Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. has enhanced the guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit, or GMAB, on its Transition Select variable annuities by offering customers the chance to lock in accumulated growth in their contract values.
The Springfield, Mass., insurer said Wednesday that the GMAB rider allows a new annuity purchaser to select 10-year or 20-year guarantees.
The 10-year option lets investors protect their purchase payments made in the contract's first two years. After the 10th contract year, the annuity's value will be the GMAB value, based on the first two year's payments, or the contract value, whichever is greater.
The 10-year GMAB also offers a reset option that gives investors the chance to reselect the GMAB at the contract's second anniversary, thus locking in any accumulated growth (adjusted for withdrawals and assuming the GMAB is not terminated by MassMutual).
The 20-year GMAB (26 years in New York) promises at expiration to double the value of purchase payments made in the first two contract years (adjusted for withdrawals and assuming the GMAB has not been terminated). It has no reset option.
