Standard Insurance Debuts New Indexed Deferred Annuity
March 10, 2012 by Warren S. Hersch
March 2, 2012 •
Standard Insurance Company, Portland, Ore., had debuted a new single-premium indexed deferred annuity. Dubbed Index Select Annuity, the product lets policyholders choose between a five- or seven-year surrender-charge period and allocate funds between an index interest account and a fixed interest account.
The company says the portion of funds allocated to the index interest account will be credited a rate based on the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up to the stated index rate cap and will not lose any value if the S&P 500 goes down. The portion of funds allocated to the fixed interest account will be credited an interest rate that is guaranteed for one year. After that guarantee period, the contract will receive renewal rates based on the current interest rate environment.
In other company news:
Nationwide Financial Services, Inc., Columbus, Ohio, has launched Investment Solutions Builder, a web-based investment tool that lets Registered Investment Advisers build and manage online retirement plan fund lineups and asset allocation models for sponsors and participants.
Among other features, the tool lets advisors:
● See available fund options and filter them based on asset class category and other selected performance criteria.
● Access fund information such as performance, ratings, fees and risk measures.
● Establish and change fund investment lineups in real-time or up to 90 days in the future.
RIAs will also be able to create and maintain plan-level asset allocation models for plan participants, allowing the RIAs to:
● Access fund information such as underlying fund performance, ratings, fees and risk measures to facilitate the selection and monitoring of models.
● Add funds available in the program platform, including alternative funds that are not part of the plan’s core fund lineup, to their models.
● Provide a model selection risk questionnaire for plan participants who are considering an asset allocation model.
● Establish and change plan models in real time or up to 90 days in the future when given authority by the plan sponsor.
The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc., Worcester, Mass. (NYSE: THG), has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per common share. The dividend will be payable on March 30, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 16, 2012.
More than 100 employees of John Hancock Financial and its parent Manulife Financial Corp., Toronto, have committed to run this year’s Boston Marathon and raise money for non-profits through its Employee Training Program. The employees join more than 1,000 company-sponsored non-profit runners as they seek to surpass the $5.3 million raised for 90 non-profits in 2011 through the John Hancock Boston Marathon Non-Profit Program.
John Hancock employees will run to raise funds to benefit Artists for Humanity, Ron Burton Training Village, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, and Center for Teen Empowerment. Canadian Manulife employees will run for Habitat for Humanity Canada. Both groups have consistently increased monies raised since the inception of the employee fund raising program six years ago.
Sun Life Financial Inc., Toronto, Ont. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF), has successfully completed the public offering in Canada of $800 million principal amount of Series 2012-1 Subordinated Unsecured 4.38% Fixed/Floating Debentures due 2022 (the “Series 2012-1 Debentures”).
Sun Life sold The Series 2012-1 Debentures under a pricing supplement dated February 28, 2012, issued pursuant to the company’s short-form base shelf prospectus and its prospectus supplement, each dated April 12, 2011, which are available on the Company’s SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.
Separately, Sun Life announced that Kevin Strain, currently senior vice-president, individual insurance and investments, for the company’s Canadian operations, will become president, Sun Life Financial Asia. Strain will succeed Dikran Ohannessian, who is retiring after more than 35 years with the Company.
Strain will be responsible for Sun Life’s interests in Asia spanning the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India and China, including managing the company’s relationships with its partners and identifying opportunities for growth in the region. He will begin transitioning to his new role in April and will be based in the company’s Asia Regional Office in Hong Kong beginning in early June. He will report to Dean A. Connor, President and CEO.
