Eagle Life, Standard Add Index Annuities
Both issuers say their new contracts are easy for consumers to understand.
Two life insurers are launching indexed annuities with talk about clarity.
Eagle Life Insurance Company and Standard Insurance Company say their contracts are easy for consumers to understand.
Here’s a look at the two contracts.
Eagle Life
Eagle Life is a West Des Moines, Iowa-based American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company.
Eagle Life’s new contract, the Eagle Select Focus 5 contract, can offer purchasers options for getting cash out after five years or 10 years.
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Other features include a five-year surrender charge period, flexible premiums that stop after the surrender period, a terminal illness rider and a nursing care rider.
The contracts a new allocation option: The S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats Daily Risk Control 5% Excess Return with Participation Rate option.
Consumers can also choose use of the S&P 500 Index.
Ron Grensteiner, president of Eagle Life, says in a statement that the product is simple and easy to understand, and that it uses proven crediting methods.
The company brochure offers consumers the advice that, “A Good Plan is Always Better Than Good Guess.”
Standard Insurance Company
Standard Insurance Company has introduced a new version of the Index Select Annuity contract, a single-premium, deferred index annuity contract that credits interest based on the performance of the S&P 500 index.
The initial premium can range from $15,000 to $1 million, and greater amounts may be available for consumers who seek preapproval.
The crediting rate strategy protects an annuity holder against market downturn but lets the holder participate in gains in the S&P 500 Index without imposing a cap on interest rate crediting, the company says.
The annuity is available to consumers up to age 93, and that means the contract has one of the highest maximum issue ages available, the company says. The company says the high maximum issue age could help older clients who want to want or need to switch from one annuity to another.
Chris Conklin, the company’s vice president of individual annuities, says in a statement that the company believes tying returns to the performance of the S&P 500 Index will help make the product easier for consumers to understand.
“That transparency for clients is important to us, as they can better understand how their annuity’s value is growing,” Conklin says. “With so many complex annuity designs currently in the market, we created our enhanced Index Select Annuity to offer consumers a simple and understandable way to grow and protect their assets.”
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