Standard & Poor's is now tracking the policy features and performance of 700 variable annuities and the 9,000 sub-accounts included in them. S&P is adding the information to its Advisor Insight product for financial advisers and brokers. The product previously only included information on mutual funds, stocks and real-time market news.
Specifically, S&P is tracking detailed policy information, including features and riders, policy fees and expenses, and sub-account performance for a variety of time periods ranging from the past week to 10 years.
"Especially in today's competitive environment, financial advisers are seeking objective and reliable information on investment products to recommend to their clients, and clients are choosing variable annuities to diversify their portfolios," said Ken Ennis, vice president and general manager of retail market services at S&P.
