Two life insurers that have made a big push to increase their market share in recent years have added indexed life insurance products.
AuguStar Life — the Cincinnati-based reincarnation of Ohio National Life — introduced a 20-pay Prestige Indexed Whole Life policy, a sibling of the company's 10-pay indexed whole life policy.
Americo, a Kansas City, Missouri-based company, launched the Instant Decision Indexed Universal Life policy program. A client can use the program to get $25,000 to $450,000 in cash-value life insurance coverage and a variety of riders, including provisions that a client can use to pay for chronic care, without undergoing an in-person medical exam.
Clients can use indexed cash-value policies to build up assets inside a life insurance policy, with returns tied to the performance of the S&P 500 stock index or other indexes.
The policies: The AuguStar policy is built on a whole life framework. The premiums and death benefits will stay the same while the policy is in force. Any extra index earnings will flow into a cash value feature.
The Americo policy exposes the holder to more potential variation in costs and benefits in exchange for higher potential earnings.
Some clients use that type of policy to fund supplemental executive retirement plans.
