Allianz to arm brokers with answers to clients' retirement income questions

Allianz Global Investors is planning to roll out a series of tools and educational materials over the next year to help its top wirehouse and independent broker-dealer clients train advisers in talking to clients about retirement income. “The good news is that [many brokerage firms] acknowledge that this is a challenge,” said Bruce E. Wolfe, a managing director at Allianz Global Investors, speaking at The Retirement Income Industry Association annual meeting in Boston last week. The hurdles facing advisers in talking to retirees about their futures are multifold, Wolfe said in his speech. Some advisers may not want to talk to retirees about the post-retirement “decumulation” phase because it means their own fees will dwindle as their clients' assets shrink, Mr. Wolfe said in an interview. Many brokerage firms also face operational issues that prevent them from integrating insurance and investment products in a single-statement. But the biggest challenges that Allianz hopes to help advisers overcome are behavioral. “We know advisers like to tell happy stories,” Mr. Wolfe said in his speech at the RIIA conference. “You need to get them comfortable with talking about these issues.” Allianz said input from clients will help it shape the educational materials and tools it develops, as well as specific details of the program, Mr. Wolfe said.