Lincoln Expands Annuity Wholesalers by 15 Percent in 2018 – Insurance News

The top executive of the company said that Lincoln Financial has planned to increase its 240-strong annuity wholesaler force to about 15 percent in 2018 as the company has prepared to enter the growing buffer variable annuity market.

Most wholesale traders growth is going to support product extension in bank channel, “through which Lincoln already distributes products, at an analyst conference at an analyst conference, Chairman of Lincoln Financial and CEO Dennis R. Glass said.

Bank and broker-dealers are preferred sales channels for buffer habitation, also known as indexed VAS, a section of the variable annuity market, which is preparing to enter the company.

“We are also keeping ourselves in position for emerging development opportunities and index variable annuity, which is being sold well in the market today, and we are not selling them,” Glass said. “We will be in the first part of the next year.”

In the previous several quarters, wholesalers have increased the shelf space allocation for Lincoln financial products and the plan to dedicate more space for Lincoln products is a sign of confidence in Redner, Pa-based insurer.

Lincoln already has relations with over 700 wholesale vendors in all product lines and access to more than 90,000 independent producers.

Room for increase in market of $ 6 billion

Buffer Vas, also known as a structured habitat, represents a bright space in an otherwise the overall shrinking variable annuity market.

Glass said, while the overall VA market in 2017 is expected to be less than $ 100 billion, the buffer VA market size is about 6 billion dollars, “and it can grow up,” Glass said.

Limra reported that the sale of buffer VAS’s third quarter increased by 15 percent to $ 1.7 billion as compared to the year-old period.

In 2014, about $ 2 billion Buffard VA sales were estimated to be a hit of about $ 9 billion this year. Products are structured to protect the buyers from most market losses – but not heavy losses – in exchange for a high cap at credit interest.

The insurers and distributors such as buffer VAS because they are usually short -term products and match well for the era of good interest rates.

These new types of VAS do not require more capital as traditional VAS with guarantee of income and allow insurers to diversify their VA book.

Policyholders are benefited by taking advantage of increasing participation rates on sequenized credit factors at a time when the standard and the 500 stock market index of the poor this year is closing at a profit of 20 percent this year.

Voya Financial also said that he would launch a buffer VA next year.

With the Buffer VA Market joining the VA Market with Lincoln Financial and Voy Financial, six insurers will sell products next year.

Senior writer Cyril Tuhi of INSURANCENESNET has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril can be reached (email protected).

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Cyril Tuhi is a writer located in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Can be reached on it (Email protected),