In a note to financial advisers, OMI said the firm’s Managed Savings Account (MSA) and Managed Pension Account (MPA) will be closing to new business as of January 2017 following a drop in demand for contractual regular premium products.
“The market is moving towards more flexible solutions that more closely match the needs of today’s customers whose career and savings patterns are typically less predictable,” it said.
The company will continue to offer its Managed Capital Account which is a regular premium alternative with the flexibility to stop, start and change regular premium levels.
The MSA and MPA were sold in the Middle East, Europe and Latin America – they will be closing in all markets, and the Managed Capital Account will be the replacement solution.
Existing clients unaffected
IFA’s were advised to make sure all new applications for the plans are submitted by the end of business on Thursday, 29 December 2016. New business applications already in the pipeline need to be finalised by Tuesday, 31 January 2017.
The decision does not affect existing customers who can continue to pay their premiums and will still be able to top up their policies and change premiums in line with their existing terms of business.
“We will also continue to honour our commitment to product features such as payment holidays, penalty-free withdrawals and the 10-year extension option at the end of the policy term,” OMI said in a statement.
Market evolving
In a note to financial advisers, OMI’s regional director for the Middle East & Africa, Brendan Dolan, said the company was seeing the market move away from the discipline of contractual regular premium products, towards solutions that more closely match the needs of today’s customers, whose careers and savings patterns are typically less predictable.
“For such clients, our Managed Capital Account offers an ideal regular premium alternative, with the flexibility to stop, start and change premium levels, together with a simpler charging structure,” he said.
