The Shrinking Annuity Market
Category : News
It’s concerning that the giant life insurance company, Manulife, withdrew from the Canadian annuity market on June 29, 2018. Prior to this, in the last few years Manulife had absorbed other major players in the Canadian annuity market such as Maritime Life in 2004 and Standard Life Assurance Co. of Canada in 2015. The pool of life insurance companies that offer annuities continues to shrink leaving fewer choices for those who recognize the importance of the guaranteed lifetime income that annuities provide.
In addition to getting out of the annuity market, Manulife is currently, in the fall of 2018 approaching specific existing variable annuity clients and offering them a cash incentive to give up their variable annuity contracts to replace them with their regular segregated funds with guarantees of 75% of their holdings upon death and maturity. Clients must decide if they will take the incentive money before December 14, 2018.
If you are contemplating purchasing an annuity for your retirement years, maybe you shouldn’t wait.
