Providing an annuity crediting feature through an insurance company's general account is different from providing the same type of feature through a separate account.
The Annuity Subgroup at the Interstate Compact National Standards Working Group is considering a proposal for "addition standards for [an] index-linked crediting feature provided through a separate account."
The working group, part of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo., helps the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission draft national standards for insurance products that are eligible for inclusion in the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Compact.
The states that choose to participate in the compact use it to create a centralized filing process for life and annuity products and forms. An insurer can use the office to comply with filing requirements in many different states at once, rather than sending separate filings to dozens of offices.
The proposed index-linked crediting feature standard would apply to features with returns based on the performance of investment indexes and "provided through a separate account that are built-in to individual deferred annuity contracts," according to a scope provision at the beginning of the proposed standard. "These standards modify the standards for individual deferred variable annuities."
