Prudential (PRU) Unveils Indexed Annuity to Meet Retirement Needs

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU), Inc. PRU recently introduced an indexed variable annuity product named FlexGuard Income. The product seems to be an improvement over the company’s FlexGuard product launched in May 2020.

Benefits of the Product

The latest product shares the common features of boosting retirement income and offering protection to the assets of customers amid any market downturns.

Besides, the new product is equipped with an innovative buffered income benefit, which is connected with market performance. If anytime, the account value of a customer becomes zero, an insured income stage will be in effect. This stage will offer a lifetime source of income to customers, as agreed upon.

Further, FlexGuard Income provides customers the flexibility of market participation via numerous index options. They can devise investment strategies to achieve their retirement goals and make alterations per their evolving needs. Apart from benefiting customers, the product eases the financial professionals’ service of offering income protection.

Moreover, the new product is likely to perform well. The older version of this product did quite well since its launch last year.

Rationale Behind the Move

The recent move reinstates the growing importance of customizable income solutions and strong demand for asset protection. Though the U.S. economy is gradually recovering, retirement planning woes due to an aging U.S. population are persistent. Hence, there is a dire need of directing the retirement savings of consumers toward meeting lifetime income.

Further, indexed annuities are gaining popularity as it possesses features of both fixed and variable annuities. Equipped with diverse degree of risks, such annuities lead to a balanced retirement portfolio. The guaranteed minimum return assured by indexed annuities also makes it a relatively safer option for people planning for retirement.

The latest product forms part of Prudential’s U.S. Individual Solutions portfolio. Through the unit, the company rolls out individual variable and fixed annuity products for U.S. consumers with an intensified focus on developing unique product design capabilities and devising risk management strategies.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) multiline insurer have surged 64.3% in a year compared with the industry’s growth of 40.2%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the insurance space include Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) Corporation ORI, Assurant (NYSE:AIZ), Inc. AIZ and Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) Corporation MFC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Old Republic, Assurant and Manulife Financial have a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 53.01%, 21.71% and 13.01%, on average, respectively.

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