Advisors Blog

Increased Commission and New Select-a-Term Rates, Effective May 23, 2022

AIG has increased the street level commission on the 10-Year Select-a-Term! To confirm your commission schedule please log into Connext and find your schedule, under Contracting & Commissions, and Agent Lookup.

Also effective May 23, 2022 there will be premium rate changes in all states except New York, where rates will remain the same.

Index Annuity Rates are Improving Effective Monday, May 23, 2022

Effective May 23, 2022, AIG has made the following annuity rate update.

Interest Rate Updates - June 1, 2022

Effective June 1, 2022, Cincinnati Life has made the following interest rate changes.

Update Regarding Business-Owned Insurance in New York

John Hancock has received approval for updated application forms (NB5000NY (02/2022) & NB5037NY (02/2022)) for use in the business-owned insurance market in New York. In light of this update, they began accepting applications effective May 23, 2022. Please note, John Hancock will continue to NOT allow any employer-owned policies where employees contribute premium to the policy. Please see the additional administrative requirements for these types of policies below:

Party responsible for providing notices

For employer-owned policies, the employer is responsible for providing the required notice and consent to employees and such notice and consent are prepared by the employer.

Premiums

Premiums must be non-contributory. John Hancock will not accept any employer-owned policy that includes any employee contributions made either at or after issue.

Use of individual forms

All policy forms must insure an individual and have an attached application for that insured. 

New guide to John Hancock Variable Insurance Trust

One of the standout value propositions of John Hancock’s VUL products is the access they provide to a broad, diversified offering of portfolios — from our select roster of talented and knowledgeable asset managers. Use this guide to learn more about those offerings and our unique multi-manager approach.

Take It to the Next Level With These Underwriting Sweet Spots

Legal & General provides one simple journey, with instant, accelerated, lab-free experiences based on eligibility and availability.

Benefits of accelerated underwriting program:

• Real-time decisions with instant approvals (or within a few hours
• Over 50% of cases approved without the need for exams 
• More clients covered, faster 

Coming Soon: Lincoln VUL^ONE (2021) – Pricing Updates Effective June 13, 2022

Effective June 13, 2022, Lincoln is announcing pricing updates on Lincoln VUL^ONE (2021) which will improve competitive positioning of level pays, while remaining competitive in single pay designs. Lincoln VUL^ONE (2021) – 06/13/22, a variable universal life insurance product, continues to offer a lifetime guaranteed death benefit with market-driven growth potential, as well as a second Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit (GMDB) option that for a lower premium provides 100% protection to age 90, and 50% GMDB protection thereafter, regardless of how the market performs.

Pricing Changes

Pricing adjustments apply to both GMDB options (Lifetime guaranteed and GMDB drop at age 90) and will vary by age and funding pattern. On average adjustments are as follows:

• 17% decrease to Level pay designs
• 1% decrease to 10 pay designs
• 5% increase to single pay designs 

MassMutual raising premium limits for ALIR and similar riders - June 1st, 2022

MassMutual is raising premium limits for the Additional Life Insurance Rider (ALIR). Effective June 1st, the limits will be:

• $5 million using the 10:1 rule: ALIR payments up to $5 million can be made provided the payment is no more than 10 times the base policy plus LTCAccess Rider annual premiums.
• $3 million using the 20:1 rule: For 1035 exchanges, ALIR dump-ins up to $3 million can be made provided the payment is no more than 20 times the base policy plus LTCAccess Rider annual premiums.
• For 1035 exchanges, loans carried over from the old policy to the MassMutual policy will be treated as an unscheduled ALIR payment and subject to the maximum limits above. In some cases, this may require additional evidence of insurability and/or the client to pay out-of-pocket money if there is not enough 1035 value going into the policy to cover the loan being carried over.
• These limits also apply to the Life Insurance Supplement Rider (LISR), as well as the Survivorship Additional Life Insured Rider (ALIRS) and Survivorship Life Insurance Supplement Rider (LISRS) available on second-to-die whole life policies. These are aggregate limits for these riders and apply across all policies on a given insured.

New MassMutual Whole Life 12-Pay Coming August 20, 2022

Whole Life 12-Pay, a new lower-premium alternative to Whole Life 10-Pay, will be available in August in most jurisdictions using EZ-app initially and Haven Technologies’ Coverpath digital platform in the future. The product provides death benefit protection and cash value accumulation with the potential for competitive income solutions. Survivorship Whole Life 12-Pay will debut concurrently, with more details to come.

Whole Life 12-Pay features, benefits, prospects, and sought-after options:

Whole Life 12-Pay will have a 3% guaranteed interest rate and the same features as MassMutual’s other limited pay products. Benefits include:

• Guaranteed amount of paid-up life insurance.
• Guaranteed cash value increases yearly.
• Total death benefit and total cash value that never decline in value.

Prospective consumers for Whole Life 12-Pay will be affluent, high-net-worth clients, ages 45-55, who want life insurance to protect income, accumulate additional funds for retirement, and better manage market risk. The product can help them tackle financial concerns including tax-efficient accumulation, legacy/wealth transfer planning, and health care/long-term care planning.

LTCAccess Rider (LTCR) will be available with Whole Life 12-Pay at launch. Chronic Illness Rider (CIR) will not be available with Whole Life 12-Pay at launch; however, CIR is available with MassMutual Whole Life Insurance products on Haven Technologies’ Coverpath digital platform.

Key dates

Important dates in the Whole Life 12-Pay and Survivorship Whole Life 12-Pay rollout:

• June 1: Whole Life 12-Pay illustrations available on MassMutual Designs (MMD) and WinFlex Web.
• July 1: Survivorship Whole Life 12-Pay illustrations available on MMD and WinFlex Web.
• Aug. 20: First day to submit applications for both products on EZ-app.

Symetra Annuities Interest Rate Update - Effective June 1, 2022

Effective June 1, 2022, Symetra has made the following annuity interest rate update.