Nationwide announced today that it has added the Morgan Stanley 3D Index option to its fixed indexed annuity (FIA) Nationwide Peak® to provide an additional option for clients that could result in higher growth while maintaining principal protection.

“Morgan Stanley’s unique index provides the opportunity for growth and when paired with the principal protection feature of Nationwide Peak, it provides risk-averse clients an attractive retirement planning solution,” said Eric Henderson, senior vice president of life insurance and annuities at Nationwide. “The structure of the index allows Nationwide to offer higher cap rates than those of other equity-based indexes. As a result, fixed income annuities linked to the index may grow more in positive years. In years when the market delivers negative returns, we will safeguard the principal and not return a loss.”

The Morgan Stanley 3D Index is a momentum-based index that rebalances every month among three widely known investments, with the aim of capturing the continued performance of asset classes that have exhibited recent strong returns. The rebalancing process provides the flexibility to adapt to a variety of market environments and reduce performance swings experienced by pure equity only indexes. Nationwide Peak is the only FIA to offer Morgan Stanley 3D as an index option.“We are excited to add this new index to the Nationwide Peak product and continue our tradition of innovation here at Nationwide,” Henderson said. “Morgan Stanley’s index design expertise combined with Nationwide’s industry-leading best practices and commitment to putting our members first makes for a great partnership.”

In addition to the Morgan Stanley 3D Index, Nationwide Peak offers access to crediting based on S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, J.P. Morgan Mozaic II® and a fixed account. Nationwide Peak also offers the Joint Option feature upon death for no additional cost. The Joint Option allows the annuity’s death benefit to be paid to either surviving spouse, no matter who passes away first or who owns the contract – even in an IRA.Visit www.nationwidefinancial.com/Peak or call 1-800-321-6064 for more information about Nationwide Peak.

For more information about the Morgan Stanley 3D Index, visit morganstanley.com/indices/ms3d/