Annuity Supply Is Holding Up Well: Eric Thomes

Allianz Life and other carriers continue to offer strong consumer value for new business. The increase in interest rates is allowing carriers to offer more attractive benefits on their contracts.

Overall, rising interest rates and market volatility have helped drive annuity industry growth, especially for fixed products, FIAs, and RILA products.

How is Allianz Life advertising evolving right now? Are campaigns changing at all in response to new concerns about interest rates, geopolitics and increased investment market volatility?

We have always looked to advertising as an extension of our overarching marketing strategy. We want to equip financial professionals with the timely information they need to best support their clients to help them manage risk.

Protections and guarantees are backed by the financial strength of the issuing company.

The idea behind our messaging is to share information that is useful and actionable for financial professionals that reflects the current economic environment.

A great example of this is a new Inflation Playbook cross-channel campaign we’re launching. The new campaign will provide financial professionals customized support along with practical strategies and tools so they can help their clients combat the risks that rising costs and market volatility can create.

What’s happening to retail agent and advisor stress levels?

Consumers are really worried about volatility, protection and performance.

Our latest Quarterly Market Perceptions Study found that 62% of Americans worry that a major recession is right around the corner. And 71% said they’re keeping some money out of the market to protect it from loss.

That certainly puts additional stress on financial professionals who are trying to find effective solutions for their clients. The stress on consumers feeds directly into the stress of financial professionals.

At the same time, finding attractive and effective ways to offer protection in this market is difficult. Consumers are also expecting more from financial professionals — people are looking for holistic financial guidance.

Is Allianz Life doing anything differently to try to keep agents and advisors calm?

We want to help financial professionals manage risk for their clients.

We think that innovation — not only in products, but in how much control we offer over contracts — is critical to keeping financial professionals and their clients calm through a very challenging economic environment.

We are continuing to embrace fintech and the way these tools can help financial professionals illustrate the value of insurance and other protections with clients.

We have had an ongoing focus on providing financial professionals with the ability to help their clients make real-time decisions. For example, the ability to lock in gains allows financial professionals to be more proactive with clients and capture gains when they happen.

Eric Thomes. (Photo: Allianz Life)