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Comparison with Competing Products
| VIRA | SPIA | Retirement Income Fund | Managed Payout Fund | |
| Product Type | SMA/open-end fund | Insurance | Fund of Funds | Fund of Funds |
| Investment style | Equity-tilted | Fixed income securities-based | Fixed income securities-tilted | Balanced |
| Lifetime income guarantee | Minimum lifetime income guaranteed conditional on the insurer’s financial stability and coverage of the guarantee fund of the annuitant’s state | Guaranteed conditional on the insurer’s financial stability and coverage of the guarantee fund of the annuitant’s state | No | No |
| Tail risk hedging | Yes | N/A | No | No |
| Capital appreciation potential | Yes | None or limited | Limited | Yes |
| LTC and critical illness protection | Multiple financial hardship protection measures are built-in | No* | No | No |
| Payout rate | Fixed and COLA; VIRA holders themselves set and change the payout rate | Fixed but not COLA unless a COLA rider is added at an extra cost; The annuity issuer sets an irreversible payout rate | Neither fixed nor COLA; The fund company sets the payout rate that varies over time | Neither fixed nor COLA; The fund company sets the payout rate that varies over time |
| Liquidity | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Ability to bequeath | Yes | No unless a death benefit rider is added at an extra cost | Yes | Yes |
| Fees and other expenses | Class A: No load, and an annual expense ratio of 0.35% for the Payout Account and 0.10% for the Reserve Account Class B: A front-end load of up to 3%, and an annual expense ratio of 0.25% for the Payout Account and 0.075% for the Reserve Account*** |
A sales commission of up to 3%, and annual administrative and other fees of 0.50 to 1.2%** | A front-end load of up to 5.09% or a deferred load of up to 1.48% for load funds, and an average annual expense ratio of 0.47% | A front-end load of up to 5.22% or a deferred load of up to 1.60% for load funds, and an average annual expense ratio of 0.82% |
| AUM | N/A | $2.7 tril. | $757 bil. | $6 bil. |
| Number of annuity companies/funds | 1 | 5,200 | 270 | 28 |
*Some annuities offer an LTC insurance rider.
**Some investment companies, such as Ameritas Life, Fidelity, Schwab, T. Rowe Price, TIAA-CREF, and Vanguard sell direct-sold annuities with no sales commissions and no surrender fee. See www.annuity.org/annuities/fees-and-commissions/
*** Subject to change