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It is genrally not a good idea for an independent financial adviser to endorse specific companies or products by name and this article is not intentionally written as an endorsement. But when another industry magazine printed an article sub-titled “American Skandia’s Stroke of Genius” for viewing by financial professionals only, it seems apparent that the outstanding actions of this company deserve further comment in public media.
In short, variable annuities are insured stock accounts where a private insurance company guarantees that investors will not lose money. That guarantee can be expensive to insurance companies, especially when the stock market perfumes poorly as is has in the past few years.
Some variable annuity companies are facing significant losses from these guarantees, to the point of threatening the financial stability of some very popular names in the financial services industry. But one of the largest issuer’s of variable annuities, American Skandia, has been able to avoid this financial risk through the use of unique but fundamentally sound investment management and accounting. In other words, by setting up automated systems to automatically manage money more conservatively during periods of declining stock prices, American Skandia has significantly outmaneuvered the market and avoided risk for its investors.
American Skandia is one of the few investment companies that offers a no-load account without investment commissions through independent investment advisers. It own distribution costs are minimal because the company does not maintain an internal sales force, but relies instead on the recommendations of independent financial advisers.
Tony Novak is an independent writer and financial adviser in Narberth PA who provides OnlineAdviser services through MedSave.com and FreedomBenefits.org
