April 2020 Carrier Updates

April 2020 Carrier Updates

Last Updated: April 30

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AIG

  • Show Clients the Full IUL Story. Index Universal Life insurance (IUL) products are so popular now. Is it because the illustrations look so promising? Remember, illustrations don’t tell the whole story. Many of these IULs have Bonus Multipliers that enhance the illustrated interest rates for a more favorable, though unlikely, illustrated result. Unless you really know what you’re looking for, you may not realize that the illustrated interest rate is being “enhanced” in the background. However, an easy, effective way to compare illustrations with IUL bonus multipliers to those without is to stress test them. What you will find may shock you. Understand how a product like Max Accumulator+, with no IUL bonus multiplier, provides much more stable results in all interest rate scenarios.
  • Protection Extend IUL Now Available in NY. Effective April 6, 2020, The United States Life Insurance Company in the State of New York is excited to share our new term conversion Index Universal Life (IUL) insurance product, Protection Extend IUL, is available in New York. This new product, designed on the 2017 CSO Mortality Tables, provides clients with longer guarantees, and new features. Protection Extend IUL replaces the 2001 CSO product, AG Extend IUL, that was previously discontinued in December, 2019.
  • Field Underwriting Guide Updates. AIG's Field Underwriting Guide has been updated to reflect relaxed APS criteria relaxed for some case categories, effective April 3: Age 18-39: Changed from $2 million to $3 million; Age 40-59: Changed from $1.5 million to $3 million when routine physical exam (PE) is within past 3 years.

Need help with any of AIG's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

American National

  • Recorded Webinar: Underwriting Response to COVID-19. Scott Marquis, SVP Life Underwriting, discusses the temporary changes to life underwriting requirements and procedures in response to the Coronavirus and answers detailed questions from the audience. Please don’t miss out on this important information. Registration with name and email via GoToWebinar required.

Need help with any of American National's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Foresters

  • Together, we can Double Your Impact. We’ve been working with our members to support local communities as the COVID-19 crisis continues around the world. Now more than ever, Helping Is Who We Are™. To continue this ongoing effort, Foresters Financial™ will now match all donations¹ made through our Crisis Donation Matching Portal to select national charities serving those affected by the pandemic. We’ll match your donation even if you’re not currently a Foresters member!
  • ABR and Senior Sales on e-App in California. Foresters Financial is pleased to announce that on April 18th we will be launching our Accelerated Death Benefit Rider (ABR) in California on our Level Term, Advantage Plus II, and SMART UL products. Also on April 18th, we will be adding senior sales to ages 65+ on e-App. California requires agents to understand and explain the difference between an ABR and Long Term Care Insurance. Contact your brokerage manager for training, if needed.

Need help with any of Foresters' products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

John Hancock

  • Seize the day: Taking advantage of low interest rates now. Interest rates are at historical lows, including the Applicable Federal Rates (AFR) used in many estate- and business-planning techniques. Except for the short-term AFR, these rates are the lowest they have ever been. And while we might expect them to remain low, at least for the time being, now is the time to consider the benefits that these low rates can offer clients looking to purchase life insurance as part of certain estate- or business-planning solutions. Let’s explore the various options before interest rates go up.

Need help with any of John Hancock's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Legal & General (Banner)

  • New digital application process. Legal & General America's new digital application will make doing business with us easier, faster, and better, whether you submit business through Partner Dashboard, iPipeline or other drop-ticket platforms. There are many benefits for you and, most importantly, your clients: *Gives clients the flexibility to complete the entire application on-line in under 20 minutes or over the phone *A streamlined digital application process supported by faster and better automated underwriting *Reflexive questions in the application reduce the need for exams and labs *Your business processed faster from start to finish. Producers can start utilizing all the benefits of our new application through Partner Dashboard right now and through iPipeline on April 23rd, with others to follow. The new application is available for Banner Life business only at this time. More resources here: https://www.lgamerica.com/advisor/marketing/digital-application-platform/

Need help with any of Legal & General's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Lincoln

Need help with any of Lincoln's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Mutual of Omaha

  • IUL Express Participation Rate, Cap Rate and Premium Changes. Effective June 10th, we will be changing our participation and cap rates on IUL Express. As a result of the rate changes, the Easy Solve premium and Target premiums will also be adjusted effective June 1st.
  • IUL Express Electronic Submission Training Videos. Recently, we began allowing you to submit IUL Express paper applications electronically using one of our accepted electronic signature methods and our paper application submission via email process. To help you transition to this new electronic submission process we created two new producer training videos. Please note, these videos show the process using DocuSign as the electronic signature method since it is the most widely used. The first producer training video walks you through IUL Express using Easy Solve and the DocuSign process. The second video shows you the DocuSign process only. Access the videos through the link above.
  • Important Updates from Customer Service.
    • Extending Grace Periods. Mutual of Omaha is committed to helping our customers as much as we can during these challenging times. We are following regulatory guidance on a state-by-state basis regarding extending grace periods and/or non-cancellation/non-renewal requirements. Please refer to your state’s Department of Insurance website for the most current information on measures in your state. For life insurance and Med Supp policies, if your customer is not able to make a premium payment and is in a state that has not provided regulatory guidance, please reach out to us. While we are unable to waive premiums, we can typically extend the grace period on a customer’s policy for up to an additional 30 days. It is important to communicate to your customer that once the extended grace period has been reached, the customer will need to pay his/her premiums in full to prevent coverage from lapsing. If your customer has additional concerns as the extended premium due date approaches, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. For individual health policies (other than Med Supp), if your customer is not able to make a premium payment and is in a state that has not provided regulatory guidance, please reach out to us and we will work with underwriting to determine if the grace period can be extended.
    • Processing of Policy Claims. If a policyholder is within an extended grace period on his/her policy, the claim will be processed according to the provisions in the contract. Special Information for Life Insurance Policies: If an insured dies within the extended grace period, benefits will be payable according to contract provisions. There is no exclusion in any of our life insurance policies that would apply to death caused by COVID-19, or any other disease. It is important to note, however, that benefits are payable under an Accidental Death policy only for deaths caused by accidental injuries as defined in the policy.
  • TLA Pricing Changes. Effective today, April 1, 2020 we have updated or Term Life Answers (TLA) product pricing for new issue policies. In addition to the product features above, effective today, April 1, 2020, we are also reducing our quarterly modal factor from .275 to .265.
  • Underwriting Materials Updated for New Term Conversion Guidelines. On March 18th we announced changes to our term conversion rules on our Term Life Answers fully-underwritten term insurance product. Our new Underwriting Guidelines booklet has been updated with the new term conversion guidelines and is available for ordering through your normal supply channels.
  • Identify Clients Who May Need IUL Express. Indexed Universal Life Express (IUL Express) offers your clients permanent protection with growth potential, all while using a simplified issue process. Our Identifying Clients Who May Need Indexed Universal Life Express sales sheet will give you some ideas of the types of clients you should be considering for the IUL Express product.

Need help with any of Mutual of Omaha's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Nationwide

  • Removal of Additional Term Rider on Nationwide VUL Accumulator & Protector. Applications signed on or after May 1, 2020 will no longer offer the Additional Term Rider (ATR) on Nationwide VUL Accumulator and Nationwide VUL Protector products.
  • CareMatters II Product Update. Nationwide will implement pricing updates to Nationwide CareMatters® II. This is a change to premiums only. There are no changes to the product structure, contract language, forms, compensation or types of benefits provided. There is no change to in-force policies because of this update.
  • April 2020 Nationwide® Life Insurance Product Changes. Nationwide is committed to carefully managing our life product portfolio to remain the strong, stable carrier you can rely on. To keep this commitment – and in response to the extremely low interest rate environment and unprecedented volatility in the markets – we are repricing our NLG-UL II, adjusting the age limit on CareMatters, lowering the maximum face amount on IUL and SIUL, and decreasing the crediting rate by 0.25% on the fixed account in our IUL, VUL and CareMatters products.

Need help with any of Nationwide's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

North American

  • Premium limit on inforce CVAT policies. Our life insurance contracts expressly provide that the policies are intended to qualify as life insurance under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), and prohibit the payment of premiums that would cause the policy to no longer qualify. We regularly monitor policies subject to a Cash Value Accumulation Test election (CVAT) to ensure that credited interest and/or new premium do not cause a disqualification as life insurance under the IRC. We are implementing premium limits for premium on CVAT policies. These protocols are consistent with our contractual rights and responsibilities, while ensuring that we are also adhering to compliance guidelines for CVAT. These protocols will ensure that increases in the death benefit resulting from additional premium are underwritten where appropriate.
  • Policy Change Guidelines. North American wants to ensure that the rules for servicing customer life insurance needs postissue are clear and easily understood. We understand that a customer’s needs may change and our processing guidelines are designed to place the client’s needs first. The following guidelines are designed to aid with your understanding of and compliance with company procedures regarding requests for conversions, internal exchanges, and other Policy Change related items Please click on the link above to access the updated Policy Change Guidelines on our website.
  • Increased Premium Limits for IUL Products. Effective immediately we will be increasing the annual premium limit in all policy years on the following products. Increased premium limits will apply to the following products: Builder Plus IUL®, Protection Builder IUL, and Smart Builder IUL. Click the link above to view the new limits.

Need help with any of North American's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Protective

Need help with any of Protective's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Prudential

Need help with any of Prudential's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Sagicor

  • Two Winning Opportunities. Legacy asset protection for your clients + a 15% commission bonus for you. Find options to help clients protect and grow estate assets and transfer wealth tax efficiently with Sage Indexed UL and Sage No Lapse UL. Agent commission bonuses available through June 30, 2020.
  • Life insurance options that don’t require ANY face-to-face interaction. This expedited process is convenient for you and your clients, featuring: eApplication — can be completed over the telephone with eSignature, no telephone interviews, no Paramed — and completely fluid-free, and policy eDelivery. Available on Sage Term, Sage No Lapse UL, Sage IUL and Sagicor’s WealthCare Indexed Single Premium Universal Life Insurance.
  • Find new business in times of uncertainty. Boomers are concerned about volatility and low interest rates. Now is the time to allay their fears by providing solutions with guarantees and competitive fixed rates, like a Sagicor Milestone MYGA Single Premium Deferred Fixed Annuity. It can give your clients the assurance of: protection from market risk, guaranteed growth from a choice of attractive multi-year fixed rates, 10% penalty-free withdrawals beginning contract-year two, and this MYGA issues up to age 90.

Need help with any of Sagicor's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Securian

Need help with any of Securian's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

The Standard

  • Buying an Annuity Now Is the Right Step. When markets are shaky, clients may say they’re waiting for interest rates to rise before taking financial steps like buying an annuity. Use our Cost of Waiting approach and flyer to show how they might be missing out.

Need help with any of The Standard's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Symetra

  • Accumulator IUL: Index Cap and Participation Rate Changes Effective Thursday, May 14, 2020. Due to the unprecedented market volatility and historically low interest rate environment, we announced we’ll be decreasing Symetra Accumulator IUL’s index cap and participation rates, effective May 14, 2020. For information and important dates, please see our communication linked above.
  • Important Changes: Symetra UL-G. Symetra will reprice its UL-G product effective May 1, 2020.
  • Symetra IUL Extra Coverage Program. If you have clients who could benefit from additional death benefit coverage without full underwriting, the Symetra IUL Extra Coverage Program may be a good fit for them. Clients who have purchased up to $3 million of fully underwritten Symetra permanent life insurance within the last two and a half years can purchase an additional Symetra Protector or Accumulator IUL policy for up to $1 million in coverage with limited underwriting. Program highlights:
    • Available April 1, 2020 (Extended availability!)
    • Products offered: Symetra Protector IUL and Accumulator IUL (Now includes Accumulator!)
    • Maximum additional death benefit coverage: $1 million
    • Client ages 60 or younger who have been issued a fully underwritten Symetra permanent life insurance policy (or policies) within the past two and a half years at a Standard rate class or better can qualify for the program. (Extended from two years to two and a half years!)
    • Symetra will request an MIB, MVR (motor vehicle record) and a Rx script check

Need help with any of The Symetra's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Transamerica

  • Matching Juvenile Face Amounts of $1 Million. You help clients protect many of the things they hold valuable, and now you can help even more. Your clients can secure matching juvenile life insurance in face amounts of up to $1 million through the Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL®. That means parents are no longer required to carry twice as much coverage as their kids. Click the link above to get complete details on the new guidelines to see how you can add matching coverage for your clients with kids.

Need help with any of Transamerica's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Zurich

  • Zurich Survivor IUL Now Available. Highlights: Competitive: Strong for both cash accumulation and death benefit sales. No multipliers: 15% guaranteed bonus on interest credited in prior year for years 6+ through age 90. 10% guaranteed bonus for ages 90+. Extended Guarantees: Optional death benefit guarantee up to age 90. Uncapped Accounts: Two uncapped index interest account options. Convert two Terms: Opportunity to convert Zurich Term into Survivor IUL.

Need help with any of Zurich's products?
Call us at 1-800-823-4852 or click here to email our Brokerage Sales Support team.

Need help navigating the ever-increasing selection of products from these carriers? Learn how partnering with us can help you earn more, better serve your clients, and sell more life insurance online.

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