ING's new Australian annuity business is hoping to launch capital-protected annuities.
The bank hopes to offer a market-linked annuity with a guaranteed floor, director of personal investments David Kan told Investor Daily: "We are looking to address the absence in Australia of products that mitigate against market movement risk, inflation risk, and longevity risk [...] We have had a situation where allocated pensions have been the predominant product and haven't addressed those issues," said Kan, who set up a retirement and investment solutions division in early October.
The move into US-style annuities is understood to be driven in part by ING’s Australian chief executive, Harry Stout, who previously led the retail variable annuities business unit for ING in the states.
The division expects to launch its first offer via its OneAnswer platform in the second half of 2009.
