Allianz Retire+ announces a new solution that enables advisers to construct retirement strategies with certainty.

Allianz Retire+ has announced enhancements to its industry-first longevity solution Allianz Guaranteed Income for Life (AGILE) launched in March this year.

The retirement income solution has been in the market for over eight months and has received a positive response from both the advice and superfund industry.

The new enhancements have been added to optimise AGILE, following industry feedback and calls from the Government to deliver more flexible retirement income options to Australians. The updates include:

• Age Pension+ option – delivering higher potential age pension eligibility due to reduced treatment for Age Pension assets test. The death and withdrawal benefit available for this option is limited.
• Spouse Insured option – this feature allows income for life to continue to be paid to the investor until the later death of the life insured or their spouse.

“We are really excited to bring these new enhancements to the market. After consultation with the advice and trustee community we know a key issue for some clients when planning for retirement is assessing eligibility for the pension. Which is why we are proud to deliver the Age Pension+ option where an adviser or retiree can have maximum flexibility to choose if they want to access higher potential age pension eligibility within a single product – an industry first.

The other big issue during retirement is understanding if income will be paid for the life of a surviving spouse in the event of death. We have enhanced our offering to provide a choice for both of these circumstances to deliver greater certainty of income and flexibility for advisers and their clients. We are committed to continually refining and updating our solutions to meet the demands of Australian retirees,” said Chief Product and Marketing Officer, Simon Aboud.

AGILE is a next generation retirement solution that delivers a guaranteed income for life, provides full advice platform integration opportunities and can be embedded within superannuation funds and account-based pensions. The solution also enables advisers to construct retirement strategies with certainty, years in advance of a client’s retirement.

The post Allianz Retire+ enhances pioneering retirement income solution appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Justine Marquet

Allianz Retire+ has announced the appointment of Justine Marquet to the newly created role, Head of Technical Services.

Ms Marquet is a highly credentialed leader with over 20 years’ experience in financial services, working across product development, regulatory change, operations and sales functions. Her career has spanned superannuation, retirement, wealth, insurance and financial advice, giving her a deep understanding of the challenges Allianz Retire+ is committed to solving.

The retirement income specialists welcome Ms Marquet from MLC Life where she was most recently Head of Technical Services, Research and Regulatory Change. Throughout her tenure at MLC Life she led a specialist team to analyse and deliver insights from product and market research.

Ms Marquet spearheaded the businesses response to regulatory changes for life products advocating for workable policy outcomes and delivering risk management tools and frameworks for multiple regulatory initiatives. She also provided technical services and expertise to build internal capabilities, customer trust and provide partner support to the external market.

In her new role, Ms. Marquet will provide technical support and educational resources to help advisers and superfunds navigate retirement planning. She will work closely with Chief Product and Marketing Officer Simon Aboud and the broader Allianz Retire+ team to deliver these services while also supporting the rollout of the businesses’ innovative longevity Allianz Guaranteed Income for Life (AGILE) product, launched earlier this year.

“Justine’s deep sector knowledge, strategic ability and understanding of the retirement landscape will be critical as we continue to engage with both superfunds and advisers to deliver a suite of retirement income solutions,” said Mr Aboud.

“We are committed to solving the issues facing retirees, superfunds and advisers. There is undeniable momentum from the industry to address the needs of retirees by providing solutions that deliver certainty and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.

Justine’s skills and experience in understanding how we can support advisers and superfunds solve these challenges is really exciting and we are thrilled to welcome her to the team.”

The post Allianz Retire+ welcomes Head of Technical Services appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Allianz Retire+ has received an ‘Approved’ rating for its longevity solution AGILE from investment research house Lonsec Research Pty Ltd (Lonsec).

The report determined AGILE to be a thoughtfully considered and well-designed product, that may assist in overcoming a major challenge facing retirees being longevity risk by providing a steady or rising income stream over an investor’s lifetime.

Lonsec considers AGILE to have a place alongside other retirement products available to Australian retirees and form part of an overall retirement strategy. AGILE provides investors with a vehicle to participate in market-linked returns with inbuilt protection in both the Growth and Lifetime Income phases. Furthermore, the product offers flexibility with transparent costs and delivers certainty with a guaranteed lifetime income.

Allianz Retire+ Chief Product & Marketing Officer Simon Aboud says, “This ‘Approved’ rating from Lonsec is a key milestone for the business as we continue sharing AGILE with the market. AGILE was designed with retirees at the forefront yet we carefully considered how advisers could access and use AGILE with their clients, which is why the solution is designed to integrate into their current ecosystem, enabling a streamlined process.

When developing AGILE we were determined to deliver certainty of income and flexibility for retirees within a solution. AGILE is designed to help people plan for retirement in advance by locking in a known retirement income rate and providing flexible access to capital if required^[1].

We understand that retirees need certainty of income in retirement to mitigate longevity risk, and we believe AGILE solves this fear by delivering a guaranteed income stream for life. As a next generation retirement solution, AGILE also delivers flexibility should a retiree’s circumstances change by providing access to capital.”

AGILE is designed to enhance the provision of retirement planning for advisers. It offers the ability to lock in a guaranteed future rate of income while clients are still in the accumulation phase (pre-retirement) to better plan retirement strategies with certainty.

The solution was developed in consultation with the adviser community, super funds, direct retiree feedback and the global Allianz network in established retirement markets.

Lonsec concluded Allianz Retire+ is well structured, with a robust governance framework and clear lines of accountability. The rating follows the recent appointments within the wealth team as AGILE is distributed to the market.

Allianz is a global leader in the provision of retirement solutions. With over 30 years’ experience in the US retirement market, the group has a presence in over 70 countries and serves 126 million retail and corporate clients. Allianz has been offering customer-centric solutions for Australians since 1914.

———

The post Allianz Retire+ AGILE receives ‘Approved’ Rating from Lonsec appeared first on AdviserVoice.

The rating follows a thorough review of the solution and determined that amid the demand for innovative retirement products Allianz Retire+ is well-positioned to leverage its strong global capabilities.

Allianz Retire+ Chief Product & Marketing Officer Simon Aboud says, “We are pleased to receive a positive rating from Zenith. When developing AGILE we were determined to deliver certainty of income and flexibility for retirees within a solution. AGILE is designed to help people plan for retirement in advance by locking in a known retirement income rate and providing flexible access to capital if required.

We understand that retirees need certainty of income in retirement to mitigate longevity risk, and we believe AGILE solves this fear by delivering a guaranteed income stream for life. As a next generation retirement solution, AGILE also delivers flexibility should a retiree’s circumstances change by providing access to capital.

Furthermore, AGILE was designed with advisers in mind and integrates into their current ecosystem, enabling a streamlined process for advisers and their clients.

This rating is an important milestone for the solution and for the Allianz Retire+ business as we continue on our mission of delivering certainty to Australian retirees.”

AGILE is designed to enhance the provision of retirement planning for advisers. It offers the ability to lock in a guaranteed future rate of income while clients are still in the accumulation phase (pre-retirement) to better plan retirement strategies with certainty.

The solution was developed in consultation with the adviser community, super funds, direct retiree feedback and the global Allianz network in established retirement markets.

Allianz is a global leader in the provision of retirement solutions. With over 30 years’ experience in the US retirement market, the group has a presence in over 70 countries and serves 126 million retail and corporate clients. Allianz has been offering customer-centric solutions for Australians since 1914.

The post Allianz Retire+ AGILE receives ‘Recommended’ Rating from Zenith Investment Partners appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Joanne Earl

Following the successful completion of a holistic retirement planning pilot study in August 2021, Macquarie University, in collaboration with Allianz Retire+, calls for financial advisers to join the Australian Research Council linkage project, as it’s cleared for a national roll out.

The landmark project will commence nationwide in March 2022 and combines expertise  from Macquarie University and Allianz Retire+ with academic affiliates from UNSW and the University of Western Australia. The longitudinal study will examine how a range of inputs to pre-retirement planning – spanning career, health and financial guidance – may impact retirement outcomes for everyday Australians.

Preliminary results from the South Australian pilot study, undertaken in late 2021, provide promising results in how post-work planning has benefits for retirement preparation:

• after completing the intensive three-module course – a mix of online and one-to-one advice activities – participants on average revised their expected retirement ages and reported higher confidence in achieving the intended target date
• higher confidence about retirement overall
• boosted financial literacy knowledge
• increased likelihood of consulting a financial adviser.

While seeking to build more detailed evidence on holistic retirement advice, the study also aims to deliver innovative retirement planning training for financial advisers.

In exchange for a significant number of CPD points, the project team now seeks expressions of interest from registered financial advisers with experience in dealing with retirement planning-related issues to provide general financial advice sessions.

Project lead and Macquarie University Professor Joanne Earl, a noted expert on the psychology of ageing and retirement, said: “Our Adviser partners are critical to this project as their feedback will help us translate the theory of the program into a workable advice solution. They’ll have the opportunity to be at the forefront of something really progressive”.

“Having enjoyed the process, a number of our advisers in the pilot seem to have got a lot out of the experience and wish to carry over into our main study, and we are incredibly grateful for their continued support” she said.

In addition to CPD points, planners will also gain training and insight into the broader multi-disciplinary approach that supports the holistic advice process.

Simon Aboud, Allianz Retire+ Chief Product and Marketing Officer, said the pilot displayed promise for the main study, at a time when advice adoption levels in the pre-retirement segment remain worryingly low:

“We know from recent Allianz Retire+ data that only 1 in 6 people approaching retirement are engaging with any financial advice. We view the general uptick in willingness to seek advice following the pilot as a highly beneficial outcome for the participants” commented Aboud.

“This study is revolutionary in its potential and the model, if proven effective, could positively impact people’s choices and retirement confidence for generations to come”.

Financial advisers wanting to take part in the upcoming Macquarie University/Allianz Retire+ study can contact: ThinkAhead@mq.edu.au

The post Holistic retirement planning pilot highlights opportunity to boost financial literacy, advice adoption and confidence in Australians appeared first on AdviserVoice.