Nationwide and Annexus have launched the first FIA with a strategy linked to an actively managed mutual fund.
Goldman Sachs has introduced a new index strategy within Nationwide’s New Heights Select fixed indexed annuity (FIA) suite, combining Capital Group’s American Funds Growth Fund of America with a dynamic risk-management overlay.
Clients are gravitating toward mutual fund-linked options - Stacy LaiFook, Nationwide
The GS American Funds GFA 15% Index uses the actively managed mutual fund as its underlying reference and applies a systematic allocation mechanism designed to adjust exposure in response to changes in market volatility. An intraday trading strategy allows the index to respond to changing volatility conditions, with the strategy targeting a 15% volatility level.
The launch follows Nationwide and Annexus’ introduction of an FIA strategy linked to an actively managed mutual fund, building on Nationwide’s earlier move into actively managed fund-linked registered index-linked annuities (Rilas).
“We were excited to continue building on that momentum within our fixed indexed annuities,” Stacy LaiFook, vice president of Nationwide Annuity Business Development, told SRP.
LaiFook said the inclusion of the American Funds Growth Fund of America Class F-3 mutual fund gives financial professionals access to an investment structure with an established track record across different economic environments.
“The ability to refer an individual back to an actual mutual fund’s track record, across different economic environments, and then be able to articulate – with confidence – how their contract would have performed is paramount to building trust within the retirement lifecycle,” she said.
Demand for mutual fund-linked strategies has also been building since Nationwide launched its Rila strategy in 2025, according to LaiFook.
“Clients are gravitating toward mutual fund-linked options,” she said, adding that Nationwide sees scope to introduce more such strategies, potentially extending into asset classes that have not historically been captured within indexed products.
The GS index effectively combines two components that have traditionally occupied different parts of the investment landscape: active equity management through the Growth Fund of America and a rules-based risk-management overlay.
Nationwide has also added the S&P 500 Distance Stabilizer Index, developed by S&P Dow Jones Indices in collaboration with Société Générale, to its FIA range. The index dynamically adjusts exposure to the S&P 500 without relying on a fixed volatility target, bonds or commodities.
The two strategies are designed to address different preferences around return fluctuations, with LaiFook noting that some clients are comfortable with the volatility of pure S&P 500 and Growth Fund of America exposure, while others are seeking greater stability.
“These two new indices provide an opportunity to participate in the growth potential of S&P 500 and Growth Fund of America with more return stability,” she said.
The Growth Fund of America is managed using Capital Group’s multi-manager approach, with exposure spanning traditional growth stocks as well as cyclical companies and turnaround opportunities.
The index does not provide investors with direct ownership of the mutual fund. Instead, the fund’s investment returns are used to determine the performance of the associated index strategy.
The two new indices join the existing range of strategies available through Nationwide New Heights Select, which provides 100% principal protection from market losses.
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