ING Keeps Old Aetna Variable Annuity Family In Own VA Line

By Staff Writer

July 16, 2001 at 08:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, July 16, 2:55 p.m. – ING Americas, Atlanta, the U.S. arm of ING Groep N.V., Amsterdam, says it will be offering two separate, major lines of variable annuity products.

The company has been distributing the ING GoldenSelect line of variable annuities through one set of wholesalers.

Now the company is building a second line of variable annuities, the ING SmartDesign family, based on a product family it acquired when it acquired Aetna Financial Services from Aetna Inc., Hartford, in December 2000.

The SmartDesign and GoldenSelect lines will be "distinct, yet complementary" products that will meet the needs of two different customer segments, ING says.

The SmartDesign line will also have its own team of wholesalers, ING says.

The first product in the SmartDesign family will be the ING SmartDesign Variable Annuity. The product will be similar to Aetna's Aetna Variable Annuity, but it will come with a longer menu of brand-name sub-accounts, ING says.

ING SmartDesign Variable Annuity is underwritten by Golden American Life Insurance Company, West Chester, Pa., an ING Americas subsidiary, and distributed by Directed Services Inc., another ING subsidiary.

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