Symetra Life Insurance is planning to expand its annuities portfolio and develop new registered products.

As part of expansion, Symetra has hired Kevin Knull as senior vice president, registered investments.

In this role, Knull will lead the creation of Symetra’s registered annuity business, with an initial focus on lower-cost variable annuities that do not offer living benefit guarantees.

He will report to Dan Guilbert, executive vice president of Symetra’s retirement division.

Most recently, Knull was CEO of The Knull Group, a consulting firm focused on product and sales strategies for investment and insurance companies, and spent nine years at The Hartford Financial Services Group in a variety of sales leadership positions.

Guilbert said Kevin has deep knowledge of variable annuity products, and he knows what it takes to be successful with registered representatives and fee-based investment advisors.

"With his understanding of distributor processes, we can build products that help solve challenges for advisors and their clients," Guilbert said.