Northwestern Mutual announced the launch of their Portfolio Immediate Income Annuity this week. The product was developed in response to pre-retirees desire for predictable income in an age where employer-sponsored pension plans have fallen by the wayside.
The Portfolio Immediate Income Annuity also addresses another issue for retirees and pre-retirees: Longevity risk. Recent data has shown that a 65-year-old man has a 50 percent chance of reaching 87 while a 65-year-old woman has a 50 percent chance of reaching 90. Northwestern Mutual hopes the product will be blended into retirement portfolios in order to alleviate the risk of outliving one's money.
The Portfolio Immediate Income Annuity creates a base of guaranteed lifetime income with the potential for that income to grow through dividends. Dividends can be received as cash payments, kept in the vehicle or a combination of the two.
ING U.S. will be launching a new wealth management platform through its broker-dealer, ING Financial Partners. The web-based platform will serve both financial advisors and their clients. The platform, which will offer integrated capabilities in order to provide a simple and organized view of a client's financial picture, will roll-out in the fourth quarter to 1,500 investment advisor representatives who comprise the ING Partners Financial network.
The platform, meant to bolster the firm's growth strategy for its advisory business, will have two components. The first component will avail the advisor and the client with online capabilities that can be used either independently or together during planning conversations. The second component features enhanced capabilities for managing their business, including the ability to make transactions in a single environment.
