Nationwide Creates Team to Support Fee-Based Advisers

The Institutional Consultant team, led by Karen Heath-Wade, vice president of sales and retention for Nationwide Financial, has seven members who average 16 years of industry experience each and share a deep understanding of the unique needs of fee-based managed account advisers. The team members will provide personalized service and support to make it easier for fee-based advisers to help clients grow and manage their retirement income.

The company said it has multiple retirement income solutions that were specifically designed to meet the needs of fee-based managed account advisers and their clients, including:

• Nationwide Income Architect and Nationwide Portfolio Innovator: a no-load variable annuity and hybrid annuity, respectively, offered in connection with Envestnet (see “Envestnet, Nationwide Team to Offer Retirement Income Solutions”)
• Select Retirement: a hybrid annuity offered in partnership with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
• IncomeInsight: a retirement income strategy (see “Nationwide IncomeInsight Workbook Goes Online”)
• America’s marketFLEX Advisor Annuity: a no-load variable annuity that offers underlying investment options in alternative asset classes.
• The Best of America Advisor Variable Annuity: a variable annuity that includes a broad selection of underlying investment options from some of the leading money managers in the world.

In addition to those products and solutions, Nationwide also said it plans to roll out a new Web site in 2010 that will serve as a resource specifically for fee-based advisers.

“We’re committed to providing customized solutions to help advisers address the retirement income challenges their clients face, and felt it necessary to create a sales team that could provide the products and support fee-based advisers are looking for in today’s marketplace,” said John Carter, president of Nationwide Financial Distributors, Inc.