Symetra Adds Indexed Annuity: Annuity Update

USAA Life Insurance Company has used NEOS to help launch a single-premium immediate annuity and distribute the annuity through an outside program, Fidelity Insurance Network program. The company previously sold products only through direct channels.

TrueChoice Financial Group LLC has started using the Envestnet Insurance Exchange to help investment advisors and other financial professionals offer annuities. TrueChoice was formed through a combination of American Financial, Ann Arbor Annuity Exchange, GamePlan Financial Marketing and The Annuity Store in October 2019. In 2018, TrueChoice generated about $2.9 billion in annuity sales.

WinTech, a company that sells retirement valuation and administration software, says it will use longevity analytics technology from Club Vita in its ProVal defined benefit valuation software. Club Vita offers tools for analyzing U.S. longevity data at the ZIP code level.  One way pension plan administrators and life insurers can use the system is to do the math supporting pension risk transfer group annuity sales.

Milliman Inc. says the overall pension funded ratio for 100 large U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans it tracks fell to 84% May 31, from 84.5% April 30.

The pension plans in the index have about $1.6 trillion in assets, about $1.9 trillion in projected benefit obligations, and a deficit of $306 billion, according to Milliman.

Corporate pension plans hold some stocks but depend heavily on investments in bonds, and low yields on bonds are not helping the plans' funded status, according to Milliman.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article described USAA's relationship with NEOS incorrectly. NEOS helped USAA with the launch and distribution of the single-premium immediate annuity.

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