The retirement landscape is changing now more than ever before.  In a recent survey of 2,500 American workers between the ages of 45 and 60, 61% they feared outliving their income. With the demise of employer sponsored pensions and the ever-present uncertainty of Social Security benefits, the part of retirement that is shouldering more of a burden is personal savings.  As it has always been, an Annuity is the only financial tool in the American marketplace that is able to guarantee income for as long as someone lives.

Annuities are financial products that create a pension for your retirement. You make one or more payments now, and in return, you get an income stream in the future. The standard annuity pays a lifetime pension. When clients purchase an annuity, it can help provide security and some peace of mind knowing that they are taking a very important step in planning their retirement and guaranteeing that they will never outlive their income.

In order to provide customers with the best rates, products, and services for their financial needs, http://www.wholesaleinsurance.net has added an Annuities resource section to the life insurance website. Users can now learn about annuities, compare the different types, and even obtain annuity quotes directly from the site.

For more information about the Wholesale Insurance Annuity addition, visit: http://www.wholesaleinsurance.net/blog/press-releases/annuity

NEW YORK, Nov 02, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Accenture (ACN 45.25, +0.26, +0.57%) has been selected to license and implement its life insurance policy administration application at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life), a leader in the North American life and annuity insurance industry and the U.S. subsidiary of Allianz SE, a global leader in the financial services industry. The Accenture Life Insurance Platform will be implemented to support Allianz Life’s annuity business.

Allianz Life has chosen to implement the Accenture Life Insurance Platform to help enhance its product development capabilities and improve customer service, while being able to more efficiently respond to the changing regulatory and business environment.

“The new system will enable us to continue to put our customers first in responding to their evolving needs in a rapidly changing environment. It will allow us to streamline our business processes and continue to bring innovative new products to market.” said Cathy Mahone, senior vice president of Enterprise Operations at Allianz Life. “We selected the Accenture Life Insurance Platform because of its ability to support leading-edge annuity products that are highly configurable. In addition, Accenture’s deep knowledge of the life insurance and annuity industry and its proven record in systems integration make it a strong partner for our business.”

“In today’s market, strong customer relationships are more vital than ever to the success of a financial services business,” said Mitchel Ludwig, a senior executive working in Accenture Software. “High-performing insurers like Allianz Life understand that rapidly and efficiently introducing new products to meet customer needs is a core competitive advantage that requires focus and development. This initiative will help Allianz Life improve its ability to roll out new products by simplifying product development and will help enhance customer experience through more consistent and efficient processes.”

About Allianz Life

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has been keeping its promises since 1896. Today, it carries on that tradition, helping Americans achieve their retirement income goals with a variety of annuities and life insurance products. As a leading provider of fixed index annuities, Allianz Life is part of Allianz SE, a global leader in the financial services industry with nearly 155,000 employees worldwide. Based on its revenue, Allianz SE is the 20th largest company in the world (Fortune Global 500, August 2010).

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 204,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture Software combines deep technology acumen with industry knowledge to develop differentiated software products. It offers innovative software-based solutions to enable organizations to meet their business goals and achieve high performance. Its home page is www.accenture.com/software.

SOURCE: Accenture

NEW YORK, June 14 /PRNewswire/ — In a new survey aimed at better understanding the financial outlook and retirement needs of Americans, Ipsos found that more than half (60%) of 1,082 adults aged 25 and older were trying to meet basic financial needs and savings goals while only one in five were actively building savings and investments for added financial security and to improve their lifestyles. This data suggests that the much discussed corporate economic recovery has yet to trickle down to Main Street.

In fact, the ongoing emphasis on safety and security seems particularly evident considering that, despite exceptionally low yields, the financial product used more than any other was traditional savings (71%), with life insurance, the next closest, used by half (50%).

When discussing their retirement outlook, a majority of respondents said they expect to retire between the ages of 62 and 70 and anticipate being in retirement for over 15 years (19.6 years on average). Eight out of ten said they believe that Social Security will not provide enough income to live in retirement.

Additionally, 38% of those surveyed feel unlikely they’d have enough money to cover basic monthly expenses in retirement and half feel unlikely they could maintain their standard of living. This suggests that many Americans may be overly optimistic about retirement given their stated estimates for basic monthly expenses in retirement. Among those surveyed, current retirees said they need $2,857 per month and those not yet retired said they’ll need $3,987. Simple math suggests that those not yet retired will need over $935,000 to cover basic monthly expenses over the course of their projected retirement.

Despite the disconnect between what Americans think they’ll need in retirement, and what they actually have, a majority recognize the necessity for investments that provide a fixed monthly payout in retirement.

To this end, and given discussions in Washington about the possibility of a rule change that would allow annuities in 401(k) plans, those surveyed were asked about the potential for a fixed-rate annuity being added to the investment options available in 401(k)s. Almost three quarters (73%) said they would like having this option available and, most compelling, 83% of those ages 25-34 felt the same way. While few (14%) felt they had a very high level of knowledge about annuities in general, 60% felt this 401(k) annuity option would be good for retirement.

While responses to the Departments of Labor and Treasury’s Request For Information on the proposed rule changes surrounding the use of a guaranteed income component in 401(k)s have been diverse, this nationally representative survey suggests that the American people are not only open to the idea of devoting a portion of their 401(k) to an annuity product that would provide a guaranteed income in retirement, but a strong majority would embrace it.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted April 21 to May 4, 2010. For the survey, a national sample of 1,082 adults aged 25 and older from Ipsos’ U.S. online panel were interviewed online. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of 1,082 and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire adult population aged 18 and older in the United States had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

News Releases are available at: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/

Source: Ipsos Marketing

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., June 17 /PRNewswire/ — MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division will present a live webcast for retirement plan intermediaries and sponsors entitled “Liability-Driven Investing for Small and Mid-Size Plans ($20M – $100M)” on Tuesday, June 29 at 2 p.m. ET. The live one-hour webcast will be moderated by Charles Ruffel, founder and director of PlanSponsor magazine, and presented by Marc Condon, assistant vice president and actuary, and Doug Steele, director, investment management for MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division.

The webcast will explore the theory and practice of liability-driven investing (LDI) and why it makes sense right now. Topics will include how to reduce volatility in annual pension funding, how to manage pension assets in the context of liabilities, and how to implement cost-effective strategies for achieving more predictable plan funding levels. A Q&A will be conducted at the close of the session.

“Liability-driven investing has been eagerly embraced by large pension plans and, at MassMutual, we believe LDI can be a viable solution even for smaller retirement plans with $20 million to $100 million in assets,” says Bill Silvanic, FSA, senior vice president and chief financial officer for MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division. “We are seeing strong interest in LDI and this webcast will give retirement plan intermediaries and sponsors important information to help them determine if LDI should be considered as a solution for their plan needs.”

There is no fee to attend but advance registration is required. Intermediaries and plan sponsors may register by visiting http://ww2.plansponsor.com/events/MassMutualLDI. For more information about MassMutual Retirement Services, please contact your advisor or call MassMutual at 1-866-444-2601.

About MassMutual

MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division has been serving retirement plans for more than 60 years. It offers a full range of products and services for corporate, union, nonprofit and governmental employers’ defined benefit, defined contribution and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. It serves approximately one million participants.

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyholders. The company has a long history of financial strength and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyholders every year since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annuities. In addition, the company’s strong and growing network of financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions for the long-term.

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) [of which Retirement Services is a division] and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

For more information, visit massmutual.com.

Copyright © 2010 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and affiliates, Springfield, MA 01111-0001.

WEST CHESTER, Pa., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — With the goal of expanding its available suite of solutions to help consumers better prepare for retirement, ING introduced two new registered fixed-index annuities to the marketplace today. ING Select Multi-Index 5 and ING Select Multi-Index 7, both modified single-premium deferred annuities issued by ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company, offer an alternative to traditional fixed annuities through an index strategy that can link a client’s potential for annual growth to the performance of up to four well-known market indexes.

Investors who purchase ING Select Multi-Index 5 or ING Select Multi-Index 7 are given the choice to link their annual interest crediting, in part, to any combination of the S&P 500 Index®, S&P MidCap 400 Index®, Russell 2000 Index® and EURO STOXX 50 Index® as well as a fixed-rate strategy. Investors are not invested directly in these indexes.

“Now more than ever, baby boomers are being cautious with their retirement savings, but many want more upside potential than what they can earn from many traditional fixed investments without risking their principal,” according to Lynne Ford, CEO of ING Financial Solutions, “ING Select Multi-Index 5 and ING Select Multi-Index 7 give both downside protection and some upside potential to benefit from market gains. With multiple indexes and the ability to choose the mix of how the money is allocated, these products can fit well with a variety of retirement portfolios,” she added.

In late 2009, ING’s U.S. operations merged its annuity and rollover businesses into a new business unit called ING Financial Solutions. ING Select Multi-Index 5 and ING Select Multi-Index 7 were developed as part of a suite of simpler retirement solutions began rolling out earlier this year. Since then, several new solutions-oriented products, including a multi-manager mutual fund custodial IRA account, a registered fixed annuity, and a lower-cost variable annuity, have been introduced.

ING will still continue to offer non-registered fixed index annuities issued by ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company and ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York. According to Ford, the new products complement the company’s current fixed-index offering. “The expertise we have gained in the non-registered fixed-index market has allowed us to identify new opportunities for our registered products where our non-registered products are not being sold. Offering registered fixed-index annuities gives us products that we can make available to many banks and full-service brokerage firms, which are looking for more conservative solutions for their clients in this challenging environment.”

For more information, please contact an ING Financial Solutions wholesaler, the ING Financial Solutions Sales Team at (800) 344-6860, or ING Financial Advisers at (866) 201-3693.

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 40 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 107,000 people, ING is dedicated to setting the standard in helping our clients manage their financial future.

RICHMOND, Va., June 9 /PRNewswire/ — Long term care costs in California continue to rise, putting significant financial pressure on those in or near retirement. As a leader in the long term care insurance industry, Genworth Life Insurance Company (Genworth Life) offers a suite of insurance products to help people proactively plan for their future. Now, AARP® members that reside in California can take advantage of new coverage designed to simplify the process of purchasing affordable long term care insurance.

Genworth Life, a Genworth Financial company, today introduced My Future, My Plan(SM), a suite of long term care insurance plans created exclusively for AARP members. My Future, My Plan is the result of Genworth Life combining its unique expertise in long term care insurance with what it has learned about AARP’s membership needs. With My Future, My Plan, AARP members get access to industry-leading features while maintaining the ability to customize a plan that falls within their price range, meeting their lifestyle needs. In three simple steps, AARP members can choose one of three preselected long term care insurance plans, tailored to them and designed specifically to address their potential needs. All plans include the option of home care, assisted living/residential care and nursing home services along with flexible features designed exclusively for AARP members. Also included is no-cost access to Privileged Care® Coordination which assists policyholders at the time of claim in planning for their long term care.

AARP members have three easy options available to find out more about My Future, My Plan: by scheduling a free, no obligation “readiness review” with an “Authorized to Offer” Genworth Life insurance agent in person or by calling 800 565.0805, or by visiting genworth.com/aarp for more information about long term care insurance.

My Future, My Plan is one of many products Genworth Life has developed, reflective of American families’ varying and ever-growing long term care needs. The company also offers affordable long term care insurance solutions through independent financial advisors. Last year, the company launched a product suite to offer employers a practical way to provide affordable, comprehensive long term care coverage to employees and their families.

“Two-thirds of people over age 65 will need long term care in their lifetimes,” said Buck Stinson, President, U.S. Life Insurance Products at Genworth. “The current economic downturn has depleted the nest eggs of many California residents, making it more important than ever to plan ahead for future long term care costs.”

Helping American Families Through Education

As an industry pioneer and one of the largest underwriters of long term care insurance for more than one million policyholders, Genworth Life brings a strong commitment to solving our nation’s long term care challenges, a reputation for service and a longstanding history of product innovation.

Since 2005, the company has conducted an annual Cost of Care Survey to provide Americans with a clear understanding of the cost of long term care in their area. According to Genworth’s 2010 Cost of Care Survey conducted by CareScout®, the annual cost for a private nursing home room in the U.S. is $75,190, or $206 per day. In California, this cost has risen 4 percent statewide over the last five years. The median annual cost for a private nursing home room in the state of California is $87,345, and ranges from $53,655 in El Centro to $153,300 in the Santa Barbara – Santa Maria – Goleta area. Annual nursing home costs in the states’ largest metropolitan areas include $79,388 in Los Angeles County, $91,250 in the San Diego – Carlsbad – San Marcos area and $113,606 in San Francisco.

“Long term care planning is a key consideration as you prepare for your retirement needs,” continued Stinson. “By planning ahead, families can potentially save thousands of dollars later should they have a long term care need.”

To help families plan and have the right conversations at the right time, Genworth Financial has created the “Let’s Talk” national campaign, designed to provide families with the right resources, education and motivation to have valuable conversations and successfully plan for a long life. The centerpiece of the campaign is an interactive Web site (www.caringtalk.com), featuring downloadable long term care guides and information on: ways to break the ice with family members; helpful do’s and don’ts; and advice from people who have already been down this path.

NEW YORK, June 7 /PRNewswire/ — Post-economic downturn, disciplined cost containment and operations management in all aspects of life and annuity businesses offers carriers a key competitive advantage, according to Deloitte’s “Life Insurance Operations (LIONS) and Annuity Contract Expense (ACES) Benchmarking” studies, released today.

“Despite the relative maturity of insurance as an industry, the 14th Annual LIONS and ACES studies reveal that growth through cost containment and efficiency remains a real possibility for carriers that commit to identifying and executing on strategic opportunities,” said Joe Guastella, Deloitte’s global insurance practice leader.  “The economic downturn placed an even greater focus on the role of managing the costs associated with doing business in all industries, with particular importance to insurance.”

“When you look at life insurance and annuities, the path for growth aligns closely with the impending baby boomer retirement trend.  In order to execute on this once in a century opportunity, carriers should review operations and expenses now and make the necessary adjustments,” said Richard T. Roth, head of Deloitte’s global benchmarking center. “When viewed in this context, the urgency to act becomes clear.”

LIONS survey findings include:

• Economies of scale in life insurance that are in use are more elusive than anticipated; other factors such as choice of service model, call center utilization and degree of automation are more important to expense levels.
• Requirements costs continue to be a significant portion of life insurance new business expenses. Low-cost performers have a new business processing expense of just $1.07 per $1,000 of new business face amount, 10 percent lower than the median.  New business service-delivery times are also shorter among the low-cost performers across all face amounts.
• Opportunities remain for savings through outsourcing, even in mature areas. Low-cost performers have an 11 percent lower in-force administration processing expense per in-force administration transaction versus the median and are pioneering the use of interactive voice response (IVR) technologies.
• Linking total information technology (IT) spend to strategic objectives encourages focus. Both median and low-cost performers are willing to spend more on technology to drive down other costs and improve quality and service.
• Low-cost performers spend 29 percent less on finance than the median.

ACES survey findings include:

• Marketing, product and distribution (MPD) expense continues to grow, representing the largest share of adjusted line of business expense at 38 percent. As a percentage of expense, low-cost performers spend five times more than the median on developing and maintaining products, but 11 percent less than the median on overall MPD processing.
• Over the last five years, total annuity new business unit costs have increased at an annual rate of 1.8 percent. Variable annuity low-cost performers spend 11 percent less than the median on new business, while fixed annuity low-cost performers spend 38 percent less.
• With respect to call center staffing models and tools, variable low-cost performers spend 17 percent less than their median counterparts and are doing well in leveraging self-service opportunities and utilizing e-service at much higher levels than the median.
• Fixed annuity growth for the median was more than 150 percent, and in some organizations, the growth exceeded 200 percent. The move to fixed annuities is not a result of new organic growth, but rather due to significant turnover of existing portfolios.
• Corporate overhead represents the second largest share of adjusted line of business expense at 33 percent.
• Enhanced technology decision-making processes could enable better competitive value. IT cost as a percentage of adjusted line of business expense is twice as high for low-cost performers as it is for the median. However, low-cost performers invest much less on discretionary spend than the median, and considerably more than the median on infrastructure and maintenance.

Executive summaries of the study results are available at www.deloitte.com/us/lifeinsurancemetrics andwww.deloitte.com/us/annuitymetrics.

BOSTON, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — John Hancock Life Insurance today launched new current assumption single life and joint life products — Performance UL and Performance SUL.

These products offer low-cost permanent death benefit protection with the added security of new extended guarantees. They will be the lowest cost permanent life insurance products in John Hancock’s portfolio.

“The new Performance UL and Performance SUL will not only provide permanent, affordable solutions to meet clients’ insurance needs but also offer the opportunity to participate in potentially stronger future investment returns. And to give clients additional security we are providing the downside protection of extended guarantees,” said Steve Finch, President, John Hancock Life Insurance. “As the price for UL products with lifetime guarantees increase in the marketplace, it’s more important than ever to look at alternatives.”

Mr. Finch said Performance UL and Performance SUL’s lower premiums and new extended guarantees combined with strong cash surrender values, provide a compelling alternative to guaranteed UL and guaranteed SUL products.

“With long-term interest rates near historic lows, there has never been a better time to buy a UL policy that offers flexibility and liquidity through cash values plus the potential for some upside if investment returns increase over time,” he said. “The new Performance UL and Performance SUL demonstrate John Hancock’s commitment to providing the right solution, at the right time.”

Source: John Hancock Life Insurance

Web Site: http://www.johnhancock.com/

Shop for John Hancock life insurance products at: www.wholesaleinsurance.net

Expands annuity offerings with competitive rate product

RICHMOND, Va., April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Genworth Financial, Inc., (NYSE:GNW) announced today a new annuity product addition, SecureLiving® Rate Saver. This product is a fixed single premium deferred annuity with market value adjustment. It offers consumers a secure retirement option in a product with competitive rates. The product is issued by Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company.

“Increasingly, consumers are looking for a ‘CD alternative’ product that can provide consistent growth during turbulent market conditions,” said Chris Grady, President, Distribution and Marketing, U.S. Life Companies. SecureLiving Rate Saver does just that. The Market Value Adjustment provision allows Genworth Life & Annuity the ability to offer a higher interest rate than would otherwise be available on a similar product without this provision. “For many consumers, there is nothing more important than knowing their retirement assets are safe and secure, while they receive the competitive rates they desire.”

In addition to offering a smart alternative for their conservative buy and hold clients, producers will like this product because it is a rate-based sale. “With attractive rates and compensation, top-tier service and sales support, producers will be able to add this product to their offerings, helping to grow their business in the important, but underserved and under protected Main Street consumer market,” continued Grady.

  SecureLiving® Rate Saver features include:
  --  Tax-deferred earnings growth
  --  Choice of a 5 or 7 year interest rate guarantee period
  --  Available up to age 85

  Consumers may benefit from this product if they:
  --  Seek a secure way to save for retirement
  --  Seek a guaranteed interest rate
  --  Look for tax-deferred accumulation
  --  Flexible income payment options

SecureLiving Rate Saver joins a growing portfolio of new and enhanced products introduced in recent months. Early last fall the Genworth Financial companies launched the GenGuard(SM) suite of universal life insurance products that help consumers match financial security needs to appropriate death-benefit guarantees(1) at competitive premiums; and this past November, the companies introduced Colony(SM) Term UL, a new breed of universal life insurance that competes with term life insurance and is designed to address the same financial security needs of the term life buyer. And last week, Genworth Life Insurance Company introduced a new linked-benefit product called Total Living Coverage® Annuity that provides a flexible way to link the tax-deferred growth of an annuity with long term care benefits.

(1) Death-benefit guarantee refers to a conditional guarantee that can keep the policy in force even if policy values do not. Certain policy rights, if exercised, can end this guarantee.

Insurance and annuities underwritten and issued by Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company, Genworth Life Insurance Company, Richmond, VA and Genworth Life Insurance Company of New York, New York, NY. Only Genworth Life of New York is licensed to conduct business in New York.

Genworth Financial, Inc has introduced a new product, Total Living Coverage® Annuity, that will help customers achieve financial security and independence. TLCA links the safety and tax-deferred growth of a single premium non-qualified deferred annuity with a long term insurance rider to provide long-term care benefits. Additionally, claim payments for long-term care expenses are tax-free.

According to Genworth Financial, the advantages include:

• Dependable and stable growth
• Protection in the event of a long term care need with guaranteed
• renewable long term care insurance
• Simplified underwriting process
• Optional inflation protection
• Waiver of monthly long term care charge provision

TLCA would be a good option for individuals who are near retirement and have assets they want to protect, foresee the potential need for long-term, and have a large amount of investable assets ($200,000 or more).

“With Total Living Coverage Annuity, consumers use their annuity value to purchase long term care insurance coverage up to three times the amount of their single premium, creating a pool of benefit dollars for long term care expenses paid first from the annuity value and then from the remaining pool,“ said Buck Stinson, President of Genworth’s U.S. Life Insurance Products