The life and annuities unit at Nationwide has added an investment index from Morgan Stanley to the index menu for its Nationwide Peak indexed annuity.
The Columbus, Ohio-based company ill be offering contract holders the Morgan Stanley 3D Index option.
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The contract’s investment index menu already included the S&P 500, J.P. Morgan Mozaic II Index, and the MSCI EAFE Index.
The managers of the Morgan Stanley 3D Index have designed it to include both stocks and bonds, from both the United States and from other countries. The managers say they use two market trend indicators to adjust the index component allocations on a monthly basis.
“The index seeks to reduce risk by maintaining exposure to asset classes that are perceived to be trending positively, while paring back exposure to those asset classes that are trending negatively,” the index managers say on their section of the Morgan Stanley website. “Despite potential for reduced upside, the diverse, dynamic and driven features of the Morgan Stanley 3D Index are designed to create growth opportunities while controlling for risk and drawdowns.”tection.