Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has listed its Essential Income 7SM Annuity on the Wells Fargo enhanced Index Annuity Platform. Designed for Wells Fargo, the new fixed index annuity (FIA) and its Essential Income Benefit1, embedded in the product for an additional cost, provides customers retirement accumulation options and lifetime retirement income.
“Americans manage unexpected expenses, rising health care costs and inflation during their retirement and Essential Income 7 Annuity can help by providing a level of certainty in their portfolio,” said Allianz Life chief distribution officer, Tom Burns. “This FIA provides asset protection, income and increasing income potential, which is a great solution for a secure retirement.”
Essential Income 7 and its Essential Income Benefit allows customers to control taxes by giving them options for distribution. The FIA can also help cover expenses by providing opportunities for increased lifetime income. The product is linked to the performance of the Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond Index and Barclays US Dynamic Balance Index which track general bond market performance. Indexed interest is credited by an annual point-to-point with a cap method. Interest can also be accumulated at a fixed rate.
The Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond Index is comprised of U.S. investment-grade, fixed-rate bond market securities, including government agency, corporate, and mortgage-backed securities; while the Barclays US Dynamic Balance Index is comprised of the Barclays Capital US Aggregate Bond Index and the S&P500 Index and shifts weighting daily between them based on realised market volatility.
Lower commissions
Wells Fargo recently updated its annuity platform and indexed annuities sold at Wells Fargo now must comply with new rules which include a limit of 4% on commissions, a minimum cap rate of 3% and a maximum surrender period of eight years.
Indexed annuity providers offering their products on the platform are also restricted to using two indices and two crediting strategies - monthly averaging and point-to-point.
Bernie Gacona, director of annuities at Wells Fargo’s retail retirement unit said in a recent statement that Wells Fargo’s fixed-annuity sales raised close to 120% year-on-year for the second quarter of 2014, largely driven by indexed-annuity sales.
Indexed-annuity providers registered at Wells Fargo’s enhanced platform include AIG, Great American Life Insurance, Nationwide Life Insurance, Pacific Life Insurance and Symetra Life Insurance.
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