Flourish Launches Annuity Platform for Fee-Based RIAs

The fintech firm Flourish announced Wednesday the launch of a new annuity distribution platform for fee-based fiduciary financial advisors.

Speaking with ThinkAdvisor about the news, the firm’s president, Ben Cruikshank, said the platform was built from scratch over the past two years to address three key pain points that have historically prevented fiduciary advisors from including annuities in client portfolios. These include a burdensome and complicated paper application process, commission structures that can conflict with a fiduciary approach, and RIA insurance license requirements.

“The traditional RIA is very good at managing whatever sits in the stock and bond portfolio and giving advice on that,” Cruikshank said. “The reality today is that things have changed and client needs have grown more complex — especially in the areas we focus on, which are banking needs and insurance needs. The modern client has different expectations.”

To help address this challenge, Cruikshank said, Flourish has developed a streamlined digital application process with the ability for advisors to pre-fill annuity applications on behalf of clients. The platform also provides RIA professionals with access to an outsourced insurance desk, eliminating the need for advisors themselves to hold insurance licenses.