If you currently utilize RILAs (a.k.a. buffered or floor) products… Opportunity is knocking!

For the same 20% buffer you can get elsewhere, let’s do some Athene® AMPLIFY “Upside Math”!

1. Door 1: Index up 100%; You’re up 135% (Outperforming the 100% Participation solutions and the index)
2. Door 2: Index up 250%; You’re up 337.5% 
3. Door 3: Index up 300%; You’re up 405%

It all has to do with the power of the 135% “Multiplier” on Athene “AMPLIFY”:

• Basic premise is that many financial professionals think a 250% “cap” (available on many RILA products in the industry) is better than a 135% “participation rate” (available only from Athene!) They hear 250%… and naturally assume the higher number is better.
• Reality is that no matter WHAT the index returns… Athene is always going to multiply that return by 1.35 (i.e., 135%).  
• Thus, in all 3 scenarios shown above (Index up 100%; Index up 250%; Index up 300%) Athene WINS each time!   (And in the 3^rd scenario… the client would actually be capped at 250% with most other carrier’s RILA product…. whereas Athene would multiply the FULL 300% index return by 1.35).

Call your regional or internal Athene wholesaler (see attached map) for additional information on the Athene Amplify or any of our annuity solutions!

The Athene Amplify is not available in CA, NY and OR

Contact Micah Hesting for more information:
Relationships/Business Development Strategist
Ext. 113
micah@leadersgroup.net

The Structured Capital Strategies Plus product from Equitable has been seeing a lot of business since the release of their “dual direction” segment. This upgrade to their Structured Capital Strategies product allows the client to “win,” even if they lose. 

For example, if the client invested $100,000 into the six-year term contract with the 20% buffer against losses option and at the end of the term the account value had dropped by 20%, the value of the account would be $120,000. This is because with Equitable would be responsible for covering the first 20% of losses in the account because of the 20% buffer option selected. Then, due to the “dual direction” enhancement, Equitable would credit the amount of the loss up to 20% back into the client’s account.

If you would like more information about the Structured Capital Strategies Plus contract, please contact me at 303.797.9080 x 113 or the Equitable sales desk at 888.517.9900. 

Note:  These updates have not been approved in the following states:

• Puerto Rico will be launching SCS PLUS on 12/14 
• Alaska (cannot sell any SCS product)
• New York (has not approved SCS PLUS yet)
• Oregon (only can sell older SCS version, no SCS PLUS available)

Contact Micah Hesting for more information:
Relationships/Business Development Strategist
Ext. 113
micah@leadersgroup.net

If you are a believer of the thought process that long term growth is not achieved by having that big year here and there but achieved by smoothing out the ride and protecting against big losses, then you should take a closer look at the Summit 6 contract from Great American. If you are a believer in higher caps and keeping all the gains, the Great American Frontier 5 and Frontier 7 contracts have some of the highest 1-year term caps in the industry and was the #1 ranked RILA solution, according to Barron’s TOP 100 Annuities.

Contrary to many other variable index annuity contracts, Great American has designed their Summit 6 variable index annuity contract with participation rates on both the upside and downside, rather than the typical growth cap number on the upside that is tied to a maximum loss protection number on the downside. With the current participation rates in the S&P 500 Index option being as high as 75% (1-year term option) of any growth and 50% of any losses, that means your client keeps 75% of what they earn while eliminating 50% of the risk involved in investing in the S&P 500. I don’t know about you, but 75% of the upside in exchange for 50% of the risk on the downside sounds like a pretty good deal to me. We are giving up a little potential on the upside for a lot of protection on the downside. Hence, slow and steady wins the race.

The Great American Frontier 5 and Frontier 7 contracts have some of the highest 1-year segment cap rates in the industry right now. They also have a buffer option or a floor option for downside protection. The buffer option gives you a 10% buffer against losses each year, and the floor option allows your client to dial in a max loss number for each year that is between 1% and 10%. So the client can choose if they want to absorb the first bit of losses in their contract each year up to a dialed-in amount that they set and have the insurance company be responsible for any losses over that amount, or they can choose a buffer where the insurance company absorbs the first 10% of losses every year, and they are responsible for anything over that amount.

As you can see, Great American has options for everyone in the RILA market. Slow and steady sharing in gains and losses or 100% participation in the market with some of the highest 1-year cap rates out there with the choice of a buffer against losses or a dialed-in stop-loss that they set within their comfort level.

For more detailed information on the Great American Summit 6, Frontier 5, or Frontier 7 contracts, or to discuss a potential opportunity, please contact Brad Latta at 954-288-7098.

Contact Micah Hesting for more information:
Relationships/Business Development Strategist
Ext. 113
micah@leadersgroup.net

If you have ever thought about getting into the 401(k) market, Mutual of Omaha can make the addition to your practice very easy for you. From taking the liability off your hands (3(38), 3(21), 3(16)) to prospecting services to education to great financial professional support and customer service, they do it all and do it well. Not only are they a great partner for the financial professional that is just entering the 401(k) space, they are a great partner for the financial professional that is familiar with the space but only does a few here and there, and the advanced 401(k) financial professional that wants to outsource their smaller accounts that are not worth all of the services that they provide to their larger accounts.

Although Mutual does work with larger 401(k)s, their wheelhouse is 401(k)s with 100 or fewer employees and $2 million – $10 million in assets. This is the segment that works best with their top-of-the-line service model. Along with their top-of-the-line service model and recourses, another thing that struck me was the amount of success Mutual of Omaha is able to generate with their “Imagine Retirement Right” participant enrollment program that is offered on every plan they do. This is a patent-pending engagement workshop aimed at motivating and engaging participants to take action in their retirement plan. A key component of Mutual of Omaha’s process is explaining the value of meeting one-on-one with their financial professional and driving one-on-one sign ups.  

I could go on and on about the different ways Mutual of Omaha can bring value to the table for 401(k) financial professionals and other financial professionals looking to get into the 401(k) space, but in the interest of time, I won’t.  

To learn more about Mutual of Omaha, please click on the links below and/or give the Mutual of Omaha sales desk a call at 877-401-7253.

Sell Retirement Right website:  www.SellRetirementRight.com

3(16) Administrative Advantage Customer Testimonial Video: https://www.mutualofomaha.com/esp/vids/Insights/palace-entertainment-testimonial.php

Imagine Retirement Right Video: https://youtu.be/zKwebDnEMjI

Contact Micah Hesting for more information:
Relationships/Business Development Strategist
Ext. 113
micah@leadersgroup.net

The RILA history is one that started slow but is really picking up steam over the last couple years, not only in the industry but at The Leaders Group as well; that is why our financial professionals should pay attention to this product if they are not aware of it and selling it already. In fact, LIMRA recently published U.S. Annuity Sales Estimates for year-over-year growth 2018 vs 2019 showing that while VA’s were down 8% and traditional index annuities up only 13%, RILA’s made a huge jump and were up 63%.  The attraction here is market participation with downside protection at no cost to the client, and Lincoln has one of the top contracts out there right now. Along with some of the highest – if not the highest – market cap rates in the industry, additional product design options that you do not see on a lot of other “Buffer Annuities” is another reason many financial professionals seem to be flocking to this contract.

The Lincoln Level Advantage contract has 1-year, 6-year annual lock, and 6-year terms to choose from, and you can track an index (four to choose from or combine), select variable subaccounts (14 to choose from), or a combination of both. You can also choose to design these contracts with an account value or return of premium death benefit.

If you choose the 1-year term and track an index, you have a 10% or 100% buffer/protection to choose from. At the end of that 1-year term, you have the option to renew the contract at the current cap rates, do an internal exchange to another product, do an external transfer to another product, or liquidate the account.

If you choose the 6-year annual lock contract and track the index, it operates like the 1-year contract except your cap rate is locked in for six years at issue of the contract, and you only have the 10% buffer/protection option. At the end of that 6-year term, you have the option to renew the contract at the current cap rates, do an internal exchange to another product, do an external transfer to another product, or liquidate the account.

If you choose the 6-year contract and track the index, it is a 6-year point-to-point and your cap rate for that period is locked in at issue of the contract, and you have 10%, 20%, and 30% buffer/protection options to choose from. At the end of that 6-year term, you have the option to renew the contract at the current cap rates, do an internal exchange to another product, do an external transfer to another product, or liquidate the account.

As an example, with the current cap rates this contract has, it is so strong that if you had a client that chose to do the 6-year term contract, S&P Index, account value death benefit, and 10% buffer/protection, they would not even have a cap. The current cap rate listed for this design is “uncapped.” So really, you just have market participation with a 10% buffer/protection and no fees. If your client was to choose the same thing as above, except they wanted to add the return of premium death benefit, they would have a 500% cap over the 6-year point-to-point term. So, the downside with this option is that if you put in $100,000 and grew it to $550,000 over the next 6 years, you would only be able to keep $500,000 of it. I would assume that most financial professionals would chuckle at that sentence, but I could be wrong.

The last thing that I want to mention is that if you do use any of the 14 different variable subaccount options within any of these contracts, there would be product charges and subaccount charges on the portion of money that is invested in the variable account options only. 

If you would like to learn more about the Lincoln Level Advantage contract and the different designs that you can create, please give me a call and/or click on the links to the marketing material and Lincoln Level Advantage website below.

Contact Micah Hesting for more information:
Relationships/Business Development Strategist
Ext. 113
micah@leadersgroup.net