SALES BULLETIN Marketing News for Centaurus Representatives
August 2023: Featured Exhibitor | Athene
Athene focuses on retirement savings solutions and has deep expertise in the long-term management of retirement benefits. Our management team leverages 165+ years of combined experience to create opportunities in today’s evolving retirement marketplace for the growing number of individuals nearing retirement.
Product Leaders
Variable Annuities
• Jackson Perspective II
• Athene Amplify 2.0
• Allianz Index Advantage
• Lincoln Level Advantage
• AXA Structured Capital Strategies Plus
Fixed & Indexed Annuities
• Allianz Benefit Control
• Nationwide New Heights
• Athene BCA
• Sammons LiveWell
• Midland National RetireVantage
Mutual Funds
• Vanguard Money Market
• AMF Growth Fund
• Franklin Income
• Sammons Livewell Mutual Fund
• AMF Money Market
Variable Life
• Equitable COIL
• Prudential VUL
• Lincoln Life Asset Edge VUL
• Pacific Life Select
• Minnesota Life Premier VUL
Fixed & Indexed Life
• Allianz Life Pro Plus
• Pacific Discovery Xelerator IUL
• Securian SecureCare
• Pacific Life Xelerator
• MN Strategic Accelerator
NEWS FROM: INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES
Athene: A Safer Course in Choppy Markets
Market downturns may have caused some clients to begin reaching out with concerns about how market volatility could impact their retirement nest eggs. Now may be an appropriate time to educate your clients about fixed indexed annuities and how they can be part of a retirement strategy that offers both growth potential and protection of principal from market loss.
Athene: Best Annuities
for 2023
2022 saw an increase in the sale of annuities due to volatility in the equities markets and increasing interest rates. According to the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association, in 2022 total U.S. annuity sales hit $310.6 billion, a 23% increase over 2021 and 15% higher than the sales record set in 2008.
Prudential: Gen X: Retirement Revised
America’s 65 million Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1980) are confronting a new set of financial challenges that are redefining their plans for retirement just as they enter their final working years, according to Prudential Financial, Inc.’s latest Pulse research survey, “Gen X: Retirement Revised.”
Nationwide: Charting a Second-Half Course
The second quarter of 2023 was just as bewildering as the first for those market participants skeptical about economic data and the markets. Risk assets continued to soar, particularly in the technology, consumer discretionary and communications sectors, outperforming the S&P 500® Index by a respectable margin. Additionally, the yield on the 10- year Treasury rose by approximately 53 basis points from a low of 3.3% on April 6th to 3.8% at the end of Q2.
Allianz: Silver Lining: How a Recession May Help Economies and Investors Reset
The short-term data may look relatively benign, but recession is potentially a very real prospect in the U.S. and European economies over the coming months. Is that bad news for investors? While any downturn may create challenges in the short term, it may be a necessary way to tame persistent inflation – and offer potential new entry points for investors.
Pacific Life: Entrepreneurs Are Driving Employment
Small businesses and entrepreneurs have helped keep the U.S. labor market strong since the pandemic. Who will be impacted now that the fuel driving employment growth during the past few years is drying up? We can credit entrepreneurial spirit for giving a boost to employment.
Midland National: EasySolve Provides Fast Life Insurance Illustrations
“EasySolve allows agents to offer their qualifying clients a quick product comparison and a streamlined process for getting life insurance protection,” says Bobby Johnson, VP and Chief Distribution Officer at Midland National.
Jackson: Enhancing Its Registered Index-Linked Annuity Suite
“Registered index-linked annuities are attractive investment strategies that provide flexibility, growth opportunities and partial downside protection during times of market volatility,” said Alison Reed, Chief Operating Officer of Jackson National Life Distributors LLC, the marketing and distribution business of Jackson. “Jackson is committed to enhancing our suite of products.”
Nationwide: Rethinking Insurance as Recession Fears Persist
A new Agency Forward survey from Nationwide shows small and middle market business owners are increasingly worried about U.S. economic conditions. Two-thirds expect a recession in the next six months, and 72% say it will be the same or even worse than the Great Recession of 2007-2009.
Capital Group: 10 Book Ideas
Having received numerous requests to publish a list of favorite books selected by its investment professionals, Capital Group has complied. Here are 10 titles borrowed directly from the bookshelves of Capital Group’s portfolio managers, analysts and economists.
Franklin Templeton: Materials as a Building Block of Mexico’s Market Resilience
Mexico’s domestic stock market has been performing well. Year-to-date, the FTSE Mexico Index is up more than 27%, outperforming the S&P 500 Index’s gain of about 12.5%. The post-pandemic alternative supply chain narrative that led to the “nearshoring” trend – moving production closer to home to minimize supply chain disruption – has dominated headlines, but what leading sectors are worth examining in this resilient market?
Invesco: Inflation Remains High Enough to Keep the Fed on Guard
Invesco Fixed Income experts expected U.S. inflation to rise temporarily in the first half of the year. This was partly due to a resilient U.S. economy that has been able to maintain steady spending power. But they expected most of the impetus to come from remaining economic imbalances, originally triggered by the pandemic. The pandemic may be over, but the aftershocks it created are still with us and have caused persistent inflation. Invesco’s experts believe the factors driving recent higher inflation reports are now receding, and they expect disinflation to resume this summer.
NEWS FROM: ADVISORY
CLASSIC Plus FlexUMA
Product Leaders
Advisory
• Centaurus CLASSIC Plus
• SEI
• Orion
• The Pacific Financial Group
• Strategic Equity Management
CLASSIC Plus FlexUMA is a Unified Managed Account (UMA) solution that provides a powerful and integrated investment platform for IARs to grow their business and provide robust advisory solutions to clients. FlexUMA features ETF Select and UMA/Multi-Manager portfolio models that can be utilized individually or blended together for custom allocations. FlexUMA is available on the Charles Schwab & Co. platform.
ETF Select
ETF Select is a low-cost turnkey solution for smaller and price-sensitive clients that provides a selection of managed, risk-based portfolios from leading ETF strategists BlackRock, Morningstar and Vanguard.
UMA/Multi-Manager
UMA/Multi-Manager provides a selection of single- and multi-manager models from industry-leading and boutique managers under one platform. It also provides access to a vast array of models such as stop-loss strategies, sector rotation, tax-free income, inflation protection, global markets, institutional investing, hard assets, alternatives and many more.
CLASSIC Plus Morningstar Managed Portfolios
Morningstar® Managed PortfoliosSM provide IARs with the ability to open actively managed ETF and Select Equity Portfolios within a Pershing advisory account on the CLASSIC Plus platform. The Morningstar ETF Portfolios consist of core models from conservative to aggressive growth that are actively managed to create diversified, low-cost and tax-efficient portfolios for your clients. The Select Equity Portfolios provide a series of model and customizable portfolios spanning the stock market that combine the professional management of Morningstar with the advantages of having a separately managed account.
SEI: Elevate The Client Experience With A Focus On Values
It’s not a portfolio anymore. It’s a legacy. Amid a generational change, advisors face unprecedented challenges in attracting and retaining clients. Many clients are re-evaluating what’s important to them and what they want to achieve with their wealth. These values-driven investors are focused on supporting businesses and organizations that share their personal values. How can you incorporate values in your approach to elevate your client experience?
SEM: Crossroads
August and September tend to be the worst months on the calendar. One thing Jeff Hybiak of SEM points out nearly every time he discusses the markets is that his opinions about what may happen do not impact the way SEM invests. The euphoric sentiment has certainly shifted the last several weeks with the market actually going down. What has caused the short-term uptrend to be broken? The culprit is inflation, what it means for Fed policies as well as the heavily indebted companies (and the U.S. government) in terms of paying back the debt coming due.
ACM:
Graying America, Aging World
The demographic bombshells keep dropping. The U.S. Census Bureau released in June its latest status report on the country’s population. While an aging population is a well-understood phenomenon, the eye-popping statistic is that the median age in the country has jumped to a record high 38.9 years. The country’s aging process is happening fast. In 1980, the median age was 30. Twenty years later it was 35. At this rate, in just a few years, the median age in the U.S. will top 40. Fewer workers supporting ever more retirees is a bad combination.
Orion: Use CRM Data to Spark New Engagement Strategies
Do you know why most investors fire their advisors? According to a Morningstar survey, poor performance is not the top reason. Instead, it’s personal. Thirty-two percent of respondents cited sub-par financial advice and services as a reason to leave, while 21% pointed to the quality of the advisor-client relationship. If the top drivers of client retention are related to your relationship-building skills, investing in tools that help you strengthen ties is a wise strategic move. Enter client relationship management, or CRM, technology. A CRM can help you provide clients with the kind of personalized, meaningful advice and connection they seek. Here’s a look at some interesting things happening beneath the surface.
Dunham: Protecting Inheritance From a Child’s Divorce
Our responsibilities in estate planning extend beyond merely allocating assets to loved ones. We also need to discuss safeguarding the legacies your clients painstakingly built, ensuring they stay within the family. Safeguarding these assets is especially crucial when there is uncertainty or discomfort regarding the person a child married.
Q3 Asset Management: Q2 2023 Market Commentary
The story over the last three months in the market was one that centered around large growth stocks –especially in the technology sector. Names like Tesla, Facebook and Nvidia all posted sizable gains for the quarter. Since these companies already made up an outsized portion of indexes like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ, they were instrumental in propelling those benchmarks to further heights.
Assetmark: On The Mark
As students head back to school and get ready for another year of learning, we question whether we should learn from history and whether it’s time to go back to the 60/40 portfolio for future goals. We have been here before. Just as the equity market sees cycles of being in and out of favor, there are plentiful articles about the death and rebirth of the 60/40 portfolio. This is a portfolio comprising 60% equities and 40% bonds, which has generally stood the test of time and become the defacto portfolio for many.
Sierra Mutual Funds: Proceed With Caution
When the renowned investor Sir John Templeton famously said, “The four most dangerous words in investing are ‘this time it’s different,’ ” he offered a cautionary reminder to investors. This phrase warns against the belief that current market dynamics are unique and will lead to outcomes significantly deviating from historical patterns. Despite this sage warning, market participants are often prone to embracing narratives that defy the patterns of history.
NEWS FROM: TECHNOLOGY
Product Leaders
Technology
• Redtail
• RightCapital
• Albridge
• SmartOffice
• Pontera
Redtail: Work Smarter With Redtail CRM
Whether you are looking to strengthen your client relationships, improve your team’s collaboration efforts and overall efficiency, increase your revenues and profitability, decrease client attrition, or engage in any number of other business-building activities, Redtail CRM offers tools to assist in your efforts.
RightCapital: Insights From the 2023 Kitces Report
With its unrivaled knowledge of the financial planning technology and Ph.D.- grade survey methodology, the Kitces team has once again delivered fresh, insightful advisor tech benchmarks in the new August 2023 study, “The Technology That Independent Financial Advisors Actually Use And Like.” If you’re a financial advisor looking to refresh your outdated tech stack, this report is a must-read.
SmartOffice: Success Stories
Matt Schiff knows SmartOffice inside and out. As a direct competitor of the tool for five years and then a user of it for almost 20 years, the founder and president of Schiff Benefits Group knows and appreciates SmartOffice’s capabilities. SmartOffice sat down with Matt to discuss how SmartOffice has served him during his financial services career.
CENTAURUS WORKSHOPS & CONFERENCES
WEALTH MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
Coeur d’Alene Resort
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
October 4-6, 2023
LEADERS CONFERENCE
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
Kauai, Hawaii
January 7-12, 2024 (13 for Club 16)
EDUCATIONAL WEBINARS
*Live Webinar* YourFamily Bank: Virtual Boot Camp
Date: Wednesday, September 13th & Thursday, September 14th
Where: Online
Register to learn:
• How to show individuals, families and businesses a way to redirect their current cash flow to pay off all their debts in 9 years or less, save thousands of dollars in interest, reduce taxes and save for retirement at the same time by utilizing the power and flexibility of Whole Life.
• Sales process training utilizing Your Family Bank’s 7 Steps Sales presentation. This simple, story-based presentation simplifies the sales process; introduces the client to Mark and Joyce, real clients who were able to pay off all their debt, including their mortgage, in under 8 years, as opposed to the typical 30, and potentially created over $1 million for retirement through YFB; and gives the client motivation to want to make a decision.
• Click here to learn why Stuart Spivak, Top Producer, encourages using YFB
*Live Webinar* Redtail: Reevalutating your Tech Stack
Date: Tuesday, September 12, 2023, 10 a.m. PDT
Join this webinar to learn:
• The easy, six-step process for auditing your firm’s tech stack
• Why you need to do this for your practice
*Live Webinar* FlexiblePlan: How to Manage Workplace Retirement Accounts Now Before They Roll Over
Date: Tuesday, September 7, 2023, 1 p.m. PDT
Join this webinar to learn:
• How to introduce this service to new and existing clients
• How easy it is to use SDBAs to add dynamic risk-managed strategies
*On Demand* AnnuityRate Watch: Tool to Analyze
Watch this recording to learn:
• How this software can help bring you up to speed in the annuity business
• How to fully utilize AnnuityRateWatch with Andy Legan
*On Demand* Equitable: Making a Quantum Leap using ALP Watch this recording to learn:
• How you can add an additional source of income to your practice
• How to position the concept in order to generate more assets under management
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
*Product Highlight* Athene – Ascent Pro
It’s the perfect time to consider an Athene Ascent Pro fixed indexed annuity. As you save for retirement, your annuity helps in two important ways. When the market is expanding, you can accumulate money tax-deferred. If there’s a downturn, you’re protected from market loss. When you’re ready to take income, the built-in Ascent Income Rider gives clients, for a charge, the ability to create a guaranteed “paycheck” to carry them through their retirement years. Click here for more details.
*Product Highlight* North American – PrimePath Pro 10
The PrimePath Pro 10 annuity is a flexible premium, fixed index annuity that offers growth potential for retirement assets while providing protection from market downturns, as well as flexible options for taking lifetime income. Click here for more details.
*Product Highlight* Allianz – Benefit Control
Want greater access, more control and the possibility of income increases? Allianz Benefit Control® gives you immediate access, two ways to get a bonus and more control over how you pursue your retirement goals. Plus, clients’ income payments could go up, based on the performance of their chosen index(es). Click here for more details.
*Product Highlight* Nationwide – New Heights
Longer life expectancies. Shifting responsibilities. Common concerns. Nationwide New Heights Select 9 can help clients with all of these. It’s a single-purchase-payment, deferred fixed indexed annuity designed to provide growth potential for your retirement savings while also helping to protect them against market losses. Click here for more details.
*Product Highlight* Athene – BCA
You can overcome the challenges of traditional retirement savings solutions. You can shield the money clients have worked so hard for without settling for historically low interest rates. Clients can benefit from the upside potential of the markets without worrying about stock market downturns. Select one of Athene’s options to explore the BCA® 2.0 and Athene® Velocity opportunities. Click here for more details.