Stewart aiming to launch NZIG in October

Stewart stresses NZ Income Guarantee not an annuity product, however it does provide people with a guaranteed income in retirement.

He says someone who puts $100,000 into the product is essentially topping up their state pension, NZ Super, by 25%.

“Traditional annuities are no longer relevant for investors and providers,” he says. “They require investors to surrender their capital, receive fixed interest returns, pay relatively high fees, suffer tax imposts and in most cases have no future liquidity. For providers the capital requirements are high and the margins low.”

“Lifetime Income products are completely different always leaving the capital under the ownership of the investor, earning returns based on the performance of an underlying portfolio of balanced passive funds, offering liquidity for the investor or the estate at any times and paying regular income for life free of tax.”