An individual variable annuity giant says it would like a big slice of the registered index-linked annuity (RILA) market pie.
Jackson Financial today announced the official launch of its new Jackson Market Link Pro and Jackson Market Link Pro Advisory RILA contracts — and raised the possibility that the $24 billion RILA market rankings could look a lot different a year from now.
The new Jackson RILA contracts will give the buyers a chance to use annuities with crediting rates linked to the performance of one or more investment indexes.
- The Market Link Pro product is designed for sale through agents who earn commissions.
- The Market Link Pro Advisory product is aimed at fee-based advisors.
There are no annual contract fees. Withdrawals made during the first six years are subject to a withdrawal charge or market value adjustment.
Jackson is issuing the products through Jackson National Life Insurance Company. The products are not available in Nebraska, Oregon or New York state.
The Market
Because RILAs are registered with the SEC as securities, they can expose the buyer to the possibility of loss of principal. That means an issuer can limit exactly how much market risk it offers to assume.
A RILA issuer's ability to control how much risk it assumes makes the products easier and cheaper to hedge than non-variable indexed annuities, which offer the buyer principal guarantees.
Sales in the market have grown to $24 billion in 2020 from less than $4 billion in 2015, according to Secure Retirement Institute survey data.
Jackson
Jackson is a Lansing, Michigan-based company that was a subsidiary of Prudential PLC of London. Prudential converted Jackson into a separate, publicly traded company in September, by distributing shares of Jackson stock to its own shareholders.
Prudential and Jackson said while the spinoff was in the works that one major goal was to help Jackson raise the capital it needed to develop new products.
