Provider Overview: Lincoln Annuities

The Lincoln Financial Group was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1905. The company's original founders wanted to establish an insurance company that customers could rely on - one that was dependable and honest. They, therefore, chose Abraham Lincoln to represent the founding ideas of the new company.

The original corporation was called the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. Through the years, it has grown into one that serves the financial needs of customers throughout the US and the UK. Today, Lincoln Financial Group has $171 billion in assets under its management and is headquarter in Philadelphia. It was ranked 274 on the 2009 Fortune 500 Company list.

Lincoln Financial Group is a diversified financial services company whose main goal is to provide financial solutions that help their customers secure their retirement and manage their life finances. In addition to annuities, the company offers life insurance and long-term care protection, individual and group retirement plans, mutual funds, and investment management. The company is known for its innovation in life insurance and annuity products.

Lincoln has tried to live up to its name in terms of its commitment to the community as well as its business practices. In 1962, the Lincoln Financial Foundation was established. Currently, Lincoln uses 2% of its pre-tax earnings to support charities in the communities where it does business. As an example of the company's commitment to the community, in 2007, the foundation donated more than $12 million to charities in the US and the UK.
In terms of annuities, Lincoln offers fixed annuities, fixed indexed annuities, immediate annuities, and variable annuity products which have multiple options depending on which suite is selected. In 2008, Lincoln was ranked number seven in terms of total variable annuity sales and number twelve for fixed annuity sales.
The individual annuity products are listed below:

Fixed Annuity:
• Lincoln Classic

Fixed Indexed Annuities:
• LincolnOptiChoice
• Lincoln OptiPoint
• Lincoln New Directions

Immediate Annuities:
• Lincoln Insured Income
• Lincoln SmartIncome

Variable Annuities:
• American Legacy Suite
• Lincoln ChoicePlus Assurance Suite
• Multi-Fund Suite

Lincoln's annuity products can also have optional death benefits if this is required by the purchaser.

Lincoln's fees and charges vary for each of the annuity products. Charges can include an administration and maintenance fee, a contingent deferred sales charge, a mortality and expense risk charge, a premium tax, a short-term trading fees, and an underlying mutual fund expenses charge. It is best to understand the entire fee and charge information before an annuity is purchased.

If an investor is considering purchasing a Lincoln annuity, it is also important to understand the financial strength of the company. The top rating agencies have given Lincoln ratings toward the higher end of the scales. For example, Standard & Poors has rated the company AA-. This is the 4th highest category of 21. A.M. Best has rated Lincoln as A+ which is the 2nd highest category of 16. Finally, Fitch has rated the company as A+ which is the 5th highest rating of 21.