Annuities May Be Winning Over Advisors Who Were Fence-Sitters: Survey

Feelings About Life Insurance

Advisors might be going through a major change in practice scope.

About 42% of the advisors who participated in the RetireOne and Midland National survey this year said they have the credentials and experience they need to design life insurance arrangements themselves, up from 34% in 2021.

Just 28% of the advisors now refer life insurance business to a “trusted agency,” down from 40% last year.

The percentage who have nothing to do with life insurance is 7% this year. That figure is unchanged.

Feelings About Annuities

Many of the advisors who continue to avoid recommending annuities to clients have strong negative feelings about annuities.

They cited fees, client asset liquidity and perceptions of lack of transparency as their top concerns.

About 33% said they might consider recommending annuities if they could design the products themselves, but 67% said they would not consider recommending annuities, even if they could design the products.

Aging Clients

Stone said one consideration is that more clients are starting to draw on retirement assets.

In the past, a 20% portfolio decline might force a working client to change plans for future decades.

If a client is already taking withdrawals from an unprotected retirement portfolio, an advisor might have to talk to the client about canceling a trip to Tuscany, Stone said.

Rob TeKolste, president of Sammons Independent Annuity Group, who has worked with Stone on the survey, sees buffering retirees and other clients against market risk as a big opportunity for insurers.

“Until recently, market risk seemed largely intangible because we were in the longest bull market in recent memory,” he said. “Now, we’re seeing market risk everywhere, and clients are worried.”

Pictured: David Stone. (Photo: RetireOne)