With an eye on advisers, NY Life overhauls sales strategy

New York Life Insurance Co. has revamped its sales team to make it easier for its wholesalers to sell an array of products to advisers — including annuities, mutual funds and guaranteed income products. To this end, the insurer has added specialists in each of these product areas to support its sales team. The firm also has reorganized its relationship management team to be aligned by client rather than product. “This will greatly assist distributors and their advisers by giving them a single point of contact across our entire product solution suite,” Mike Coffey, senior vice president for third party distribution in New York Life’s Retirement Income Security operation, said in a release. The idea of having a single touch point for each client makes sense because it avoids having sales representatives competing for the same clients, said Tamiko Toland, a principal researcher at Annuity Insight, a provider of annuity research. “New York Life is really making a big push in the retirement income space and we see them as a leading player going forward,” Ms. Toland said. “They aren’t just throwing out products, but making judicious moves.” Earlier this month, New York Life hired former Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. executive Tom Johnson as its head of business development for its retirement income security products, a new position.