Equitable Launches Structured Capital Strategies Income RILA

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Equitable announced an innovative registered index-linked annuity that combines lifetime income options with some protection from equity market volatility.

Structured Capital Strategies Income (SCS Income) allows investors nearing and beginning retirement to take advantage of equity market growth potential while maintaining partial protection against market declines. SCS Income also provides for a predictable stream of income.

“As retirement investors grapple with the idea that the bull market could falter while healthcare and other retirement costs appear likely to rise, coupling access to market growth potential with some level of protection against volatility and a predictable, sustainable income can help individuals achieve financial well-being in retirement,” said Steve Scanlon, Head of Individual Retirement at Equitable.

SCS Income will offer investors innovative ways to create guaranteed income in retirement, including the ability to start taking income immediately from a registered index-linked annuity. Other income options new to the industry include:

• The level income option, which provides an income rate initially based on age at the time of purchase and that does not decrease, and
• The accelerated income option, which provides a higher rate of income in early retirement when individuals may have higher expenses. Income under this option is initially based on the age at which the product is purchased and only decreases if the account balance drops to zero by means other than excess withdrawal.

Both income options offer opportunities to increase income by 5% of contributions per year each year before beginning to receive income, as long as the contract holder has not yet taken a withdrawal. This extra growth will be credited for up to 20 years, or the contract maturity date, whichever is earlier.

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Investors can choose to protect against up to the first -10% or -15% of market losses during the investment period, and benefit from any gains up to a cap. Further, investors can choose to take advantage of the Dual Direction feature, which allows clients to realize potential for some upside returns even in down markets.

Research from the Alliance for Lifetime Income shows that individuals’ concerns about financing their retirement increased during the pandemic. Eighty percent of American pre-retirees are at least somewhat anxious that their savings may not provide them enough to live on in retirement.

Further, while growth strategies are important to making savers assets last throughout retirement, 77% of U.S. consumers surveyed by Equitable say that losing value in their investments will affect their ability to reach their retirement goals. About six in 10 consumers say it’s extremely or very important that retirement savings and investment vehicles provide downside protection.