New approaches: life insurers wrestle with distribution issues every day. Some have taken special steps to promote better education about retirement income.

Axa-Wharton Alliance

Axa Equitable has a captive sales force of about 6,000 and has joined forces with the Wharton School of Business to launch its "At Retirement Initiative," which provides adviser training on boomer needs. The program shows how to help clients to see their whole picture, including lifestyle decisions, said Bill Degnan, senior vice president and head of the initiative.

The first group of 50 Axa Equitable agents took the five-day, five-night course at the Wharton School in January. "Our associates came back saying this was the best program they've ever had," said Degnan. "Many are making substantial changes in their business models based on what they learned."

The company developed the program to help differentiate its sales force. "Our competitors invest in things like advertising and Web page design," he said. "We thought we'd invest in our advisers."

The course work at Wharton includes portfolio-management issues and "a lot of work on behavioral and psychological issues around boomers," Degnan said. "The key to this marketplace is bringing education to the client in a simple way," he said. "There are a series of decisions clients need to make, some irrevocable, all linked, all of which will have an impact. Then we develop a road map to help them through this. If all of the decisions are made in tandem, you get a good outcome. The products and portfolio support the lifestyle they've chosen."

Jackson National and BrainShark

Jackson National Life Insurance Co., which has no career agents, trains and motivates its distributors by consulting with them on the design and inner workings of products. In 2004, 88% of retail premiums came from products the company developed in the prior two years. The figure was 70% in 2005. Competitors' averages are in the 20% to 25% range, said Steve Kluever, senior vice president of product management.

In addition to finding out what producers want in products, the key to Jackson's strategy is to unbundle product pieces so distributors and clients can decide what pieces they want. It uses a technology called BrainShark that "brings to life" marketing and educational materials for distributors, said David Sprague, senior vice president in marketing strategies. Distributors can interactively click on illustrations to see how a product was constructed, learn about the assumptions and background behind it, and understand the product better than those of other companies, he said.

To interact in person with distributors, Jackson National fields 147 external wholesalers. Some 107 internal wholesalers serve as a support team from the home office.

As a result of the constant interaction, Jackson believes its distributors avoid selling the same products year after year. "A lot of reps that are successful today are realizing that if you're still on a plow horse, you're not going to win the race," Sprague said.

New York Life's Training Triad

Sales of New York Life Insurance Co.'s LifeStages Lifetime Income Annuity grew 154% in 2004 to $292 million and another 45% last year. Mark Pfaff, senior vice president of the Agency Department, said growth continues this year at the 2005 pace. The company in October announced a new Changing Needs Option to give annuitants the ability to personalize their income stream due to changes in their lives.

Pfaff said New York Life is devoting special attention to retirement income and wants to become the top provider in the industry. This year, it offers to its 10,000 career agents a three- to four-day "Leaders for Life" training session at agents' expense. Each session accommodates 100 agents. The company had planned three for this year, but needs a fourth due to demand.

Regular training at 120 or so general offices throughout the country is conducted by fulltime office managers. Wholesalers also contribute. Pfaff said the company considers retirement planning to be a multiproduct market in three major categories: longevity (annuities), transfer of wealth (insurance) and quality of life (long-term-care insurance).

Agents can access training online at any time through Agency Portal, which provides product information and videos of top consultants and agents. The company also is adding retirement-income questions to its Fact Finder program, which agents use to collect information about clients, Pfaff said.