Eric Thomes is one of the people in charge of helping Americans prepare for the future.
Thomes is the chief distribution officer at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and CEO of its Allianz Life Financial Services affiliate. He leads sales and distribution for all kinds of Allianz Life products, through all kinds of distributors and retail producers.
The company generated $7.1 billion in non-variable indexed annuity and registered index-linked annuity sales in the first half of this year, according to LIMRA.
Thomes has a bachelor's degree in business management from St. John's University in Minnesota. He got his start in insurance as an independent agent.
He joined Allianz Life in 1995. Since then, he has been vice president of sales for the company's long-term care division, vice president of sales for the Southeast region, senior vice president of strategic accounts and senior vice president of field marketing organization distribution.
Today, Thomes serves on the Allianz Life field advisory board and the board of the Minnesota-North Dakota chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. He's a past chair of the National Associate for Fixed Annuities.
He answered questions via email about the state of the annuity market, the effects of volatility on marketing strategies, and the effects of all of those ups and downs on client and agent stress levels.
The answers to the questions in this interview have been edited.
THINKADVISOR: Overall, how does annuity demand look right now? Are there any particular pockets of strength or weakness?
ERIC THOMES: Demand for annuities continues to be very strong. With continuing volatility in the market, annuities are increasingly seen as an indispensable way to control risk.
The traditional diversification approach with a 60/40 mix of equity and bonds is being rethought.
Annuities are being added into the mix for protection from market downturns.
The registered index-linked annuity (RILA) and fixed indexed annuity (FIA) segments are showing particular strength as the demand for protection and guarantees grows.
The spiking interest rates have also renewed interest in multi-year guaranteed annuities.
How is annuity supply holding up? Does it look as if any players are pulling back?
Supply is holding up well.
Based on industry sales we have seen a significant increase in the demand for annuities.
We aren't seeing a pullback in supply like we saw in variable annuities 10 to 15 years ago, as part of the global financial crisis.
Over the last three years, total annuity sales in the U.S. have grown around 5% and fixed products have grown 11%, according to LIMRA. Recently, total U.S. annuity sales grew 25% from the first quarter of this year to the second quarter, and fixed sales were up 48% in that time.
