In the News: Wirehouses Warming to Indexed Annuities

By Jim Poolman, Executive Director, Indexed Annuity Leadership Council

In a recent article by Investment News, it seems that wirehouses are embracing the once-criticized fixed indexed annuity market. In fact, sales of the product are up more than 400% from 2010. According to John Mulhall, managing director at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, wirehouses have really come around:

“In the old days, indexed annuities weren’t a product you could be proud of selling: you had 15% commissions and abusive producers who wanted to sell away from the broker-dealer,” said John Mulhall, managing director at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management. “Five years ago, nobody hated that product more than me, but now I’ve seen the light.”

Other firms are also looking into adding indexed annuity products to the mix, including Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Wells Fargo Advisors, to offer their investors a guaranteed minimum return in this tumultuous market.

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