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kasina Study Recognizes Top Variable Annuity Web Sites

by Eric Daugherty

In September, kasina released "2009 Top 5 Web Sites for Financial Advisors: Variable Annuities". In the study, we sought to identify the top firms that most effectively leverage the Web to promote and establish their variable annuity presences.

During this Variable Annuity study we learned a lot about which firms are differentiating their products and their websites. The top five firms are: AXA Distributors, SunAmerica, Lincoln Financial, John Hancock, and Pacific Life.

Top site features are diverse and include microsites, product filtering systems, automated forms, calculators, marketing materials and support, advisor sales support, application wizards, and comprehensive market commentaries. The image below shows AXA's product performance graphing function, which gives advisors the opportunity to analyze trends and compare subaccounts.

The last eighteen months have been tough on the variable annuity (VA) business. Consider:

• There are nearly 1500 unique products competing for assets
• Total VA assets declined 24% from 2007 to 2008
• Sales of variable annuities dropped 15% from 2007 to 2008, with Q1 2009 exhibiting another 27% decline year-over-year

With those challenges behind them, we anticipate that annuity providers will continue to innovate, using both their products and their websites. Investors' appetites for products that provide some downside protection or assurance of retirement income are on the rise. Consequently, annuities, and the websites that support them, will be vitally important going forward.