Nationwide Teams With Annexus: Annuity Moves

Nationwide is working with Annexus Retirement Solutions of Scottsdale, Arizona, to introduce the Lifetime Income Builder program.

The program gives employers a way to add an annuitization option to 401(k) plans and other defined contribution retirement plans, to use an annuitization option provision in the Setting Every Community Up Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (Secure Act).

The Lifetime Income Builder program combines guaranteed lifetime income along with a systematic withdrawal strategy, according to Nationwide.

Nationwide is a mutual insurer based in Columbus, Ohio.

Annexus is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based annuity contract designer.

In other individual and group annuity news:

Pacific Life, Newport Beach, California, is distributing two fee-based annuities, the Pacific Odyssey and Pacific Index Advisory contracts, to RIAs and registered representatives through The Pinnacle Group, Jacksonville, Florida. Pinnacle has relationships with about 15,000 registered reps and RIAs.

Group Annuity Moves

Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company, an arm of MetLife Inc., has taken responsibility for $700 million in pension obligations for 12,00 retirees and defined benefit pension plan participants at Dow Inc. by selling the company a group annuity.

Dow completed another pension risk transfer transaction with Metropolitan Tower in November 2020.

TIAA, New York, said it will hold the guaranteed lifetime income level coming from its TIAA Traditional fixed annuity steady for most annuitants, in spite of the low interest rates now available through low-risk investments.

TIAA can keep income steady this year because of its strong capital position and the long-term nature of the investments supporting the contract, the company says.

TIAA introduced the TIAA Traditional contract in 1918.

Legal & General Retirement America, Stamford, Connecticut, estimates that the United States generated about $25 billion in pension risk transfer deals in 2020, and about $14 billion in pension risk transfer deals in the fourth quarter.

Legal & General is expecting competition in the U.S. market to continue to be strong this year.

There is room for more competition, because responsibility for only about 6% of the $3.5 billion in corporation defined benefit pension arrangements has been transferred to insurers, according to Legal & General.

Also the company said it had agreed to over 60 bulk annuity transactions in 2020, representing a total value of over $11billion. Legal & General also secured the pension benefits of more than 53,000 people worldwide.

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