Nationwide, Annexus Roll Out ‘Next-Gen’ In-Plan Guaranteed Income Solution

“Lifetime Income Builder” meant to help 401(k) plan participants maximize their retirement income

By Brian Anderson
This article was originally published by 401k Specialist

Nationwide and Annexus Retirement Solutions today announced that they have partnered to bring to market “Lifetime Income Builder,” an in-plan guaranteed income solution that is built to help retirement plan participants maximize their retirement income.

The new retirement plan investment option, slated to launch later this year, is an expansion of an existing partnership between Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Annexus, which has involved bringing new products to market over the past seven years.

Passed in late 2019, the SECURE Act created opportunities to provide more flexibility and access to annuities within defined contribution retirement plans. In addition to the legislative change, Nationwide points to research showing consumers’ need for lifetime income is stronger than ever.

These insights, the company says, have paved the way for Lifetime Income Builder as an in-plan guaranteed income solution which provides plan sponsors an efficient structure designed to be QDIA compliant and which offers a combination of liquidity, portability, and ease of use that Nationwide says is currently missing from other in-plan income solutions.

Lifetime Income Builder combines guaranteed lifetime income along with a systematic withdrawal strategy that efficiently addresses the risks a participant faces in generating retirement income.

“It’s an exciting time—a true paradigm shift—for the workplace retirement plan industry and the plan participants we serve,” said Eric Stevenson, President of Nationwide Retirement Plans. “Lifetime Income Builder is the latest in our suite of in-plan guarantees designed to address savers’ growing income needs across all plan types and sizes. This innovative new investment option allows us to better serve existing plan sponsors and consultants while also reaching new clients by providing their participants with the protection they seek, and the guaranteed income they need, to help them achieve a more secure retirement.”

Nationwide and Annexus Retirement Solutions say they joined forces to create a competitive in-plan solution that helps address the participant’s risk of outliving income, one of the biggest financial challenges faced by many Americans today.

This solution embeds a fixed indexed annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit—the Lifetime Income Builder—directly into a collective investment trust consisting of a series of target date funds. This increases income potential while maintaining a familiar investment experience for the participant due to the target date fund structure.

“Until now, the retirement planning industry hasn’t made it easy for participants to know how to secure their financial future,” said Don Dady, Co-Founder of Annexus, the parent company of Annexus Retirement Solutions. “The risks in retirement require an integrated solution for most participants to optimize the potential income from their retirement plan. Lifetime Income Builder is designed to achieve this objective without requiring participants to give up control or flexibility.

In partnering with Nationwide, Dady added that this solution is easier for a participant to understand given the target date fund framework, with the added benefit of helping to maximize results for the participant to and through retirement.

Working with a leading asset manager, along with the Annexus Retirement Solutions partnership, will help enable the development and distribution of a collective investment trust target date fund series with the added benefit of the Lifetime Income Builder, Nationwide says.