Capacity is King (Part II)
March 23, 2009 - Back to Deck's Page
Capacity is King (Part II)
Since our March 12 update, we have seen additional changes from carriers concerning their willingness to continue writing fixed annuity business. However, our company has found opportunities to add to our list of companies who are willing to write quality business going forward.
For fixed-rate annuities, we have added Mutual of Omaha for obvious reasons. Their financials are impeccable and offer a tremendous fixed product opportunity. Also, check out the fixed interest rate available with Lincoln Financial's New Directions product, guaranteeing up to 4.60% for as long as 8 years. The hottest selling products—index annuities—continue to focus on the Income Benefit Rider as well as excellent caps available for participation. ING and Allianz offer outstanding consumer value when considering using an Income Benefit Rider. In addition, we have just added Life of the Southwest, a longstanding index annuity carrier with a history of developing excellent products. Presently, LSW features an Income Benefit Rider with guaranteed charges of only 40 bps for the first 10 years and 50 bps for the following 10, for a total of 20 years of guaranteed benefit and rider charges. More important, these charges are on the cash value and not the Income Benefit Rider value. This separates their opportunity of offering an Income Benefit Rider that controls costs yet offers a 7% roll-up in value.
There are solutions to the present dilemma of restrictions on annuity sales. We will continue to find these opportunities that benefit producers who focus on value for their clients. Give us a call if we can be of assistance.
Deck McCormick
CEO
InSource, Inc.