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THE MONTHLY NEWS
The most important thing is - it's finally golf season! Just to give you a head's up, we will begin early closings on Fridays (1 p.m. EDT) as of the Memorial Day Holiday weekend.
We do have a few other things to share with you this month. One of our favorite companies is West Coast Life (soon to be Protective). This company is doing the kinds of product differentiation that many of their competitors give lip service to but don't implement. Recent innovations include "Modlife UL" - a guaranteed product with low going in premiums that work great if there is a cash crunch or a rated case, "Golden Legacy Term" - the only survivorship term product in the market, "Income Replacement Term" - lowers premium cost by spreading death benefit payments, and "Extend Care" - a UL rider providing long term care benefits.
West Coast backs up its products with marketing that should get your attention and that you can use with your clients. Their ad series featuring their product actuaries in an "ultimate boxing" bout was hysterical and the current series about using all the lures in your tackle box is equally fun and interesting. West Coast's sales have gone through the roof last year and early this year. If you're not using them now please call us and we'll give you an introduction.
Another company we like and don't talk about often enough is ING. Their "Global Plus Index UL" product is way ahead of the market. It uses three separate indexes; for each indexing period you get 75% of the best performer, 25% of the second, and none of the third from among the S&P 500, the Hang Seng, and the Euro Stoxx 50. The company has over 30 years of comparative data showing that this indexing method produces an 85% confidence level that it will perform to a 10% crediting rate.
Here's a feature you don't often see. If you use the "Plus" version of the product loaned values continue to receive full indexing credit so it is very possible to actually show a gain on loaned amounts!
ING couples "Global Plus" with their "SOLAR" concept, a nonqualified deferred income idea with simplified issue beginning at five lives and guaranteed issue beginning at ten. If you're into executive carve outs you need to have this product. Watch for our webinar coming in May or give us a call today.
OTHER RECENT CHANGES
American General recently reduced term rates and also re-entered the guaranteed UL market in a big way with "Secure Lifetime GUL", a product that is priced to regain market share.
Prudential announced significant price reductions in its "SUL Protector" survivorship product. Pru has essentially been out of the SUL market for several years so this is a welcome comeback.
AXA Equitable has been doing some very fine underwriting lately. Ask yourself if you really need an age 120 guaranteed price on an impaired risk case. If you dial down the guarantee and utilize aggressive underwriting you can be an effective competitor.
Finally, nearly everyone has extended the shelf life for underwriting requirements. In most cases we can use labs, exams, EKG's, etc. that are up to a year old. We are highly in favor of this trend as it makes all of our lives easier.
A FINAL THOUGHT
Did you know there is a way to turn $100,000 into $600,000 tax free and live to enjoy it? No, we're not just talking life insurance death benefit - call us if you're interested.
Thanks for your business always.
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