficient Income Frontier: A Product Allocation Framework for Retirement.”

2011
The winners of the 2011 Academic Thought Leadership Award were Duncan Williams, CFP, Doctoral Candidate and Graduate Instructor in the Personal Financial Planning Division of Texas Tech University, and his advisor, Michael S. Finke, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Personal Financial Planning Division, for their paper “Determining Optimal Withdrawal Rates: An Economic Approach.”

Zachary S. Parker, CFP, Director of Annuities and Insurance, and Paul R. Lofties, CFP, ChFC, Vice President of Wealth Management and Acquisitions for Securities America, received the 2011 Practitioner Thought Leadership Award for their paper “Capturing the Income Distribution Opportunity: A Historical Analysis of Distribution Philosophies and a Solution for Today.”