According to Investment News, Guggenheim Partners LLC recently announced its purchase of Equitrust Life Insurance, a move that improves Guggenheim's market standing and ability to sell indexed annuity products.
Guggenheim bolstered its indexed annuities lineup, which already includes Security benefit Life Insurance, and is now the owner of a 4.16 percent share of the overall indexed annuities market, the source noted. Some experts explained that the move made sense for EquiTrust as well. Previously, EquiTrust had been aligned with FBL Financial Group, an insurance and financial services provider whose primary client base was stable and rural. With Guggenheim, EquiTrust moves towards a more competitive indexed annuity market.
For their part, officials at FBL said that the departure of EquiTrust allows FBL to focus its attention on a niche market, streamlining products to better serve its customer base.
Guggenheim reportedly purchased EquiTrust for $440 million, and the transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of 2011.
Despite recent volatility in the stock market, annuities sales have seen promising year-over-year gains in recent months, particularly in indexed annuities, which directly tie interest rates to the performance of a particular stock market index. Many Americans today are supplementing traditional pension and social security benefits with financial products like indexed annuities to ensure financial stability later in life.