If the shoe fits...

You have to hand it to insurance companies. Given investor skittishness that lingers from the equity market turmoil of five years ago, they have mastered the art of developing products with guarantees that mitigate downside risk. Nowhere are these newfangled guarantees more prevalent than in the variable annuity marketplace, where insurance companies are feverishly churning out new contract features that protect principal, preserve income and even guarantee growth.

The goal in offering these kinds of features as add-ons to the basic variable annuity chassis is to make the much maligned VA appealing to as broad a customer base as possible, from aggressive growth seekers to risk-averse seniors. The insurance industry’s approach appears to be working. The National Association for Variable Annuities reported late last year that combined net assets held in U.S. variable annuities increased 3.7 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2005, to $1.2 trillion. That’s an increase of 12.2 percent from the third quarter of 2004, the trade group indicated. Total VA premium flow for the third quarter was $33.8 billion, a 12.4 percent increase from the same period in 2004. Overall premium flow for the first nine months of 2005, according to NAVA, was $99 billion, up slightly from $98.5 billion for the first three quarters of 2004.

A premium on protection
Besides their own creative product development staffs, insurance companies have advisors like Kelly F. Bills to thank for the recent surge in VA sales. Bills, who primarily serves clients 60 and older as an advisor for Cambridge Financial Center in Salt Lake City, says he continues to steer many of those clients into variable annuities, some via roll-out from 401(k) plans and IRAs, and others with new money. And when he recommends a variable annuity to a senior client, it’s never without a guarantee feature – a principal-protection guarantee in particular.

Generically known as a guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit, it’s a feature that, for the price of about 0.5 percent of contract value, assures the variable annuity contract value will be at least equal to a certain minimum amount – typically the premium amount – after a specified number of years (10 years is standard), regardless of actual performance. Bills says it’s rare for him to write an annuity contract without a GMAB. If clients are to hold a stake in the equities markets, his preference is to have that stake within a variable annuity rather than in “unprotected” accounts with individual mutual funds, stocks and the like.

While it costs money for the protection afforded by a GMAB, the half-point a client spends for that protection “isn’t going to change their life,” Bills says. “But losing principal from an unprotected [equity] account, that can change a person’s life. Which is why, psychologically, many seniors need the principal protection a variable annuity can offer. It’s not just to give them a sense of comfort, it’s to get them to leave the investment allocations [within the contract] alone so the annuity can work as it is intended.”

For many older people, protecting the final bankroll is paramount, Bills explains. “The only way I know to get that protection is in a variable annuity.”

NAVA echoes that assertion. “If an individual were to construct a ‘homemade’ GMAB using alternative financial instruments, it would cost significantly more than a GMAB feature provided through a variable annuity.”

Give people what they want
The argument for guarantee-laden VAs appears to be resonating in the market. According to NAVA, more than 85 percent of all variable annuity contracts sold today offer one or more living benefit guarantees. Besides the GMAB, among the protective measures to gain prominence in recent years are the guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit, the lifetime GMWB and the guaranteed minimum income benefit.

These all fall into the category of living benefits.

The GMWB allows the contract holder to withdraw a fixed percentage of annuity premium (typically 5 percent to7 percent) annually for a specified period until the entire amount of premium paid into the annuity is withdrawn. That amount can be withdrawn regardless of subaccount performance and value. The lifetime GMWB takes that a step further, guaranteeing the contract-holder the right to access an income payment for life via a somewhat lower fixed annual withdrawal percentage in the range of 4 percent to 5 percent. Payments may continue even after the initial investment amount has been paid out – and regardless of actual account value. Essentially it’s a hedge against the client outliving his retirement income.

Then there is the GMIB, which ensures that upon annuitization, payments will be based on the greater of the actual contract value or a minimum payout base, which typically is equal to the amount invested plus interest. If contract value grows, payments may be higher, but never lower, than the guaranteed base amount.

With people generally living longer and thus requiring a portfolio with a more aggressive growth component, Bills touts VAs with principal protection as the best way for older clients to participate in the potential upside of equities with less risk than pure stock investments.

Growth opportunity is one key motivation for steering clients toward variable annuities. Wealth preservation is another, says Bills, pointing out that funds associated with the VA contract aren’t subject to probate. When wealth preservation is the goal, Bills recommends a VA with an automatic ratcheting mechanism that periodically locks in a higher death benefit when the value of the contract increases. He also favors a guaranteed death benefit rider ensuring that at least a portion of a contract holder’s estate will be passed on to his heirs, even if subaccount values plummet. “Death benefit protection to us is a big deal,” Bills says.

Fear and loathing
Even with all the new bells and whistles that insurers are offering with their VA products, the advisor community remains sharply divided on the question of whether variable annuities are suitable for senior clients. Most advisors fall into one of two camps: those who recommend VAs wholeheartedly to 60-plus investors and those who suggest their clients shun them like the bird flu.