Three Companies Add New York State Products

MassMutual designed the SUL policy for customers who want permanent protection with minimum funding, the SUL10 policy for short-term estate planning needs, and the SULG policy for guaranteed lifetime protection, the company says.

The VUL policy is designed for business planning arrangements, and the UL policy for customers who need protection today but are not really sure what they want to do about the future, MassMutual says.

? First Allmerica Financial Life Insurance Company, a unit of Allmerica Financial Corp., Worcester, Mass., has added a guaranteed death benefit rider for New York single-payment variable life insurance customers who are worried about the stock market.

The rider protects policy death benefits against market fluctuations.

The rider ensures the availability of a death benefit by guaranteeing that the Allmerica Select SPL and the Allmerica Estate Optimizer policies will not lapse as a result of declining market performance, Allmerica says. The amount of the death benefit would be reduced by any loans or withdrawals from the policy's cash value.

The rider offers protection to policyholders beyond age 100.

The rider is available to policyholders whose initial payment equals the guideline single-premium amount, Allmerica says.