Leading the charge in retirement security: Ibexis’ commitment to excellence and innovation redefines industry standards

In this conversation with Nate Gemmiti, CEO of Ibexis, we explore how the company is disrupting the industry after launching its first annuity as Ibexis just two years ago. From innovative products to a distribution model elevating independent marketing organization partners and more, Gemmiti shares insights into how Ibexis is pioneering a path to greater financial certainty for retirees.

What key factors contributed to Ibexis’ remarkable growth last year, and how do these distinguish it from other carriers?

We’ve experienced tremendous growth. We launched our new product for the first time at the end of 2020, so 2023 was our first year of sales. Even annualizing sales growth for last year, we had  160% growth year-over-year rate, so it was a phenomenal year. 

This growth stems from a mix of financial strength, the backing of a major financial institution, innovative products and a technology-driven platform. For products that are supposed to be safe retirement savings products, financial strength is very important, and we’re proud of our A-rating.

This combination distinguishes us in the market and cultivates stability, creativity and operational efficiency. 

We also prioritize organic growth over acquisitions. This strategy focuses our efforts on producing high-quality products and fostering solid partnerships with firms and advisors. It allows us to sidestep the hurdles of integrating legacy assets, so we can stay at the forefront of technological innovation and remain incredibly efficient.

Following recent enhancements to your FIA Plus series, what sets your annuities apart? 

We believe clients and advisors deserve solid alternatives as opposed to just rate shopping. Both of our products, at their core, are your traditional annuities. The plus feature on both of them offer additional functionality, or “optionality,” that built onto the base product. Clients can use these products just as they would any other product or they can take advantage of the additional functionality available. 

This “optionality” caters to changing economic conditions and market fluctuations and offers a competitive edge that addresses varying risk appetites and market dynamics that can change over the life of the product. 

For example, with the FIA Plus, over future periods, clients have the option to expose any gains to a partial loss in exchange for significantly higher caps and participation rates. It’s a different risk decision, but it’s an option to discuss with clients. This may sound similar to a registered index-linked annuity; however, with the FIA Plus the agent doesn’t need to be securities licensed and the client can’t lose their premium. This makes it a RILA alternative for insurance-only agents. 

This is just one example of various alternatives available to clients, which enhances the value proposition for financial professionals and gives them meaningful talking points, such as risk preferences and potential returns, during annual client reviews. 

Efficient processing is key to improving the agent and client experience. In what ways is Ibexis leading the charge in operational efficiency? 

Clients deserve to have their policies promptly issued, and advisors deserve to be promptly paid for their work. I appreciate the frustration when neither of those happen. 

However, because we don’t have legacy system issues like I mentioned earlier, we are able to operate on a 100% e-application system that utilizes DocuSign, allowing us to completely eliminate paper apps and almost all not-in-good-order requirements. We are striving to be leaders in operational efficiency. It isn’t an afterthought. It’s one of the core value-adds we’re putting in the market. 

I’d also note that in order to drive outcomes, you need access to good information. Internally, we’ve built large internal data and reporting frameworks that allow us to monitor all of the relevant service matrix. This data allows us to see where our focus should go to ensure the entire infrastructure is working the way we expect. For example, I get metrics on our call center, and just recently I saw that our average hold time was around 5 seconds. As for processing times, we have high standards, typically issuing new business that comes in with cash in two business days. 

Delivering exceptional service is paramount in today’s competitive landscape. Can you highlight how Ibexis is setting new standards in service excellence for agents and advisors? 

One of the ways Ibexis is providing exceptional service is through our client and advisor portal. It allows access to necessary information such as case notes on individual policies and enables advisors to track the progress of applications. 

The portal enhances transparency and streamlines operations, which contributes to the high level of service. From our company’s inception, we’ve operated like other insurance companies wish they could but can’t because they are bogged down by outdated systems and processing standards. 

Ibexis is taking an innovative approach to distribution that sets it apart in the industry. Could you explain your distribution strategy and how it benefits your partners and the industry? 

Ibexis selectively partners with primarily IMOs to create deep relationships that prioritize feedback loops. This gives us insight into the tools our partners need to be successful. What’s also different is that the partners we work with all flow under the IMO hierarchy, so we don’t have the typical competition between channels. 

Ibexis is making a name for itself in the industry by being a disruptor. What does that look like? 

There are a number of great fixed annuity companies out there. It’s very competitive. To be successful, we aim to disrupt the status quo and offer the market more, and perform better, while ensuring we run a financially responsible business that upholds our commitments to clients. 

Because at the core, we are in the trust business — earning the trust of our clients and the trust of our advisors. 

Different insurance companies are good at different things, and we believe we’ve hit the mark with a combination of financial strength, tech-driven operations, innovative products, and the backing of a large global financial institution. Our goal in everything we do is to maintain agility, efficiency and financial strength while delivering good products and service. 

Looking forward, what exciting developments can the industry anticipate from Ibexis? 

We’re focused on innovation. This year, we’ve rolled out enhancements to our FIA Plus, including an attractive bonus as well as a bailout rate that offers additional security. We’re also conceptualizing our next fixed indexed annuity. We’re doing that by listening to our IMO partners on what agents and clients want with the intention of designing a product that reflects those insights. 

To learn more about the Ibexis FIA Plus series, visit ibexis.com/fia-plus.