3 Trends a Voya Distribution Executive Sees Now

Chad Tope is one of the top distribution managers responsible for trying to get Americans to protect themselves against death and retirement income risk.

Tope is president of annuities and individual life distribution at Voya Financial, the company created when the effects of the Great Recession forced ING Groep N.V. to give up control over its U.S. operations.

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Voya ranked 16th in the United States in terms of life insurance direct written premium revenue in 2016, with $2.7 billion in life premium revenue that year, according to market share data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Voya ranked fifth in the U.S. annuity market, with $14 billion in annuity considerations, according to the NAIC data.

Tope helps make all of that revenue happen by working with in-house and independent wholesalers to try to put the right products in the hands of the right retail agents and advisors. His role gives him a bird’s eye view of how the market works, or doesn’t work.

Here’s a sampling of the thoughts he shared last week when he came by the offices of ThinkAdvisor Life/Health for an interview.

(Photo: Thinkstock)

1. The DOL fiduciary rule 

Just a few months ago, Voya and other life insurers were still operating on the assumption that the U.S. Department of Labor would implement its fiduciary rule, and the many accompanying batches of guidance, on schedule.

Now, the department appears to be on track to formally delay implementation of the rule, and, possibly, to kill or revise the rule.

Tope is still taking a cautious approach to talking about the future of the rule.

“We don’t have full clarity on the rule yet,” Tope said.

Tope said many of the changes Voya, other insurers and distributors made in response to completion of the rule are still in place.

Broker-dealers began adding indexed annuities to their shelves in response to how the rule might affected indexed annuities, and the broker-dealers are keeping those products on their shelves, Tope said.

The increased focus on a holistic approach to working with clients is also still there, Tope said.

Advisors are trying to “provide solutions, rather than just pushing products,” Tope said. “I think everyone is acting in the best interests of the client.”

But Tope said that, so far, the idea that the fiduciary rule would force all financial professionals to rush toward a fee-based compensation model has been incorrect.

“We’re also still seeing there’s a place for commission-based annuities,” Tope said.