Allianz focuses on accumulation market with new FIA

Image shows the Allianz building with the words, New Product." — Allianz has a new accumulation-focused fixed-indexed annuity.

By John Hilton

Allianz Life Insurance Co. has a long history as a top-selling annuity company with a diverse product suite.

The insurer recently added to its annuity shelf with the new accumulation-focused product, Allianz Accumulation Advantage+. The fixed-index annuity combines accumulation potential with a premium bonus, Allianz said in a news release. Allianz also added a new FIA with a shorter, seven-year withdrawal charge period: Allianz Accumulation Advantage 7.

“We are expanding our options to help more people accumulate money for retirement,” said Heidi Vanderkloot, head of FMO distribution, Allianz Life.

Two in three Americans (66%) said they need to accumulate more money to retire but are too nervous to invest more in the market in a November study from Allianz Life. Yet, fear of market volatility is keeping Americans from taking actions that could grow their retirement assets, the study found. The majority of Americans (61%) said they would rather have their money sit in cash than endure market swings.

Features of the Allianz Accumulation Advantage+ include Index Lock, which allows clients to lock in an index value at any point once per crediting period and multi-year point-to-point crediting with participation rates that are designed to start higher than one-year allocation options and increase each year. The annuity contract comes with a 10-year surrender charge.

The flexible design of Allianz Accumulation Advantage+ offers 10% free withdrawals annually available as soon as the contract year following any contract year a premium payment was made. Plus, any unused free withdrawal percentage carries over into the following contract year, up to a maximum of 20%.

Vanderkloot spoke with InsuranceNewsNet recently about the new Allianz annuity:

INN: What is unique about this product?

Vanderkloot: "It not only has a competitive bonus in the first 18 months vested at a rate of 10% each year and that's competitive in the marketplace, as well as a differentiator. It also has flexible access with penalty free withdrawals up to 20%, which is also a little bit different in the marketplace. At Allianz, we also have Index Lock, which allows the client to be able to lock in their gains at specific levels."

INN: What does this product do for Allianz Life?

Vanderkloot: "Allianz Life has been a leader in the fixed-indexed annuity space for years. And we've dominated the income-focused space. So, we're really expanding into the accumulation space and we now have a really strong suite of accumulation products that will really help us to gain more market share. We want to be an industry leader in both accumulation and income."

INN: Is the product available in all 50 states?

Vanderkloot: "We're in 47 states right now, and soon hopefully, we'll be able to add New Jersey and Oregon in the coming months." [editor's note: Allianz is not selling the product in New York.]

INN: Who is this product aimed at from a consumer standpoint?

Vanderkloot: "We're looking for the ability to provide clients that are looking to accumulate for retirement, clients that are looking for flexibility to take income or withdrawals, tax-deferred growth potential and to really enhance their overall retirement savings. We do an annual retirement study and our last one showed that nearly two in three Americans worry about running out of money more than death, and some solutions can obviously help that."

INN: How will you distribute this product?

Vanderkloot: "We'll be distributing this in the same way that we have distributed our other products, through our independent marketing organizations, through broker-dealers and the financial advisors and insurance agents that sell our products today."

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.