Annuities: prop indices gain traction

Athene USA has added three new indices to its suite of retail fixed indexed annuities (FIA).

The indices employ proprietary market analysis and advanced technology to optimise risk-adjusted returns across market environments.

By bringing these innovative indices to our platform, we build on our reputation as a leading provider of unique, value-driven retirement solutions for the retail market - Mike Downing, Athene USA

They include the S&P 500 FC TCA 0.50% Decrement Index (USD) ER (SPXFCDUE), designed in collaboration with Bank of America; the AI Powered Global Opportunities Index (AIGO), sponsored by HSBC, and the UBS Innovative Balanced Index (UBSIBAL).

The annuities are issued by Athene Annuity and Life Company, a subsidiary of Athene.

‘By bringing these innovative indices to our platform, we build on our reputation as a leading provider of unique, value-driven retirement solutions for the retail market,’ said Mike Downing, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Athene USA.

The S&P 500 FC Index aims to control intraday realised volatility and adapt faster to changing market conditions than an index using traditional end-of-day volatility targeting. The index adjusts its exposure to the S&P 500 by applying Bank of America’s Fast Convergence (FC) technology, which looks at volatility observations from the market and targets 11.5% annualized volatility.

The HSBC AIGO is the newest addition to the only family of rules-based strategies to use IBM Watson and other patented technologies to learn and evolve over time from the growing amount of data being generated each day. The index portfolio is constructed opportunistically with an expansive investible universe of global, fixed income, and inflation sensitive assets, providing the flexibility to adapt to a wide variety of market conditions.

The UBS Innovative Balanced Index leverages unique signals that aim to provide an early read into the US macro environment and inform an all-weather tactical allocation to equities, commodities and bonds. The signals include US inflation expectations and a Nowcast of US economic growth, generated using key datasets from UBS Evidence Lab, the largest sell-side alternative data offering of its kind.

The Standard debuts BofA megatrends prop index

Annuity provider The Standard has launched a new FIA that features an optional enhanced death benefit rider and a proprietary BofA Securities index.

The Enhanced Choice Index Plus is a single-premium, deferred index annuity targeted at retirement investors seeking growth, certainty and the opportunity to maximize their legacy.

The BofA Global MegaTrends Index concentrates on four future-focused areas — robotics, the digital economy, millennials and disruptive technology, said Gabriel Lettieri, managing director and head of Americas Insurance Solutions at BofA Securities.

In addition to the new index from BofA Securities, the ECI Plus annuity offers four S&P Dow Jones-based indices including three volatility control indices - S&P MARC 5% ER Index, S&P 500 Daily Risk Control 5% ER Index, S&P 500 ESG Daily Risk Control 5% ER Index and S&P 500 Index - and a fixed-interest option.

‘The BofA Global MegaTrends Index is a game changer. The index is designed to tap into global innovation and long-term growth trends, while using proprietary technology from Salt Financial,’ said Rich Lane, vice president of individual annuities sales and marketing at The Standard.

TruStage adds US small cap strategy, debuts Barclays prop play

TruStage, an insurance, investment and technology provider, has announced enhancements to its ZoneChoice Rila including the addition of a new index – the Dimensional US Small Cap Value Systematic Index.

The Dimensional US Small Cap Value Systematic Index which draws on decades of academic research to pursue higher expected returns provides exposure to small companies with low relative prices in the US. The index construction is based on theoretical and empirical research to target a higher return potential by systematically excluding the lowest expected return stocks in this area of the market, such as companies with low profitability and high asset growth.

Other enhancements to the ZoneChoice Annuity provide greater flexibility to control investments through a new transfer feature and more ways to balance protection and growth potential with one-year buffer allocation options to the S&P 500 Index and Barclays Risk Balanced Index.

The Barclays Risk Balanced Index aims to provide stable returns across different market environments by focusing on low volatility stocks and by systematically adjusting its asset allocation monthly using techniques from Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) - to further control risk, the Index aims to limit its annual volatility to a 10% target using a volatility control feature.

‘These enhancements, combined with the Dimensional Index, create more flexibility to suit each individual’s risk tolerance and financial goals,’ said Dave Hanzlik, vice president of annuity & retirement solutions.

Dimensional is one of the industry’s most experienced US small cap value managers, pioneering one of the first systematic strategies dedicated to the market segment in 1992.

Jackson beefs up Rila suite

Jackson National Life Insurance Company is pitching two new Rilas - the Jackson Market Link Pro II and Jackson Market Link Pro Advisory II.

The products are offered on a one-, three- and six-year terms and offer a unique, new performance boost crediting method providing a positive index adjustment equal to the index return, plus a 10% performance boost rate if the index return is flat, positive or negative within the buffer, up to the performance boost cap rate.

The two Rilas offers five index options that can be allocated in any combination including the S&P 500 Index, Russell 2000 Index, MSCI EAFE Index, MSCI Emerging Markets Index and MSCI KLD 400 Social Index (an ESG option).

In addition, Jackson is offering the Market Link Pro Suite Tool — a data-driven tool powered by Halo Investing — which enables clients to input personal data to generate hypothetical scenarios of the various Rila options.

‘[We] are committed to modernising our processes to further improve the experience financial professionals and their clients have when doing business with us,’ said Brian Sward, head of product solutions, Jackson National Life Insurance. “We place a strong emphasis on education when launching new products, and our partnerships with financial professionals have enabled us to provide expanded resources and tools to help illustrate the ways in which Rilas can benefit client portfolios.’

Nationwide adds new index options to Rila range

US life insurer Nationwide has announced the launch of the Nationwide Defender Annuity , a new Rila allowing investors to tailor their strategy with a one-year, three-year or six-year term to fit their own unique investment goals.

The new Rila features five different index investment options linked to the S&P 500, MSCI EAFE and Russell 2000 indices. 

Nationwide Defender also offers buffer protection against a certain percentage of market losses, making it easier for investors to protect their investments in volatile markets. The product offers two protection options – a 10% and 20% buffer – where Nationwide takes on the first 10% or 20% of the loss and investors take on any loss beyond the buffer percentage.

Nationwide Defender is Nationwide’s second offering in the Rila category following the launch of the Nationwide Defined Protection Annuity (DPA) in collaboration with Annexus in 2020 – the product offers exposure to various index strategies including the S&P 500 Price Index, MSCI EAFE, NYSE Zebra Edge, and J.P. Morgan Mozaic II Index. 

‘According to a recent Nationwide Retirement Institute survey, only 36% of investors feel confident they will survive the next financial crisis,’ said Mike Morrone, vice president of Nationwide Annuity business development. ‘We were very intentional in our decision to enter this category with an innovative, yet simple solution that can help investors with conservative to moderate risk tolerance accumulate assets, while also protecting against market volatility.’

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