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Prudential Financial Inc. has introduced its first siindexed variable annuity contract, or "registered index-linked annuity" (RILA).
A RILA often gives purchasers more ability to benefit from investment market gains than a typical, non-variable indexed annuity does.
A RILA also offers only a limited amount of protection against investment-market-related losses.
The protection limit exposes purchasers to the possibility of loss of principal, but it also protects the issuer from having to take on unlimited guarantee risk.
Prudential is calling its "registered indexed linked annuity," or RILA, the FlexGuard contract.
Prudential started by introducing the commission-based version of the product Monday. The company plans to add a fee-based version later this year.
Purchasers of the commission-based version can decide how wide of a buffer against market losses they want. The purchasers can also determine how long investments stay in place, and what kinds of growth strategies they want to have.
Prudential is also introducing another annuity, the Fixed Annuity with Daily Advantage Income Benefit.
The contract combines access to a guaranteed, lifetime stream of income with a set income benefit growth rate.
"The longer an individual waits to take income, the greater their future retirement income can be," the company says.
Prudential issues annuities through Pruco Life Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey, and through Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corp. of Shelton, Connecticut.
"All are Prudential Financial companies, and each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations," Prudential says in the product disclaimers.
