ING Group NV's U.S.-based fixed annuities business said Wednesday that it had expanded and refined its national distribution strategy.
The Atlanta unit of the Dutch insurer said it had expanded its regional structure, added two regional vice presidents, and created a national accounts function.
The expanded distribution structure establishes five regions, each led by a regional vice president who is to work with all ING Fixed Annuities distribution partners, from high-volume national marketing organizations to moderate- or limited-volume partners in the regions. To further focus resources, each regional vice president is to get an internal wholesaler assigned to support the region's marketing partners, distributors, and annuity clients.
ING Fixed Annuities' sales have grown steadily since the company introduced its Secure Index Family of fixed-index annuity products last October, according to Chad Tope, a senior vice president quoted in a press release, and the new structure will also increase sales.
The company said it hired two veteran annuity wholesalers, Nick Bond of Ann Arbor Annuity Exchange and Dennis Higgins from Old Mutual, to be regional vice presidents for the Southeast and Northeast, respectively. The other regional vice presidents are Todd Kloewer in the north-central region, Charlie Gipple in the West, and Stan Schroeder in the south-central states.
