Wells Fargo to distribute new Metlife's Brighthouse 'shield level selector' annuities range

Brighthouse Financial, a MetLife subsidiary and annuity and life insurance solutions provider in the United States, has expanded its suite of 'Shield Level Selector' annuities with the launch of the Shield Level 10 annuity.

Shield Level 10, an index-linked, single premium deferred annuity with no annual fees, was designed in response to distributor requests for a Shield Level Selector product with a streamlined set of features and options combining market participation and protection from the first 10% of index loss.

Wells Fargo Advisors' annuities team led by Bernie Gacona, senior vice president, director of annuities, at the firm will be the initial distributors for Shield Level 10.

Myles Lambert, chief distribution and marketing officer at Brighthouse Financial welcomed the addition of 'the newest member' of the Shield Level Selector 'flagship annuity product family'. 'Shield Level 10 is one part investment and one part protection against index loss,' said Lambert.

Shield Level 10 will allow to capture market gains up to a cap, or 'maximum growth opportunity', in one of three indices - S&P 500 Index, Russell 2000 Index and MSCI EAFE Index at the end of the one year term; built-in protection of a 10% shield rate from index loss; the flexibility to choose yearly whether to continue tracking the current index, select a new index to track or allocate the account value to a fixed account, if available; and an included 'return of premium death benefit' offering additional protection of the investment.

Shield Level 10 is designed as a long-term accumulation vehicle and has a six year withdrawal charge schedule. However, investors can withdraw up to 10% of their account value each year without a penalty, from the second contract year. After six years, investors can access to the full account balance without withdrawal charge.

The Shield Level Selector range also offers different levels of protection to address different levels of protection (15%, 25%, or 100%) from loss, as well as one-, three- or six-year terms available and a selection of five market indices including the S&P 500 Index, Russell 2000 Index, Nasdaq‐100 Index, MSCI EAFE Index, and the Bloomberg Commodity Index.

SRP data shows that the S&P 500 index (82 products) is the most utilised index in the US annuities market followed by the Nasdaq-100 index (16 products), DJ Industrial Average Index (14 products), Russell 2000 index, S&P Midcap 400 ETF TRST, and Barclays Aggregate Bond Index, with 11 products apiece.

SRP data also shows 2,650 structured products featuring the MSCI EAFE index in the US market of which 662 are still live, and 677 products linked to different versions of the Bloomberg Commodity index, of which 78 are still live.

The US variable annuities market has been hit by the low interest rates environment, but structured VAs are providing a positive story for the three major insurers in the US: MetLife (distributor of Shield Level Selector), Allianz Life (Index Advantage), and Axa (Structured Capital Strategies). Other sellers include Fidelity, Voya, Lincoln Financial and Pacific Life, among others.

The launch marks the first new product introduction following the launch of the Brighthouse Financial brand in March, after MetLife initiated the regulatory process for the planned separation of Brighthouse Financial which has approximately 2.8 million insurance policies and annuity contracts in-force as of December 31, 2016.

SRP will be launching its Inaugural Americas Indexed Insurance Forum 2017 on September, 15-17, 2017 at the Renaissance Savery Hotel in Des Moines, Iowa

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