John Hancock introduced an enhanced fixed annuity, Guaranteed Principal Annuity Plus, on Tuesday to help customers maximize and protect earnings to meet their retirement or other long-term financial needs.
Customers now can increase what they earn in the first year with bonus interest rates. The rate bonus, ranging from one to three percentage points, is based on the size of the premium. The product is to be offered by banks, other financial institutions, John Hancock Financial Network, and broker-dealers.
Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corp., a Toronto financial services company. Bill Burrow, Hancock's senior vice president of fixed annuity distribution, said the enhanced product would let the company capitalize on the distribution synergies created when Manulife bought the Boston insurance company last year.
The product will build on Hancock's success in distributing fixed annuities through the bank channel, he said, and Manulife's distribution through broker-dealers.
