Jackson Launches Apps For Advisors, Consumers

By Cyril Tuohy

InsuranceNewsNet

Jackson National Life has upgraded its mobile platform by launching two new iPad apps.

The Jackson app, offers consumers access to information on the company’s products and services, and the Retirement Hub app, provides “interactive educational content for investors on a wide variety of financial topics,” the company said.

Both apps are available for download through the App Store.

Luis Gomez, vice president of marketing strategy for Jackson National Life Distributors, said in a news release that the Jackson app is a valuable tool for advisors to walk clients though products and strategies, and to “tailor information to their clients’ specific knowledge level and unique investment goals in real time.”

Jackson, with $206.8 billion in assets, remains a perennial contender as the top seller of variable annuities in the United States.

Over the past three years, life insurance and retirement giants such as Transamerica, Principal Financial, MetLife, New York Life and TIAA-CREF have launched apps for mobile phones and devices. Some apps only provide information and account balances while other apps allow users to conduct transactions.

Jackson’s apps are designed to build on the company’s digital platform enhancements, which were announced earlier this year. In April, Jackson launched a Portfolio Construction Tool to give advisors the ability to aggregate performance results for variable annuity subaccounts.

In a report published in 2011 by the technology consultant Celent, researchers determined that life insurers — compared to their property/casualty counterparts — were “well behind the curve” in developing apps to connect with consumers. Life insurers were more intent on cementing technology bonds with agents and advisors, the report said.

That report, “North American SnAppshot, Life Version: Mobile Apps for Life Insurance and Annuity Consumers,” said it’s too early to tell whether mobile applications will fundamentally alter insurance sales and service in the life and annuity segment.

“But the rise of apps, app stores and mobility-driven models is creating undeniable energy that will help usher in the next wave of insurance technology innovation,” the report said.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at [email protected].

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