Carrier and Product Updates- January 2012
Posted on January 10, 2012 in Product & Carrier Intelligence
Below you will find the latest updates to carriers and their products. Please review the changes as they may affect your clients and their existing policies.
PERMANENT COVERAGE UPDATES
Effective February 3rd – Hartford Will Be Increasing the Pricing on Freedom UL and Joint Freedom SUL – The single-pay scenarios will increase by 5%. The Freedom price only increases if more than two-thirds of the premium is received in the first two years. With the Joint Freedom, the impact will grade down from 5% on single-pays to less than 1% on all-pays. Please note that February 3rd is the last day applications will be accepted for the old rates (informal/trial applications received by February 3rd must be completed within 60-days from the date they were received).
Effective February – Hartford – Fixed Account Crediting Rates – The credited rates on Founders Plus will not change in February. The fixed account will remain at 4.30% for Founders Plus and Founders II, and the Plus account will continue to illustrate at 5.55%. The index caps for both the Founders Plus and Frontier will also remain the same.
- Some fixed account credited rates will be reduced effective February 1st.
- Frontier Fixed Account: from 4.5% to 4.25%
- Hartford Extraordinary Whole Life: from 4.25% to 4.00%
Effective January 3rd – John Hancock Re-Priced the UL-G and SUL-G Products – The UL-G and SUL-G products will be re-priced with premium increases of 12% at most issue ages. Target premium levels on both products are increasing proportionally with the premium increases.
Effective January 1st – John Hancock Reduced the Dividend Interest Crediting Rates –
- Policies issued prior to February 1, 2000 (closed block of business) are being reduced by 70 basis points (.70%).
- Policies issued on or after February 1, 2000 (closed block of business) are being reduced by 20 basis points (.20%).
Effective January 1st – Lincoln Reduced the Crediting Rates on Universal Life and Other Interest Sensitive Life Insurance Products –
Effective January 23rd – Principal Will Re-Price the SUL Protector – The pricing increase is focused on single-pay scenarios with relatively little impact on continuous-pay or limited-pay scenarios. The current target market remains unchanged:
- Lifetime pay scenarios
- Face amounts above $1 million
- Target ages 60 to 75
- Limited-pay scenarios
Effective January 3rd – Principal Introduced the Variable Universal Life Income III – The VUL Income III is an enhanced version of Principal Variable Universal Life II, with a focus on maximizing income out while also providing strong guarantees during both the accumulation and distribution phases.
Effective December 15, 2011 – Prudential Announced Policyholder Dividend Scales – Prudential has approved payment of approximately $1.9 billion in dividends in 2012 for participating individual life insurance policies and annuity contracts in the Closed Block.
Effective December 30, 2011 – Sun Life Discontinued the Sale of New Variable Annuity and Individual Life Products – The Company’s U.S. operations will focus on becoming a leader in group insurance and voluntary benefits in the U.S. marketplace.
Effective January 3rd – Pacific Life Introduced the Pacific Prime IUL – This product is designed to appeal to clients who want market-paced growth potential but fear losing money due to poor market performance.
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the Carrier and Product Updates. If you would like to request illustrations for your clients, please let me know. You can also find the carrier updates on our website under Product & Carrier Intelligence.
Shauna Winer
CBIZ Special Risk
800-422-7536 ext: 3115
swiner@cbiz.com