Transamerica announced that it will stop selling benefit riders for both fixed and variable annuities, InvestmentNews reported. Although Transamerica will not offer optional living or death benefit riders, the firm will continue to sell variable annuities. Transamerica sold close to $76 billion of variable annuities through the first three quarters of 2020.

This decision comes as interest rates have remained low for several years, which makes it difficult for insurers to provide guarantees. Transamerica is not the only firm to stop selling such riders. Prudential Financial also recently announced that it would stop selling variable annuities with guaranteed benefits.

In addition to this change regarding its annuity offerings, Transamerica also announced that it will no longer sell standalone long-term care insurance. Transamerica will have a dedicated team of employees managing the existing contracts for the closed lines of business. Additionally, the firm will be focusing its retirement plan business on small and medium sized plans.

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