Annexus Retirement Solutions named finalist in Wealth Management’s “Wealthies” awards for industry-changing innovation

This article was originally published by PR Newswire.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 12, 2023 – Annexus Retirement Solutions (ARS) has been named a finalist in the Wealth Management Industry Award category: In-plan Retirement Income – Product or Service, for its lifetime income solution, Lifetime Income Builder, along with its proprietary middleware solution, the Annexus Retirement Data Exchange (ARDX). These innovations from ARS have introduced a new way to deliver income by reengineering an annuity to include a daily market valuation, which allows it to function like any other investment within the participant’s portfolio.

Since 2020, ARS has been on a mission to help more people become retirement ready by providing solutions that address the ever-growing retirement income crisis. With low savings levels and rising life expectancies, many Americans are underprepared for retirement. And even for those investors who have been saving during their working years, many do not have the expertise or guidance needed to create a plan to make their savings last throughout retirement.

ARS took an innovative approach to product design by reengineering the annuity and integrating a daily market value. This patent-pending solution, Lifetime Income Builder, acts as its own asset class when embedded into the glidepath of a target date fund (TDF), allowing the participant to maintain growth opportunity and liquidity.

“Many participants don’t know how to best secure their financial futures, and the industry hasn’t necessarily made it easy for them,” said Dave Paulsen, chief distribution officer at Annexus Retirement Services. “We at Annexus Retirement Solutions knew we could do better. Our product design philosophy is to put the participant at the center of everything we do, and in doing so, everything else falls into place.”

When designing Lifetime Income Builder, ARS began working with Richard Kado, a renowned figure in the industry known as the “inventor of the fixed indexed annuity,” and a trusted innovator with whom many team members had collaborated with in the past. Kado played a pivotal role in helping finalize the product design and was a key figure in architecting the company’s proprietary middleware solution. Kado commented, “most technology solutions today cater to retail annuities. However, Lifetime Income Builder is designed for an institutional investment platform, which makes it truly unique. We wanted to ensure the process for recordkeepers to add this type of innovation to their fund lineup was fast and easy, so we developed our own middleware.”

This middleware, known as Annexus Retirement Data Exchange (ARDX), was critical to operationalize Lifetime Income Builder. ARDX provides a seamless interface for data calculating and transmission, making it easy for recordkeepers to administer TDFs with Lifetime Income Builder across all value chain partners.

“Our goal is to change how Americans retire. We want to ensure that once a recordkeeper integrates with the ARDX platform, there’s very little – if any – incremental technology impact. Reducing the load to offer the full Lifetime Income Builder product suite ultimately influences participant adoption,” said Abby Canfield, head of operations at Annexus Retirement Solutions.

ARDX is in the process of connecting to multiple recordkeepers, and as more recordkeepers adopt it, millions of participants will gain access to a target date fund with Lifetime Income Builder. At present, there is one target date fund series in the market and a second expected to be in the market soon, that integrate Lifetime Income Builder – one actively managed and one passively managed. And now, this innovation is being recognized across the industry.

Now in its ninth year, the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards is the only awards program of its kind to honor outstanding achievements by companies, organizations, and individuals that support financial advisor success. A panel of judges made up of top names in the industry, led by WealthManagement.com director of editorial strategy and operations, David Armstrong, chose the finalists and will determine the winners, which each year recognizes the firms and individuals who are bringing new innovations to market and make a real difference to the daily activities of financial advisors. Winners will be announced at a gala and awards ceremony in New York City on September 7th.

About Annexus Retirement Solutions

Annexus Retirement Solutions designs, develops, and facilitates distribution of institutional lifetime income products that help Americans solve their biggest challenge in retirement—outliving their money. Founded in 2020, the company’s over-arching philosophy centers on delivering better participant outcomes through innovation. It is led by industry veterans with a combined 175 years of experience in retirement plans, annuities, and asset management. Annexus Retirement Solutions is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Learn more about Annexus Retirement Solutions at annexusretirementsolutions.com.

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