Allianz CEO wants bigger piece of indexed-life market

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, already a major player in the indexed-annuity arena, is looking to grab a bigger share of the indexed-life-insurance market.

“We’re currently looking specifically at indexed life,” Gary C. Bhojwani, president and chief executive of Allianz, said in an interview. “Indexed life is small enough where we can be focused, and when we look at the underlying expertise required to market it, it’s consistent with our distribution force.”

The insurer boasts the top-selling indexed annuity, the MasterDex X, according to researcher AnnuitySpecs.

Many of Allianz’s insurance agents who sell indexed annuities have the know-how to sell indexed life insurance effectively, Mr. Bhojwani said.

To increase its presence in the indexed-life market, Allianz will have to compete against the likes of Aviva USA and Pacific Life Insurance Co., the first and second top sellers of the product in the first quarter, respectively.

“It’s a smart move for Allianz Life,” said Sheryl Moore president and chief executive of AnnuitySpecs.com.

“All annuities are capital-intensive, and they’re not very profitable, but life insurance products can make it a better profit. Coming out of a capital-anorexic environment, this is how you offset profitability,” Ms. Moore said.

Allianz will continue to develop its annuity line as well, Mr. Bhojwani said. Recent meetings with broker-dealer and wirehouse executives, he said, showed that many firms’ top priority is to increase annuity sales this year and in 2011 as financial advisers focus more on income planning.

The insurer in either late summer or early fall expects to release an annuity product that will address inflation. Allianz also has plans drawn up for a registered indexed annuity but won’t take it to market anytime soon.

The company has taken a “serious” look at a hybrid annuity product with long-term-care features, but Allianz is “not at a point where we can do something about it,” Mr. Bhojwani said.

A recently released survey from Allianz, “Reclaiming the Future,” showed that people continue to be nervous about the prospect of retiring, as 92% of the 3,257 adults polled think that there is a “retirement crisis.” Fully 35% of those surveyed said that they are “totally unprepared” for retirement, but an even higher percentage — 54% — of those in their late 40s felt that way.

Making those individuals aware of annuities and their benefits begins at the adviser level, Mr. Bhojwani said.

“There’s a significant effort to educate on the reality of annuities and retirement,” he said. “We’re in the business of selling annuities, but we don’t want the importance of education to get lost in pushing products.”

E-mail Darla Mercado at [email protected].