Product & Service Launches

Jiko, BlackRock Introduce Direct T-Bill Ownership

Jiko, a San Francisco-based national bank, partnered with BlackRock Cachematrix, a cash management portal, to offer a liquid U.S. Treasury bill investment vehicle.

BlackRock Cachematrix users will have the ability to access direct U.S. Treasury bill ownership through the Jiko platform.

Jiko will be among several products available within Cachematrix’s marketplace to meet client demand for low-risk, short-term investments.

Jackson Launches Suite of Fixed Index Annuities

Jackson National Life Insurance Co., an operating subsidiary of Jackson Financial Inc., has launched Jackson Fixed Index Accumulation and Jackson Fixed Index Accumulation Advisory.

Jackson Fixed Index Accumulation is commission-based and Jackson Fixed Index Accumulation Advisory is fee-based, and each offers five- and seven-year options. Additionally, Jackson has introduced Jackson Protection Advantage, a 10-year contract offered directly to independent agents.

The suite also offers guaranteed cap and guaranteed performance trigger crediting methods. The Jackson Fixed Index Accumulation Suite offers higher caps/rates on larger premium amounts, and there is also no limit on the frequency of withdrawals that can be made utilizing these waivers and no cap on the amount of money that can be withdrawn.

The embedded guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit ensures that the contract value will not be less than 100% of the premiums paid, adjusted for withdrawals, at the end of the withdrawal charge/market value adjustment period.

National Life Group Updates Annuity Portfolio

National Life Group updated its annuity portfolio to include new index choices for crediting options, rate lock index crediting options, expanded income features and waiver riders, which can provide greater access to funds following qualifying health events.

The three new indexes for crediting options and two rate lock index crediting options across National Life Group’s annuity portfolio include the Bloomberg Mavin 10 Index, the Nasdaq-100 Chronos 10% Index and the S&P 500 10% Intraday Edge Growth TCA Index.

Two new S&P 500 crediting options include the 1-Year Cap Rate Lock and the 1-Year Performance Trigger Rate Lock. Both allow the applicable rate to be locked for the length of the product’s surrender period. Cap Rate Lock is available with the S&P 500 1-year point-to-point index crediting option.

The updated benefit can continue until the policy accumulation value reaches zero, subject to eligibility requirements and potential annual recertification after five years. Once the accumulation value reaches zero, payments return to the original lifetime income amount.

Healthspan Wealth Launches Early Access to Platform for Advisers

Healthspan Wealth opened early access to an advisory platform designed to follow compliance while moving sensitive medical and financial information among advisers, families and care teams.

The platform can automatically redact and replace protected health information and personally identifiable information and uses multi-agent architecture to transfer information between parts of the platform. Its capabilities include guidance of participants through next steps, visual mapping of households, dependents, healthcare proxies and professional team members and recommendations for decisionmaking.