According to a recent InsuranceNewsNet article, four new index accounts have been added to Security Benefit Life’s Total Value Annuity. With the delay of the DOL’s fiduciary rule, products in this market sector are expected to rise. One- and two-year accounts based on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Low Volatility Daily Risk Control 5% Index were added, as were one- and two-year accounts based on the S&P Multi-Asset Risk Control 5% Index.
“Adding new index accounts gives financial professionals more options to diversify client portfolios and help clients reach their retirement-planning goals,” said Doug Wolff, president of Security Benefit. Total Value Annuity is a fixed indexed annuity, often referred to as an FIA.
According to Wink’s Sales & Market Report, $58 billion worth of FIAs were sold last year, and some market analysts are anticipating this year to top that record-breaking number. FIA sales in the second quarter rebounded 13% to $14.6 billion when compared with first quarter numbers, but FIA sales were still down almost 6% from the previous year.
Sales of fixed indexed annuities dropped after the initial implementation of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule on June 9, but SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst, Mark Hughes, said sales are recovering. The recovery is due mainly to the delay in further implementation as ordered by the Trump administration. The new deadline is now July 1, 2019. Market analysts at LIMRA have boosted their 2018 forecast for FIA sales by between 5 and 10% as a result. Third-quarter annuity sales figures are due out next month.
Wink reported $356 million in indexed annuity sales from Security Benefit Life at the end of the second quarter. In addition to the Total Value Annuity, the company also sells a variety of other FIAs, including Foundations Annuity, Secure Income Annuity and Select Benefit Annuity. Total Value Annuity is a flexible premium deferred FIA and the new index accounts were added as a measure of volatility control. Stocks in the S&P 500 Low Volatility Risk Control 5% account are weighted according to their volatility. For example, the least volatile stocks receive the highest weights.
The new accounts were available to new purchasers as of Monday. They are also available to existing contract owners on contract anniversaries with an index term date beginning on or after October 23, 2017. Nine index interest crediting options and one fixed account option are now offered to Total Value Annuity contract holders.
Written by Rachel Summit
