Principal Protection

The reasons clients need principal protection can be both financial and psychological. Principal protection is a very attractive feature for conservative clients. Some annuities offer market exposure (fixed index and buffer) while providing downside protection, giving advisors a means of increasing market exposure for these clients.

Principal protection is also extremely important for retirees and near-retirees. Market performance or sequence of returns risk is at its peak in the years just before and after retirement and can have a very significant impact of retirement income. Protecting from loss of principal is also a top concern for many retirees to ensure their peace of mind.

A buffer annuity is a relatively new product type designed after a structured note. A buffer provides index investing options similar to a fixed index (FIA), but generally with more investing options. Unlike an FIA where principal is completely protected, buffer annuities offer limited downside protection which can either be structured to have the carrier absorb “first loss” or “tail risk”. Since downside protection is more limited than with FIAs, buffer annuities generally provide more upside potential in the indices.

Simply by virtue of their structure these annuities provide principal protection: fixed (FA), multi-year guarantee (MYGA), fixed index (FIA), single premium immediate (SPIA), buffer and deferred income (DIA). Variable annuities can also offer optional principal protection features.

Many FIAs have no explicit product cost. They are “spread” products like bonds or CDs. As such they should be evaluated in the same fashion, based on yield potential and payout rates. While FIAs generally have no product cost for the core product, income riders will have additional fees.