The FIDx Five: Big Names Continue to Win the Digital Experience
Retirement, Annuity, & Fintech Insights
In this edition of The FIDx Five, we focus on the companies making an impact digitally, a ramp up for fee-based annuities, the negative impact of historic annuity sales, why Social Security still matters, and one carrier’s shift from conventional variable annuities.
Big Names Continue to Win the Digital Experience
A recent deep dive into the industry’s online landscape shows that larger brands are dominating. The study, conducted by J.D. Power, focused on how financial advisors interact with asset managers websites. The results point out several ways that smaller asset managers are having difficulty differentiating themselves online.
Source: WealthManagement.com, "J.D. Power: Largest Asset Managers Dominate in Advisor Digital Experience,” 11/08/22
Allianz: Annuities “a Business Problem, Not a Product Problem” for RIA
Despite the channel’s historically low adoption, Allianz Life Financial Services said they’re making significant investments to get annuities in front of RIAs. It was one of several items of discussions that put annuities at the forefront of InvestmentNews’ RIA Summit 2022 last week in Boston.
Source: Investment News, “TAMPs and fee-based annuities headline first day of RIA Summit 2022,” 11/07/22
Is the Customer Experience Suffering Due to Higher Sales?
The downside of higher annuity sales this year—complaints of poor customer service and slower processing times. Overworked wholesalers and difficulty hiring appear to be the culprits for these challenges.
Source: Life Annuity Specialist, “The Problem with This Year’s Historic Boom in Annuity Sales,” 11/04/22
Mind the Gap: Social Security’s Back in the Conversation
With the recent cost-of-living adjustment bringing Social Security back to headlines, the need to help fill the gap of pre-retirement money is front of mind for many. Despite forecasts that the combined retirement and disability trust funds could be exhausted by 2035, Social Security still plays a vital part in a retirement planning.
Source: WealthManagement.com, “The Three-Legged Retirement Stool: Fact or Fiction?”, 11/04/22
The Industry’s Top VA Issuer Sees Third-Quarter Sales Dip, But Hope Remains
Shifting preferences. That’s what Jackson Financial pointed the finger at when it announced last week that it had a 25 percent drop in individual annuities from the same quarter a year earlier. But the company said another of its products saw a significant upswing over the same period.
Source: Life Annuity Specialist, “Jackson Says Annuity Sales Dropped 25% on ‘Shifting Preferences,’” 11/11/22
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