Annuity FYI Visitor Blog

Penn Mutual has good news for their clients and potential clients according to company press release “The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company Enhances Living Benefit Rider for Annuity Product.”  They have improved their Growth and Income Advantage Benefit (GIAB).  The GIAB is a living benefit rider that is offered with Penn Mutual’s variable annuities.  The changes help clients increase their accumulation potential and manage their risk better at the same time that they help secure retirement savings during changing economic conditions.  The GIAB guarantees income growth and offers two different options for withdrawals.

The following changes highlight why Penn Mutual believes it has one of the best annuities available to its clients.  The guaranteed accumulation rate has increased to 6% from 4% for the withdrawal benefit base.  Also, the guaranteed withdrawal percentage has gone up to 5% from 4% for the lifetime income option.  Perhaps most exciting for Penn Mutual’s clients is that they will not be paying more for these enhancements to the Growth and Income Advantage Benefit rider.  They will still maintain all of the other benefits offered with their annuity, they’ll get these enhanced benefits, and they will pay the same fees.

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company has a new financial training program called “Cracking the Code,” according to PR-Canada.  AXA Equitable’s unit for annuity wholesale distribution, AXA Distributors, LLC, created this curriculum for professionals to continue their retirement income planning education.  The materials for self-study and presentations have been approved for continuing credits in 49 states.  Since growing savings before retirement is only half of the big picture, investors are looking to their financial advisers to help them make decisions that will keep them financially secure throughout their lifetime.  “Cracking the Code” aims to help advisers guide their clients from pre-retirement all the way into the asset distribution phase.

The “Cracking the Code” guidebook takes financial professionals through all the necessary steps to help their clients through retirement.  It explains how a client’s personal savings works into their retirement plan and information about IRA use.  There is also information regarding Social Security and Medicare benefits that affect retirees.  There are different strategies for dealing with risk including using the best annuities and other financial retirement products to guarantee future income streams.  Advisers will receive information about running a successful practice, such as help with marketing and time-saving tips.  With the use of AXA’s “Cracking the Code” information, advisers can be better equipped to help clients with every aspect of their retirement plan.

From the 1888 Press Release “InsuranceAgents.com Publishes a Guide to Tax Deferred Annuity,” investors can see the basics and benefits of tax deferred annuities.  Tax deferred products may be the best annuities for you as an investor.  The products allow investors’ wealth to accumulate tax free, building a solid nest egg for their future.  Unlike other investments like stocks, bonds, mutual funds or CDs, annuities offer investors a guaranteed stream of lifetime income.

There are three different types of tax deferred annuities which are fixed, variable, and indexed.  A fixed annuity product guarantees the investors’ rate of return over time.  Variable annuities do not offer that guaranteed rate, but are subject to market changes and offer the possibility of higher rates of return over the time the account is accumulating.  Indexed annuities are like a combination of the first two types of tax deferred annuities.  The rate changes periodically based on the market indexes.  It is wise to speak with a financial professional to determine which type of tax deferred annuity is best for you.

According to “New York Life revamps sales team” by Jessica Toonkel Marquez of Investment News, New York Life Insurance Co. has added specialists and reorganized its management team to help wholesalers.  They want to make it simpler for the wholesalers to sell the best annuities, mutual funds and other guaranteed-income products to financial advisers.  Each of the product categories has new specialists supporting the sales teams.  New York Life has also made the switch to have their relationship management teams organized by client instead of product.

Having only one person as a company contact throughout the “entire product solution suite” will make the process easier for wholesalers and their advisers.  It avoids sales representatives in the same company competing for clients as well.  Annuity research company Annuity Insight says that New York Life is a top player in the annuity marketplace and they see them excelling into the future.  The addition of a new position as the head of business development for retirement income security products was given to Tom Johnson, formerly an executive at Mass Mutual.

In order to attract more advisers, New York Life Insurance Co. is changing their immediate annuities by introducing a no-load version.  This information comes from Investment News‘ “Take a load off: New York Life set to tweak immediate annuities to draw advisers” by Jessica Toonkel Marquez.  This no-load immediate annuity is geared towards fee-based advisers because it is believed that this product will be more widely accepted.

New York Life’s Vice President Matthew Grove stressed the company’s strong belief in annuities that offer lifetime income while he was at Money Management International’s fall conference.  He also said that the no-load immediate annuity should be available early next year.  Currently New York Life only offers immediate annuities in a load-version.  They plan to make this no-load version easily understandable for advisers so that they are willing to and excited about selling the best annuities to their clients.