Pacific Life Insurance Company has launched Pacific Index Foundation, a fixed indexed annuity that replaces its flagship fixed indexed annuity, Pacific Index Choice, in approved states and firms.

Pacific Index Foundation offers longer guarantees, with rates and caps guaranteed for the entire withdrawal charge period, as well as a more 'straightforward, easy-to-understand' ways to earn interest, and shorter withdrawal charge periods.

According to Christine Tucker, vice president of marketing for Pacific Life's retirement solutions division, the nearer clients are to retirement, the less they can afford to lose principal when markets decline.

'Fixed indexed annuities are popular today because they offer growth potential without being invested in the market,' said Tucker. 'Both financial professionals and clients told us they wanted more, including shorter withdrawal charge periods and easier-to-understand features. Those are the foundations upon which Pacific Index Foundation was developed, and we feel it's one of the most competitive products in the market today.'

The new Pacific Index Foundation guarantees that rates and caps will not change throughout the entire withdrawal charge period, and provides longer guarantee than a typical fixed indexed annuity provides. The new fixed index annuity also offers a choice of two optional benefits for an additional cost: one for guaranteed lifetime income, and the other for enhancing the financial legacy they leave to beneficiaries.

Tucker also said that the new Pacific Index Foundation will be an 'appealing choice for retirement savers who remember the market downturns of a few years ago, are conservative, and yet want a bit more growth potential than other options might provide'.

The new Pacific Index Foundation fixed index annuity will replace the firm's Pacific Index Choice which offered exposure to the performance of the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) which consists of 45 country indexes comprising 24 developed and 21 emerging-market country indexes. The product offers a choice of two indices including the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australasia, and the Far East) which measures international equity performance and is composed of the MSCI country indexes that represent developed markets outside of North America.

Following the launch of the Pacific Index Foundation, Pacific Life's range of fixed index annuities includes the Pacific Expedition which also offers exposure the S&P 500 and the BlackRock Endura Index, a gauge comprised of US equities that seek to have lower volatility compared to the broader US equity market, and uses short-term US Treasury bonds to help lessen downside risk.

There are 84 index-linked annuities listed on SRP US database linked to eight different indices with the S&P 500 appearing in 82 of the products.

The structured VAs segment in the US is dominated by the three major insurers in the country including MetLife (distributor of Shield Level Selector), Allianz Life (Index Advantage), and Axa (Structured Capital Strategies). Other sellers include Fidelity, Voya Financial, Lincoln Financial, CUNA Mutual and Pacific Life, American Equity, Aviva, Jefferson Pilot Financial, Midland National, and ING.

Pacific Index Foundation is not available in New York.

Related stories:
Nationwide debuts JP Morgan's Mozaic in first fee-based fixed indexed annuity

US Financial services firm launches platform for indexed annuities, Pacific Life adds MSCI play toindex-linked range

Ohio National dispatches Barclays Global Trailblazer gauge in new fixed indexed annuity

Allianz deploys Eurostoxx 50 in new US index variable annuity launch