US-based MetLife has introduced new Retirement Income Insurance longevity annuity contract (QLAC), a deferred income annuity product designed specifically for the institutional market.
Available for qualified defined contribution (DC) retirement plans, the participants can allocate a portion of their DC plan balance to the new insurance product.
MetLife institutional retirement group corporate benefit funding, institutional income annuities vice-president Roberta Rafaloff said: "Like all deferred income annuities, our new Retirement Income Insurance QLAC is designed to provide income for the latter part of retirement and creates a guaranteed income stream when other retirement income sources are most likely to run short.
"As the leading provider of institutional income annuities and first company to introduce longevity insurance into the marketplace in 2004, MetLife has been focused on solutions to address longevity risk for a long time."
The payment options of the new product include both lifelong income for one and lifelong income for two.
Lifelong income for one is said to guarantee the participant to receive fixed payments as long as the individual lives, while lifelong income for two guarantees the participant and spouse to receive fixed payments as long as at least one of them lives.
In addition, the new product includes an optional inflation protection feature that will increase participant’s income payments each year.
MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, offers life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management.
Image: MetLife’s new Retirement Income Insurance QLAC is available for qualified DC retirement plans. Photo: courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.