When it comes to positioning fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) in a client's portfolio, sometimes the best approach is not to educate clients about the product, but ask questions.
In a 2015 webinar from insurance marketing organization, Jon Summers, Marketing Coordinator, Annuities at Senior Market Sales, says that it's essential to ask clients the right questions when positioning annuities. "I still believe that telling is selling and asking is advocating and we should all be advocating for our clients," he explains, adding that advisors need the right questions that elicit the answers from the client.
Two positioning strategies – guaranteed income and accumulation and safety – resonate retirees and pre-retirees, says Summers. Here are some questions to ask clients to get the conversation going.
Guaranteed income
Guaranteed lifetime income is one of the characteristics that has helped FIAs grow over the past several years. Guaranteed, pension-like income can supplement assets and income from other sources to ensure that the client's financial needs in retirement are covered 100 percent. The income guarantee is a big reason for the growth in FIAs, and explains why variable annuities sales have been dropping.
"When it comes to the annuity, FIAs present a very unique opportunity to provide some much needed guarantees and certainty in our clients' portfolios," says Summers. "What else [could you offer] with no interest rate risk, no market risk and no credit risk, with some liquidity features built in?"
