Guaranteed assets within defined contribution (DC) plans amounted to $2.2 billion at the end of 2012, LIMRA reports.
The organization recently began to track sales of these products, according to a statement from Alison Salka, corporate vice president, LIMRA retirement research. As it stands now, the market is small and driven mostly by small plans with assets under $10 million. However, with more than $5.1 trillion stashed in DC plans in the U.S., there is potential for growth. "We anticipate that more sponsors of larger plans will begin to offer these products to their participants," Salka said in a statement. "Many employees look to create a guaranteed income stream from their accumulated assets. The industry has been working to address the issues like portability that have been a concern to sponsors."
The study surveyed six companies, representing about 90 percent of the market, to determine aggregated sales on all recordkeeping platforms by plan size. Data were collected on the number of plans, number of participants and amount of assets in plans that offer in-plan guarantees.
Currently, notes LIMRA, two types of in-plan guarantees are sold: the guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) and the deferred income annuity (DIA). These options enable employees to deposit a portion of their DC plan funds into an instrument that provides future guaranteed lifetime income during retirement.