You are here: cherry > Press releases for June 2010 > Hands across the ocean - Rockingham Retirement teams up with US life giant MetLife to add Guaranteed Investment Bond to client-friendly RITA portfolio

11 June 2010

Benefits include 100% Capital Guarantee, Guaranteed Withdrawals for Term of Bond and Guaranteed Death Benefit Available for any fund size with minimum investment of just £10,000 Inflation-beating retirement income solution ROCKINGHAM Retirement has joined forces with MetLife Europe Limited, a subsidiary of MetLife Inc, the largest life insurer in the US, to add a third investment product to its innovative Retirement Income Triple Investment Account (RITA). The MetLife Guaranteed Investment Bond (GIB) offers clients the option to invest in a guaranteed product with a minimum investment of £10,000 and a maximum premium of £1.5 million, giving them a high degree of flexibility and control over their money. “The MetLife GIB offers the valuable benefits of 100% capital guarantee, guaranteed withdrawals for the term of the bond and guaranteed death benefit – it does precisely what it says on the tin,” said Rockingham Retirement’s Director of Corporate Communications Laura Goodman. “And because we provide a free SIPP* to all our RITA customers, this makes it an ideal wrapper for the GIB that will fulfil many of our clients’ wishes for an affordable, transparent and trustworthy product.” This investment offers total security and will harness the benefit of any future upturn with investment lock-ins annually (up to 10%) or every two and a half years (unlimited). If the fund doubles in five years’ time clients’ investments also double and are then locked-in at that amount with a guarantee that they will never go down, if using the unlimited lock-in feature, regardless of any future recession. “Retirees want the reassurance that they will be able to maintain a good standard of living during their retirement,” said Goodman. “Now that people are generally living longer** they could potentially be spending a quarter of their lives in retirement so it’s essential that they are able to derive the most suitable income opportunities from their hard earned pension pots.” RITA is the outcome of three years of painstaking research and development by Rockingham Retirement. “We set out to design the perfect retirement income product by considering what the main problems with annuities and conventional drawdown were and how these issues could be addressed,” said Goodman. “The two principal criticisms of annuities are firstly, losing the fund it has taken your whole life to save up for upon your death and secondly, the potential impact of inflation.” According to the Government Actuary, a man retiring at 60 today, even with inflation at three per cent, would lose almost half his income in real terms by the time he died at age 81***; and if he lived to age 95 at 5% inflation, a £1,000 pa annuity would have reduced to just £181 per annum. As many are predicting that the only global solution to the global debt problem is a period of controlled inflation****, this is clearly a crucial concern. Another major advantage offered by RITA is that when the investor dies, the fund does not die with them. “It is customary that when you purchase an annuity, the fund that was originally invested dies with you: in other words, your annuity provider “inherits” your fund and everything you have invested,” said Goodman. “RITA, on the other hand, allows each individual to nominate anyone at all to receive their fund, less tax, if they die before the age of 75 or, if they die after 75, it will pass to their spouse. A much fairer arrangement that allows peace of mind for all concerned.” Rockingham Retirement recommends that any purchase of the RITA product be taken on a full advisory basis, which is provided free of charge*****. – Ends –

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