Consumers are potentially more interested in purchasing annuities than financial professionals think they are, a Genworth Financial survey found.
The study, which included responses from more than 1,300 consumers and 300 financial professionals, found that 40 percent of qualified non-annuity owners said they would consider buying one but had never been presented the option by an advisor.
In addition, 68 percent of those who don't own annuities said they have a positive or neutral feeling about annuities and 91 percent of annuity owners answered the same way.
"Many financial professionals simply don't present annuities to their clients, perhaps believing that these products have a bad reputation among consumers," said Charlie Gipple, national director of index products at Genworth, in a statement. "Our research shows that this is not universally true."
Contrary to some of the arguments often made against annuities, Genworth found that annuity owners are happy with growth (most like the protection from volatile markets), expenses (70 percent said the fees are worth the benefits they receive) and access to funds (78 percent).
