Allianz Life to launch indexed annuity for B-Ds, wirehouses

Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America is making a bigger push to get registered reps interested in indexed annuities as the carrier launches a line of products for broker-dealers and wirehouses.
It plans to launch its Core Income 7 indexed annuity Oct. 14. The product features a built-in income rider and a pair of lifetime-withdrawal options, and comes with a seven-year surrender schedule.
A second indexed annuity for the registered representative set, largely focused on accumulation, will be launched in November.
Allianz has been a major player in indexed-annuities side in the independent agent channel, but those tend to differ sharply from the ones available to reps at broker-dealers and wirehouses. For one thing, 10-year surrenders are de rigueur for indexed annuities in the independent agent market, while broker-dealers tend to prefer that reps sell annuities with shorter durations within the seven-year range.
That also means that the lineup of indexed-annuity competitors on the broker-dealer side are different from those on the independent agent side.
“Our competitors in the five- to seven-year durations are Axa [Equitable Life Insurance Co.] with their structured-product annuity, Lincoln National Corp., ING [Groep NV], Symetra Financial [Corp.] and Genworth Financial Inc.,” said Tom Burns, chief distribution officer at Allianz Life.
Mr. Burns noted that even prior to the launch of the new annuity, 60% of the carrier’s indexed-annuity business was sold via registered reps, but this is the company’s first foray into wirehouses.
“We listened to Wells Fargo [& Co.], Merrill Lynch and UBS,” he said. “They said to build a shorter-duration product with a simpler story.”
With Core Income 7, clients’ lifetime-withdrawal percentages will increase each year after 45. Customers will also be able to choose between multiple crediting allocations, opting to either get fixed interest or to tie their credited interest to the performance of an index. Clients can opt to take payments at as early as 50, using the Core Income Benefit rider. The rider costs 1.05% of the contract’s accumulation value.
Broker-dealers won’t be the only ones who can sell the new annuity. It will also be available through field marketing organizations that are associated with Allianz’s Preferred platform, a select group of producers.