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March 21, 2011 at 08:00 PM
Well, if there was ever any doubt about the long-term viability of fixed indexed annuities, those worries have been erased these last couple of years. While some areas of the financial services industry have been clawing and scratching to gain an edge, FIAs have become something of an industry darling.
As Senior Market Advisor contributing writer David Port opines in an upcoming article: “Recent improvements in the user-friendliness of the product — a moderation of fees, the advent of lifetime income guarantees, the availability of features that introduce new contractual flexibility, etc. — not only have rekindled (advisors’) interest in indexed annuities, they also have helped spur a two-year surge in overall FIA sales.
“On the heels of a record $29.4 billion in sales in 2009, fixed index deferred annuities hit record highs again in 2010, when sales climbed another 6 percent to an estimated $31.4 billion, according to figures released this month by Beacon Research. Last year, FIAs also claimed its largest share of total annual fixed annuity sales in the eight years Beacon has been tracking the market — 48 percent.”
One of the reasons advisors are recommending and selling more FIAs these days is their flexibility.
