The platform, which will continue through the duration of Nationwide’s partnership with the league, officially kicks off in September with appreciation games that will recognize each club’s community partner during a home match.

“All of our clubs are situated within passionate, tight-knit communities, and it’s important for our teams to give back to their cities and fanbases in meaningful ways,” said NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird. “We’re so excited to launch this incredible program and can’t thank Nationwide enough for helping us serve our communities. We hope that through this project our teams can continue to leave a positive impact on their communities in more ways than one.”

As part of the league-wide initiative, each team will partner with Nationwide to select one season-long community partner. Each community organization will receive a grant to support its program and serve as the focus of a team-led service project, with a designated player ambassador to champion the effort.

“Nationwide has a long history of aligning our values and our passion for community support to our sports partnerships. Creating this platform to showcase the great work being done in each of the NWSL club communities was a natural fit for us,” said Ramon Jones, Nationwide’s chief marketing officer. “We’re excited to see each team-community partnership come to life – especially with the support of the player ambassadors – and we look forward to presenting the first Nationwide Community Impact Award later this year.”

At the end of the season, one team-community partnership will be selected as the winner of the Nationwide Community Impact Award and their collective efforts will be honored during the 2021 NWSL Championship weekend in November. The winning community partner will receive a $20,000 donation from Nationwide to further the efforts of their program.

A full list of player ambassadors, community partners and appreciation nights can be found below.

About NWSL

The National Women’s Soccer League is a 12-team Division-I women’s professional soccer league featuring national team players from around the world. The clubs are the Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, North Carolina Courage, Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns FC, OL Reign, NJ/NY Gotham FC, Kansas City NWSL, Washington Spirit, and Racing Louisville FC, with two California-based teams, Angel City FC and San Diego, set to join for the 2022 season. Based in Chicago, the NWSL is partners with the Canadian Soccer Association and the United States Soccer Federation.

About Nationwide

Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

As the no. 1 insurer of farms and ranches in the U.S.¹, Nationwide established the Golden Owl Award to honor the contributions of teachers and support them with additional resources to assist their continued educational efforts.

The insurer recently recognized the exceptional efforts of 51 agricultural teachers across seven states as finalists for the 2020-2021 Golden Owl Award^®. In addition to the Ag Educator of the Year title, each grand prize award winner will receive $3,000 in funding to help bring new opportunities to their programs and students².

The 2020-21 Ag Educators of the Year are:

• California: Sandy Lovfald – Eureka High School, Eureka, CA

• Illinois: Sue Schafer – Taylorville High School, Taylorville, IL

• Indiana: Travis Scherer – Tri-County High School, Wolcott, IN

• Iowa: Dr. Michael Retallick – Iowa State University, Ames, IA

• New York: Elizabeth Foote – Greenwich Junior-Senior High School, Greenwich, NY

• Ohio: Don Hammersmith – Ayersville High School, Defiance, OH

• Pennsylvania: Sherisa Nailor – Big Spring High School, Newville, PA

“As a company with deep roots in agriculture, we recognize the essential role agricultural teachers play in their communities and for the future of the industry,” said Brad Liggett, president of Agribusiness at Nationwide. “We’re proud to work with our state partners to recognize these selfless public servants for their many contributions to help prepare the next generation of leaders.”

Golden Owl Award 2021-2022 nomination period
Nationwide launched the Golden Owl Award in 2018-2019 in Iowa and Ohio before expanding the program to recognize leading educators across seven states: California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Nominations for the 2021-2022 Golden Owl Award are now underway and will close on December 31, 2021*. Following the nomination period, a selection committee will determine finalists for each state, who will receive an individualized plaque and $500 to support their agriculture programs². A finalist in each state will then be chosen as that state’s Golden Owl Award winner. To nominate a teacher or learn more about the Golden Owl Award, visit GoldenOwlAward.com.

“Each year, we receive hundreds of heartwarming nominations describing the incredible impacts agricultural teachers are making in their communities,” said Liggett. “We’re excited to honor more deserving teachers in 2022 and encourage students, parents, fellow teachers and others to nominate their favorite agricultural teachers today.”

Nationwide support of agriculture
Nationwide supports the future of the agriculture community through meaningful sponsorships of national and local organizations. In conjunction with the Golden Owl Award, Nationwide is donating $5,000 to each participating state’s FFA to further support the personal and professional growth of students, teachers and advisors alike.

The Golden Owl Award is the result of a partnership between Nationwide, the California FFA, California Farm Bureau, Illinois FFA, Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers, Farm Credit Illinois, Indiana FFA, Farm Credit Mid-America, the Iowa FFA Foundation, New York FFA, New York Farm Bureau, Ohio FFA, Ohio Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania FFA, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and Compeer Financial.

Through its Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign, Nationwide also works to educate ag professionals about the hazards of entering grain bins. Since initiating the campaign in 2014, the insurer has also awarded 200 fire departments across 30 states with life-saving grain rescue tubes and hands-on training to help first responders in their rescue efforts when grain entrapments occur. At least five farmers have been successfully rescued using these resources.

¹ Source: A.M. Best Market Share Report 2020
² In accordance with Ohio law, cash prizes in Ohio are awarded to the winner’s school ag program.
* Iowa Golden Owl Award nomination period is Aug. 1 – Dec. 1, 2021. Indiana Golden Owl Award nomination period is Sept. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021. New York Golden Owl Award nomination period is Aug. 1 – Nov. 1, 2021.

The plan has nearly $96 million in assets under management and approximately 1,150 plan participants. The consultant for the plan was Innovest.

“The City of North Las Vegas is excited to have Nationwide serve our plan participants. Nationwide’s comprehensive approach toward participant education along with their focus on data and cyber security are just a couple reasons that we are excited about our partnership,” said Will Harty, finance director for the City of North Las Vegas.

“We’re pleased to help the City of North Las Vegas employees plan for a financially secure retirement through our award-winning customer service and focus on extraordinary care,” said Scott Ramey, senior vice president of Retirement Solutions Distribution at Nationwide.

In addition to recordkeeping and administrative services, Nationwide will provide participants with holistic financial planning services and access to the online My Interactive Retirement Planner^SM, a personalized, comprehensive financial planning tool that provides participants with a holistic view of their retirement readiness.

Nationwide Retirement Solutions is a business within Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio that is one of the largest and strongest diversified financial services and insurance organizations in the United States. Nationwide administers nearly 34,000 retirement plans, protecting more than $173.9 billion in participant assets, and helping secure financial futures for more than 2.6 million participants in the governmental 457, corporate 401(k) and not-for-profit 403(b) markets. Nationwide is committed to serving the retirement industry by doing the right thing at the right time through better participant experiences, administrative simplicity and values that translate to service.

Nationwide has received DALBAR’S Customer Experience Excellence Award for the past two years, has won DALBAR’S Plan Participant Service Award for seven consecutive years and has been named to Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” for seven consecutive years.

Visit nrsforu.com for more information about the tools and services Nationwide provides to retirement plan participants.

“We recognized the challenges income investors face when seeking to generate high current income in today’s market when we introduced NUSI,” said Mike Spangler, senior vice president of Nationwide’s Investment Management Group. “Income from the asset classes that investors have traditionally turned to has decreased with interest rates, and those still offering higher income have heightened exposure to principal risk.”

“We believed the market was ready for an innovative approach when we partnered with Harvest Volatility Management to launch NUSI in late 2019,” said Marge Farquharson, senior director, Exchange Traded Funds at Nationwide. “Reaching $500 million just twenty months after launch is a testament to the interest investors have in a solution that seeks to balance income generation and risk reduction as the foundation for retirement readiness and long-term financial wellness.”

NUSI seeks to generate investment income and provide a measure of downside protection through an innovative approach to traditional income investing by deploying an options strategy called a protective net-credit collar. This strategy is established by combining a covered call, where it sells an upside call option, and a protective put, where it uses a portion of the proceeds received to fully finance the purchase of a downside put option.

“Nationwide’s unwavering commitment to broadening investor access to institutional-quality solutions and its emphasis on long-term value creation made Nationwide an ideal strategic partner for Harvest,” said Curt Brockelman, co-founder and managing partner of Harvest Volatility Management LLC, the named subadvisor for NUSI. “We are tremendously pleased with the partnership and the success of NUSI and look forward to continuing to lend our distinct expertise in seeking to deliver positive investor outcomes.”

Fundamentally designed with income-generation in mind, the Nationwide Risk-Managed Income ETF potentially offers several benefits that may address the yield enhancement and volatility management needs of investors, including seeking:

• High monthly income generation
• Portfolio volatility reduction
• Reduced duration risk and interest rate sensitivity
• Capital appreciation from equity participation
• Downside risk mitigation

The Fund is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has an expense ratio of 0.68%.

Investors interested in learning more about the Nationwide Risk-Managed Income ETF should contact their financial professional or visit the website. Financial professionals interested in learning more about Nationwide ETFs can call 1-877-893-1830.

“As we look at the full scope of our employee compensation packages, one of our highest priorities is continuing to provide innovative and competitive benefit plans and we feel that Nationwide Retirement Solutions offers unique features for our employee retirement plan,” Chiefs executive vice president of administration Kirsten Krug said. “We are thrilled with the suite of services Nationwide is providing our club, as well as the tools that our employees have at their disposal to track their path towards retirement, no matter where they are along that journey.”

“Nationwide’s commitment to extraordinary care and our long-standing partnership with the NFL helped us score a touchdown with the Chiefs,” said Scott Ramey, senior vice president of Retirement Solutions Distribution.”

In addition to recordkeeping and administrative services, Nationwide will provide participants with financial planning services and access to the online My Interactive Retirement Planner^SM, a personalized, comprehensive financial planning tool that provides participants with a holistic view of their retirement readiness.

Since becoming an official partner of the National Football League in 2014, Nationwide has been the presenting sponsor of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award, a prestigious honor that recognizes players who demonstrate excellence not only on the field, but also in their communities. In addition to shining a national spotlight on the collective impact these players are making, Nationwide has donated more than $1.5 million to support those efforts.

Nationwide Retirement Solutions is a business within Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio that is one of the largest and strongest diversified financial services and insurance organizations in the United States. Nationwide administers nearly 34,000 retirement plans, protecting more than $173.9 billion in participant assets, and helping secure financial futures for over 2.6 million participants in the governmental 457, corporate 401(k) and not-for-profit 403(b) markets. Nationwide is committed to serving the retirement industry by doing the right thing at the right time through better participant experiences, administrative simplicity and values that translate to service.

NRN-2908MO

“Before, I thought only the younger people want to go digital, but I’ve seen customers of all ages going digital,” said Haith. “We’re learning which of our customers want to be self-sufficient, and which ones want us to handle their needs. We have got to be able to manage both.”

For Marcus and other agents around the country, the challenges of 2020 accelerated the need to adopt digital insurance processes. And while digitization has benefited customers and agents, the journey hasn’t been without a few rough patches.

New research released today by Nationwide shows 93% of agents feel digitization has enhanced their agency’s success, but 8-in-10 also say they have found it difficult to integrate digital tools into their agency. This latest Agency Forward survey* also revealed that while more consumers utilized technology during the pandemic, the agent/client relationship remains vital.

Nationwide’s research uncovered four key themes among consumers and the independent agents who serve them:

1. Agents and consumers find added value using digital tools
2. Agents have experienced some bumps in the road while implementing digital tools
3. Consumers are using digital tools throughout their insurance journey
4. Consumers still think having an insurance agent is important

“Agents want to work with carriers that can help them create a strong digital presence, enhance customer access, provide a better user experience, and assist in retaining customers,” said Beth Riczko, Nationwide’s president of P&C Personal Lines. “During the past year, Nationwide has worked to deploy technology that can help agents who need to sell and serve customers more effectively and has dedicated resources to help them implement and use those digital tools.”

Agents and consumers find added value using digital tools

• More than half of agents (53%) think a digital benefit is providing customers access to an agent 24/7; consumers agree (52%)
• 52% of agents think digital tools provide better customer service; 45% of consumers agree
• 51% of agents think digital tools help retain customers; 55% of consumers believe it provides them faster access to information

Agents have experienced some bumps in the road while implementing digital tools

• Agents see the benefits of digital tools for their agency and clients but, at the same time, 80% feel the digital integration has been a challenge.
  • The greatest challenge is the rising costs for 76% of agents, followed by having the resources to teach agents about the tools (72%), staying on top of and getting clients to use new technology (69%)

Consumers are using digital tools throughout their insurance journey

• Nearly half of consumers associate digital insurance capabilities with online tools or mobile apps that help with filing claims and reviewing policies (48%), compare insurance policies and costs (46%), and make the claims process much faster (46%).
• In fact, 45% of consumers say working with a carrier with strong digital capabilities increases their customer satisfaction.
• The data also show consumers are using digital tools throughout their insurance journey:
  • 48% of consumers have used a customer self-service website
  • 37% of consumers have used mobile apps for customer services and claims
  • 36% have used online mobile tools to quote and compare policies and price

“There are carriers out there that don’t have strong app capabilities, and my production force wants that as they’re trying to sell to clients and prospects,” explains Haith. “Just having options that you can give customers, they want to be able to work with you, the way they want, and if a carrier does not provide the digital capabilities, it is a detriment to them.”

Consumers still think having an insurance agent is important:

• 87% of consumers say an agent plays a critical role to the customer experience
• 88% of consumers still value being able to speak with an agent when they need one
• 57% of consumers prefer to have insurance agents located physically nearby — mostly for accessibility and trust

“While digital tools can make certain parts of the insurance experience easier, sometimes customers need to talk to someone to help them understand the nuances of insurance. That’s when an agent’s personal relationship with a customer can make a big difference,” added Riczko. “We invest in digital solutions that enable our agency partners to strike a balance between in-person support, when it’s needed, and empowering their customers to self-serve, when they choose.”

Agent takeaways:
Nationwide developed Nationwide Express, which helps agents quote multiline policies and complete sales in minutes. In addition, it released "conversational texting," a technology that allows their customers to connect directly to their claims representative from a smartphone. So again, the power is in the customers' hands by allowing them to reach out to their claims representatives from anywhere in the world. It's both technologically savvy and a thoughtful way to respect customers’ time. The contagious nature of COVID-19 also inspired Nationwide to accelerate and expand the use of virtual damage appraisals, using videos, photographs, and drones to assess and settle damages.

*These insights and more were uncovered through Nationwide’s ongoing Agency Forward (formerly Agent Authority) research series, which includes samples of independent insurance agents, various business owners, and consumers. Previous Agency Forward research reports can be viewed on Nationwide’s P&C research page.

Survey Methodology:
Nationwide commissioned Edelman Intelligence to conduct a 20-minute quantitative online survey among a sample of 400 independent insurance agents and 1,000 general consumers between February 5 – February 19 to help position agents and associates as credible and knowledgeable about complex consumer and industry-specific trends. As a member of CASRO in good standing, Edelman Intelligence conducts all research in accordance with Market Research Standards and Guidelines.

Conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide Retirement Institute®, the study finds more than half of Americans not already receiving Social Security benefits (54%) say they know exactly how to optimize their Social Security benefit, however only 6% know all the factors that determine the maximum benefit someone can receive. Other common knowledge gaps include:

• Eligibility age: Two in five (39%) don’t know the eligible age to receive full benefits
• Payments: Half of those not already receiving Social Security (51%) don’t have a clear sense of how much they will receive in Social Security income
• Spousal/child benefits: 30% don’t know that Social Security may offer benefits for spouses and children
• Inflation protection: More than a third (37%) incorrectly believe that Social Security benefits are not protected against inflation
• No adjustments: 45% mistakenly believe if they claim early, their benefits will go up automatically when reaching full retirement age or don’t know this is false

This knowledge gap even extends to Americans currently receiving Social Security benefits. More than half of current beneficiaries (55%) don’t know what percentage of their pre-retirement income Social Security is replacing.

“It’s indisputable that Americans across all generations need more Social Security education,” said Tina Ambrozy, senior vice president of Strategic Customer Solutions at Nationwide. "Unfortunately, failing to close the knowledge gap and correct some of these misconceptions can have costly repercussions. Financial professionals must help their clients understand this bedrock of retirement security in America and plan properly to maximize their Social Security benefit.”

Americans are wary of Social Security’s sustainability
Americans may not be taking the time to educate themselves about Social Security because they don't think it'll exist when they're ready or need to claim their benefit. Seven in 10 adults age 25+ (71%) worry about the Social Security program running out in their lifetime — especially millennials (77%) and Gen Xers (83%). Surprisingly, even 61% of baby boomers agree. Even more, nearly half of millennials (47%) believe that they “will not get a dime of the Social Security benefits they have earned.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to this pessimistic outlook. Six in 10 Americans (59%) say they worry more now than they did before about Social Security running out of funding. Around one in five (19%) say the pandemic has impacted their plans to file for Social Security benefits, with 9% planning to file for it earlier and 11% delaying filing.

The immediate opportunity for financial professionals
The pandemic has been a wakeup call for Americans to reevaluate their finances and retirement plan, including their reliance on or plan for Social Security benefits. More than two-thirds (68%) say it is now more important than ever to optimize their Social Security. This percentage jumps to 80% for Gen Xers and 71% for millennials.

Today’s challenge is that more than half of adults age 25+ (53%) who work with a financial professional say that person doesn’t provide advice about how and when to file for Social Security benefits. However, two thirds (66%) say they would be likely to switch to a financial professional who could.

“This survey shows us that Social Security is too complex for many Americans to navigate alone, which creates the need for trusted financial professionals to help them determine the best plan for them,” said Ambrozy. “There is an immediate opportunity for professionals to answer clients’ call for help and ensure their strategy aligns with their long-term planning and retirement goals.”

Ambrozy adds that financial professionals can help consumers effectively and holistically prepare for the future by having more in-depth client conversations around understanding and maximizing Social Security benefits. The Nationwide Social Security 360 Analyzer® can help financial professionals assess a client’s goals to better advise on the optimal time to claim Social Security.

To learn how to optimize Social Security benefits, visit  www.Nationwide.com/SocialSecurity. Financial professionals can visit  www.NationwideFinancial.com/SocialSecurity.

Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide between April 19 and May 7, 2021 among 1,931 U.S. adults age 25+ (national sample) including 627 millennials (age 25-40), 634 Gen Xers (age 41-56), and 670 boomers+ (age 57+). Data were statistically weighted as needed to bring them in line with the population of U.S. residents age 25+ from the 2020 Current Population Survey for age by gender, education, race/ethnicity, region, household income, marital status, and household size.

About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S. tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963 and is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com.

The plans have approximately $1.7 billion in assets under management and more than 59,000 participants.

“Both parties expressed how well the values of Indiana and Nationwide aligned, sharing a passion for the same goals of providing strong participant outcomes and delivering outstanding service,” said Scott Ramey, senior vice president of Retirement Solutions Distribution for Nationwide. “We’re proud to be chosen to help support their employees in their journey to prepare for retirement and look forward to providing the first-class service that our plans expect from us.”

Nationwide has received Dalbar’s Customer Experience Excellence Award for the past two years, has won Dalbar’s Plan Participant Service Award for seven consecutive years and has been named to Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” for seven consecutive years.

Nationwide Retirement Solutions provides recordkeeping to more than 25,000 retirement plans across the country that includes 2.5 million participants.

Visit nrsforu.com for more information about the tools and services Nationwide provides to retirement plan participants.

NRN-2882IN

After receiving more than 1,000 nominations in the annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, a key piece of Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign, the insurer and its partners are proud to award grain rescue tubes and training to the following 48 fire departments:

1. Alexander Rescue Squad, Taylorsville, NC
2. Aurelius Volunteer Fire Department, Auburn, NY
3. Berlin Fire Department, Berlin, WI
4. Bloomington Fire, Bloomington, WI
5. Cambridge Springs Volunteer Fire Department, Cambridge Springs, PA
6. Camden-Wyoming Fire Company, Camden, DE
7. Citizens Volunteer Fire Company, Fawn Grove, PA
8. City of Mount Vernon Fire Department, Mount Vernon, IL
9. Clinton-Warren Joint Fire District, Clarksville, OH
10. Clontarf Fire Department, Clontarf, MN
11. Coggon Fire Department / Linn County District 7, Coggon, IA
12. Downs Fire Department, Downs, KS
13. East Pembroke Fire Department, Batavia, NY
14. Fair Grove Fire Protection District, Fair Grove, MO
15. Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department, Fillmore, IN
16. Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department, Edinboro, PA
17. Friendsville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department, Friendsville, MD
18. Grundy County Emergency Management, Grundy Center, IA
19. Jerome Township Division of Fire, Plain City, OH
20. Kewanee Community Fire Protection District, Kewanee, IL
21. Larned Fire Department, Larned, KS
22. Madelia Fire Department, Madelia, MN
23. Malden Fire Department, Malden, MO
24. Maxwell Community Volunteer Fire Department, Maxwell, TX
25. Mayville Fire & Rescue, Mayville, ND
26. Mendon Fire Department, Mendon, IL
27. Nemaha County Rural Fire District #4, Bern, KS
28. New Baden Fire Protection District, New Baden, IL
29. North Bollinger County Fire Protection District, Patton, MO
30. North Callaway Fire Protection District, Kingdom City, MO
31. Northrop Fire Department, Northrop, MN
32. Orlinda Volunteer Fire Department, Orlinda, TN
33. Oxford Volunteer Fire Department, Oxford, IA
34. Pembina Fire Department, Pembina, ND
35. Pikeville Volunteer Fire Department, Pikeville, TN
36. Rawlinsville Volunteer Fire Company, Holtwood, PA
37. Ripley Fire Department, Ripley, OH
38. Ronda Community Volunteer Fire Department, Ronda, NC
39. Rugby Volunteer Fire Department, Rugby, ND
40. Sargent Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Sargent, NE
41. Sequoyah County Rural Fire Protection District #1, Gore, OK
42. Sesser Fire Protection District, Sesser, IL
43. Shelby Volunteer Fire Department, Medina, NY
44. Summit Volunteer Fire Department, Summit, SD
45. Tri-County Fire Department, Waller, TX
46. Valley View Milling, Seneca, KS
47. Willards Volunteer Fire Department, Willards, MD
48. Xenia Fire Department, Xenia, IL

NECAS, based out of Peosta, IA, will deliver the rescue tubes and training to the winning fire departments throughout 2021, traveling to each location with state-of-the-art grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes. The comprehensive training sessions include classroom education and rescue simulations using the entrapment tools, which are loaded onto 20-foot trailers and able to hold about 100 bushels of grain each. 

Nationwide is continuing to work with partners throughout 2021 to provide additional grain rescue tubes and training sessions to fire departments in need. To learn how to get involved and sponsor a rescue tube for your local fire department, visit the Partner With Us webpage.

About Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign:
According to researchers at Purdue University, more than 900 cases of grain engulfment have been reported in the past 50 years with a fatality rate of 62%. In 2020, grain entrapments led to 20 deaths.

“It only takes seconds, or a simple mistake, for an adult to sink in the quicksand-like flow of grain and become fully entrapped or engulfed,” said Brad Liggett, Nationwide’s president of Agribusiness. “Adding to the risk is a lack of rescue equipment available to local fire departments and emergency responders who are called for help when a worker becomes trapped.”

To help address this industry issue, Nationwide initiated its Grain Bin Safety campaign in 2014 to educate those entering grain bins about the hazards involved and the importance of implementing safe entry procedures. A central piece of the campaign, the Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, aims to address the lack of specialized resources available to fire departments who are responding to bin entrapments.

“Since 2014, Nationwide has made it a mission to bring an end to this industry issue by raising awareness of the dangers and collecting funds to supply needed equipment to front line rescuers tasked with responding when accidents occur,” said Liggett. “With long-standing roots in agriculture, we’re thankful for the work America’s farmers do and for the contributions of our valuable partners who help us make a difference in rural communities.”

With 2021 donations included, Nationwide and partners have supplied these resources to 200 departments across 30 states. At least four fire departments have utilized their rescue tubes and training to successfully rescue entrapped workers.

“We’re incredibly proud to award more resources in 2021 than ever before and to continue growing these efforts until we can ensure every fire department that needs it has access to these critical rescue supplies,” said Liggett.

The program is supported by Nationwide and the following generous partners:

1. NECAS, KC Supply, Specialty Risk Insurance, CHS, ProValue Insurance, Mid Atlantic Farm Credit, Lutz Agency, Inc., SBS Insurance Agency, Mark Bruns Agency, New York Farm Bureau, Ohio Farm Bureau, Maryland Farm Bureau, Delaware Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, West Side Salvage, Gregerson Salvage, Scoular Grain, GROWMARK, Graham Insurance Agency, Valley Insurance Agency Alliance, Beacon Insurance Group, Eclipse Insurance Agency, LLC, Mealiff Insurance & Financial Services, Rugby Insurance Agency, FNIC Group, AGI SureTrack, Jerome Village (owned and developed by Nationwide Realty Investors), Settlemyre Farms, Gallagher, ABIS, David Larson Financial and Insurance Services, Inc., Sump Saver, Ohio Corn & Wheat, NOHR Wortmann Engineering, and First Gabrielson Agency.

LIS includes an optional income feature that will systematically transition a participant’s retirement savings to a guaranteed lifetime income program starting at age 50. This allows the participant to build up a lifetime income benefit that is protected, even in down markets.

Nationwide began its partnership with AB in 2012 when AB launched its Lifetime Income Strategy to the marketplace, the first-of-its-kind and now largest multi-insurer default solution, with Nationwide as one of the insurers. LIS now has $6.2 billion in assets under management (as of May 31, 2021) and offers lifetime income to nearly 300,000 plan participants. For almost a decade, AB has continued to enhance LIS, incorporating more customization and flexibility for individual participants to tailor it to their unique circumstances.

“The expansion of Lifetime Income Strategy is an extension of an already highly successful relationship Nationwide has with AB and will serve as an important addition to our suite of in-plan guarantees designed to address America’s growing retirement income needs across all plan types and sizes,” said Eric Stevenson, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions. “At Nationwide, we record keep and service a large number of retirement plans for major employers.

This solution will be a strong fit for those types of plans that are looking to provide in-plan income options to their participants.”

Stevenson added the passing of the Setting Every Community up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE) Act of 2019 created opportunities to provide more flexibility and access to lifetime income options within defined contribution retirement plans.

“In addition to the legislative change, research shows consumers’ need for lifetime income is stronger than ever,” he said.

“AB is committed to delivering effective lifetime income solutions to meet the evolving needs of both plan sponsors and participants,” said Jennifer DeLong, Head of Defined Contribution at AB. “We’re delighted to expand our long-standing relationship with Nationwide to offer the Lifetime Income Strategy to their recordkeeping clients and are looking forward to partnering with them to help plan participants be confident about retiring, on their own terms.”

The demand for annuities is growing as retirees today seek solutions to incorporate predicable streams of guaranteed income and protect their portfolios against market risk, according to Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority study. SIMON’s platform gives financial professionals a streamlined digital experience to navigate the annuities landscape via its growing Marketplace—now including a suite of offerings from Nationwide. As one of the strongest, most diversified insurance and financial services companies in the U.S., Nationwide can provide financial professionals with a wide range of solutions to help solve their clients’ evolving investing and retirement needs.

“Nationwide has an incredible history of innovation and advocacy and we couldn’t be more thrilled to collaborate with their team and make their products available in our Marketplace,” commented Scott Beshany, Chief Distribution Officer at SIMON. “Both firms are strongly aligned in the value we seek to create for financial professionals. SIMON’s dedication to delivering intuitive technology that builds simplicity and transparency around annuity offerings supports Nationwide in its mission of helping people prepare for and protect their financial future.”

Craig Hawley, Head of Annuity Distribution at Nationwide, added: “Nationwide has a decades-long track record of incorporating smart technology into the financial professional’s day-to-day workflow. This is another big step forward in that effort, with a proven, innovative partner at our side. With SIMON’s platform, financial professionals can seamlessly integrate a range of annuities into their holistic planning process, creating greater efficiencies for their practice and a more comprehensive wealth management experience for their clients.”

Multiple Nationwide annuities will be made available in SIMON’s Marketplace, where professionals have on-demand, real-time access to powerful allocation analysis tools and product-specific educational resources to better serve the retirement and legacy goals of clients.

About SIMON
An award-winning fintech company, SIMON is committed to transforming the digital experience for financial professionals, enabling them to better serve their clients. SIMON’s intelligent and innovative platform delivers an end-to-end digital suite of tools to more than 85,000 financial professionals, who serve more than $3 trillion in assets, empowering them with on-demand education, an intuitive marketplace, real-time analytics, and lifecycle management. With a focus on reshaping the advisor experience, SIMON is setting new industry standards, simplifying the complex, and delivering structured investment, annuity, and defined outcome ETF solutions to investment professionals, centralized within one unique ecosystem.

For more information about SIMON, visit www.simon.io and follow the company on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Securities products and services offered by SIMON Markets LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the SEC, Member FINRA / SIPC. Annuities and insurance services provided by SIMON Annuities and Insurance Services LLC.

The plan has more than $331 million in assets under management and over 1,100 plan participants.

“We welcome the opportunity to help Lansing Board of Water & Light employees with their retirement planning needs,” said Scott Ramey, senior vice president of Retirement Plans Distribution for Nationwide. “Our Solutions Center and processing teams are ready to deliver superior service and provide extraordinary care to the plan.”

In addition to recordkeeping and administrative services, Nationwide will provide participants with financial planning services and access to the online My Interactive Retirement Planner^SM, a personalized, comprehensive financial planning tool that provides participants with a holistic view of their retirement readiness.

Visit nrsforu.com for more information about the tools and services Nationwide provides to retirement plan participants.

NRN-2854MI

It’s part of a new, $10 million gift that The Nationwide Foundation is making to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Some of the funding will also support the creation of a new endowed chair to position Nationwide Children’s as a leader in child organ transplantation along with other innovative research programs.

$2 million for Linden-based affordable housing
Funding from the 2021 Innovation Fund gift will inject $2 million in capital into Nationwide Children’s Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families to create single-family affordable housing units in Linden.

“Affordable and safe housing is a pressing issue for Columbus and Linden residents,” said Nationwide CEO and Nationwide Foundation Chairman Kirt Walker. “We’re excited that the Nationwide Foundation can play a role in the development of more affordable options in Linden through Nationwide Children’s Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families initiative.”

In 2020, the Nationwide Children’s Healthy Neighbors, Healthy Families program expanded to Linden in alignment with the ONE Linden plan, a vision developed by Linden neighborhood community leaders and the city of Columbus. Nationwide Children’s has been a primary care provider for children in Linden for 25 years and their experience in mixed income housing will help address housing needs identified by the community.

New Endowed Chair in Pediatric Transplantation
Another significant focus of funding for the new $10 million gift will support the creation of the Nationwide Foundation Endowed Chair in Pediatric Transplantation. With the creation of the chair, Nationwide Children’s role as a leader in pediatric transplantation will grow and help ensure no child has to leave central Ohio for world-class transplantation care.

“Each year, Nationwide Children’s provides more than 1.6 million patient visits to children from all 50 states and more than 50 countries worldwide,” said Tim Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Tremendous support, generosity, and partnership from Nationwide and the Nationwide Foundation has helped firmly position ourselves as a community treasure and in the top tier of pediatric institutions internationally. Among the countless impacts of their support are the creation of prestigious endowed chairs, which have allowed us to recruit some of the world’s most talented physicians and researchers to central Ohio – and to nurture the international expertise that already existed here. We are grateful for the continued, transformational philanthropy of the Nationwide Foundation. It is changing lives for the children and families we serve. ”

Other programs benefitting from the new $10M gift:

• The Pediatric Innovation Fund will support the hospital’s behavioral health research program, with funding that contributes to the recruitment and support of nationally known researchers across a range of specialty areas that include mood and anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and behavioral health clinical trials. In tandem, this year’s gift will also support Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s On Our Sleeves^®, the movement for childhood mental health that has attracted both local and national partners.
• The Nationwide Foundation Pediatric Innovation Fund will also continue to benefit the hospital’s Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine (IGM). Established in 2016 the IGM remains one of the few programs in pediatric personalized genomic medicine in the U.S. and focuses on genomics as the root cause of many childhood diseases. This year’s funding will be used to acquire additional equipment, technology, and testing capabilities to advance genomic research.

Nationwide Foundation’s support of Nationwide Children’s Hospital
The Nationwide Foundation established the Pediatric Innovation Fund in 2014 to target strategic investments in pediatric and community health and to accelerate the most promising research and clinical discoveries at Nationwide Children’s. So far, the foundation has contributed $80 million to the fund, including the 2021 gift. With the Nationwide Foundation’s initial $50 million donation, its contributions have now reached $130 million. In addition, Nationwide’s sports marketing programs have raised an additional $44 million to support hospital programs.

“The last year has been an incredibly difficult one for so many in our community, amplifying challenges that are confronting our central Ohio community,” Walker said. “The Nationwide Foundation is proud to be able to make a difference by partnering with Nationwide Children’s Hospital on solutions for our community and on critically important research that makes an impact and improves the welfare of children and their families. When we work together, we can accomplish truly amazing things.”

About Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-21 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric health care systems providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children and adolescents, as well as adult patients with congenital disease. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 13,000 providing state-of-the-art pediatric care during more than 1.6 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded freestanding pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.

About The Nationwide Foundation
The Nationwide Foundation is a nonprofit, private foundation to which Nationwide companies are the donors. Founded in 1959, the Nationwide Foundation has contributed more than $550 million since 2000 to help nonprofit organizations in communities where Nationwide associates and their families live and work.

“We’re working to give every pet owner access to affordable treatment on their schedule. The expansion of Nationwide Pet Rx Express into Sam’s Club pharmacies gives families even more options for keeping their pets healthy,” said Nationwide Chief Pet Officer Heidi Sirota.

Nationwide Pet Rx Express gives Nationwide’s pet insurance members affordable pet prescription medicines and an expedited, in-club claims experience. Preferred pricing and the opportunity to have claims for covered drugs processed at the counter of a major retail pharmacy is a first for the pet health insurance industry.

Patients do not need to be a member of Sam’s Club to fill prescriptions at the pharmacy, which include Nationwide pet insurance members. Through this collaboration, members will have access to the retailer’s most commonly prescribed pet-specific medications for chronic disease and flea, tick and heartworm prevention.

For information about Nationwide’s full range of pet insurance plans and benefits, visit petinsurance.com.

About Nationwide pet insurance
With more than one million insured pets, Nationwide is the first and largest provider of pet health insurance in the United States. Nationwide pet health insurance plans cover dogs, cats, birds and exotic pets for multiple medical problems and conditions relating to accidents, illnesses and injuries. Medical plans are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company (CA), Columbus, OH, an A.M. Best A+ rated company (2019); National Casualty Company (all other states), Columbus, OH, an A.M. Best A+ rated company (2019). Agency of Record: DVM Insurance Agency. Pet owners can find Nationwide pet insurance on Facebook or follow on Twitter. For more information about Nationwide pet insurance, call 800-USA-PETS (800-872-7387) or visit petinsurance.com.

“Right now, tax policy is top of mind for advisors, financial professionals and the clients they serve. They’re clearly concerned about taxes affecting their portfolios—and it’s impacting their approach to investing,” said Eric Henderson, president, Nationwide Annuity, at Nationwide Financial. “In fact, taxes have consistently been a top financial concern of investors year over year—especially the High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth—according to Nationwide’s annual Advisor Authority Study. Working with an advisor can help clients enhance their long-term financial outcomes through a holistic approach to planning and investing for greater tax-efficiency.” 

Taxes Number-One Concern for Clients 
Nearly three fourths (74%) of advisors and financial professionals said tax policy is their clients’ No. 1 concern, among the new administration’s proposed policies. They rated clients’ concerns about all other polices in the single digits, including pandemic relief (9%), health care policy (4%), immigration policy (4%), climate change/green energy policy (3%).  

Likewise, when considering the potential effects of the new administration’s proposed policies, advisors and financial professionals said that their clients’ three biggest financial concerns over the next 12 months, will be taxes (59%), protecting assets (51%) and managing volatility (39%). Taxes far outpaced clients’ other concerns, including generating reliable income during retirement (28%), rising interest rates (20%) and inflation, cost of healthcare and saving enough for retirement (tied at 19%). In fact, nearly two-thirds of Americans (60%) expect their taxes to increase in the next four years, according to the recent 2021 Nationwide Retirement Institute®(NRI) Tax-Efficient Retirement Income Survey.  

Taxes Top Factor Impacting Portfolios and Investing 
Nearly nine in ten (88%) advisors and financial professionals said that their clients want to discuss the impact of tax policy on their investments and financial plans. Clients’ interest in discussing the impact of taxes significantly exceeds all other proposed policies, including immigration policy (44%), climate change/green energy policy (42%), pandemic relief (38%) and health care policy (36%).  

Asked to choose the single most important macro issue that will adversely impact their clients’ portfolios over the next 12 months, advisors and financial professionals rated taxes first (32%), with US Federal Budget Deficit a distant second (12%), while ongoing volatility and the COVID-19 pandemic tied for third (11%). The impact of gridlock in Washington (9%), inflation (8%) and a range of other factors were all rated in the single digits. 

Advisors and financial professionals also said say tax policy (53%) will be the No. 1 trend that will impact their approach to investing, with domestic economic performance and political/social discord in the US tied for a distant second (30%) and inflation third (27%). Because of the impact of the new administration’s proposed policies, one-third of advisors and financial professionals (33%) say they’ll invest more conservatively in 2021, and 10% say they’ll invest more aggressively. While 44% say they’ll invest about the same, another 10% say the administration’s policy will not impact how they invest.  

Concerns about Market, Economy and Advisory Practice 
While many positive factors driving markets remain in place, including vaccine optimism, the economic reopening and accelerating earnings, most advisors and financial professionals are concerned that the impact of new administration’s proposed policies could lead to a US bear market over the next 12 months, with 21% very concerned and 40% somewhat concerned. Only 30% say they are not very concerned and just 9% are not at all concerned. 

Likewise, while many experts suggest that a booming recovery is gaining momentum, most advisors and financial professionals are concerned that the impact of new administration’s proposed policies could lead to a US economic recession over the next 12 months, with 20% very concerned and 40% somewhat concerned. Only 31% say they are not very concerned and just 10% say they’re not at all concerned.  

Additionally, most advisors and financial professionals believe the new administration’s proposed regulatory changes to the financial services industry will negatively impact their practice over the next 4 years. In fact, 31% say it will have a very negative impact and 41% say it will have a somewhat negative impact. Only 19% say it will have no impact, while 6% say it will have a somewhat positive impact and just 3% say it will have a very positive impact. 

When asked what one thing they’d want to know with absolute certainty over the next 4 years, advisors and financial professionals said US equity market performance (39%) far outranks all other options. US economic performance (19%) was a distant second and the trajectory and timing of the resolution of the pandemic (14%) was third.  

Survey Methodology:
This Washington Impact Survey of more than 200 advisors and financial professionals was conducted online by Nationwide, March 2021 – May 2021.

With the addition of two exclusive new indices, BlackRock Select Factor Index and SG Macro Compass Index, plus the S&P 500^® Average Daily Risk Control 10% USD Price Return Index, Nationwide DPA’s index lineup now includes a total of seven complementary global and domestic indices, to better meet the goals and risk tolerances of conservative to moderate clients who are approaching or living in retirement.

Unique Combination: Expanded Index Lineup plus Floor Structure
DPA is uniquely positioned by offering this broad range of indices in combination with a floor structure that provides three defined protection levels which limit negative performance. This allows clients to select how much of their investment—90%, 95% or 100%—will be protected from market losses and helps determine their performance opportunities.

“For clients who are concerned about significant losses, but still need growth potential, Nationwide’s Defined Protection Annuity is uniquely designed to help capture and lock in earnings, with a defined level of protection to limit their losses, and the flexibility to reset new allocations for future growth potential—as well as to adjust as their risk tolerance changes over time,” said Eric Henderson, president, Nationwide Annuity at Nationwide Financial. “Expanding the DPA index lineup of complementary global and domestic indices, including two exclusive new indices, helps meet an even broader range of clients’ goals and risk tolerance, so they can balance the right level of protection they need with the greater growth potential they want.”

“Nationwide’s Defined Protection Annuity gives financial professionals a solution to help address clients’ complex challenges in this ongoing low interest rate environment, by offering an expanded lineup of seven indices combined with a floor structure, to provide a unique balance of performance potential and defined protection,” said Craig Hawley, Head of Nationwide’s Annuity Distribution. “Year over year, investors consistently say that protecting assets is a top financial concern, and more than half would feel more secure if a portion of their assets were invested in an annuity to protect assets against market risk, according to Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority study.”

Three New Indices: Rounding Out Robust Lineup
Exclusive to Nationwide is the dynamic BlackRock Select Factor Index from BlackRock, currently the world’s largest asset manager. The index seeks to deliver a diversified multi-asset exposure and targets five equity style factors each backed by academic research. The index dynamically adjusts factor holdings to emphasize attractive opportunities and targets a consistent level of volatility with a focus on stability during market extremes.

Also exclusive to Nationwide, the dynamic SG Macro Compass Index is from leading European financial services group Societe Generale. The global multi-asset index seeks to identify expected changes in economic growth and inflation to forecast the market environment and make strategic allocations based on the forecast.

The third new addition is the S&P 500^® Average Daily Risk Control 10% USD Price Return Index, a traditional index option that seeks to limit the volatility of the S&P 500^® to a target level of 10% by allocating to cash based upon an algorithm. From leading index provider Standard & Poor’s, the index helps to reduce exposure to dramatic fluctuations that can occur during unstable market conditions.

These three new indices round out an already robust lineup of index strategies that can offer upside potential and be tailored to fit a broad range of investment objectives. This includes traditional equity indices S&P 500^® Price Index and MSCI EAFE, as well as multi-asset indices NYSE^® Zebra Edge^® Index and J.P. Morgan Mozaic II℠ Index.

Financial professionals interested in the Nationwide Defined Protection Annuity should contact their Nationwide wholesaler or call the National Sales Desk at 800-321-6064. Individual investors interested in learning more about the benefits of defined protection, should contact their financial professional and visit www.definedprotection.com.

Nationwide Defined Protection is an individual single purchase payment deferred annuity with index-linked strategies issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio. The general distributor is Nationwide Investment Services Corporation, member FINRA. Please note, the contract does not directly participate in any stock or equity investments. Withdrawals are subject to income tax, and withdrawals before age 59½ may be subject to a 10% early withdrawal federal tax penalty. The contract prospectus contains information about the contract’s features, risks, charges, and expenses. Prospectuses are available from Nationwide. Clients should read the prospectus carefully before investing.

When evaluating the purchase of an annuity, your clients should be aware that annuities have limitations. They are long-term vehicles designed for retirement purposes. They are not intended to replace emergency funds, to be used as income for day-to-day expenses or to fund short-term savings goals. Please read the contract for complete details. Withdrawals are subject to income tax, and withdrawals before age 59½ may be subject to a 10% early withdrawal federal tax penalty.

Guarantees and protections referenced within are subject to the claims-paying ability of Nationwide Life Insurance Company.

Nationwide Defined Protection Annuity does not directly participate in any stock or equity investments or index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Please consult the prospectus for more information on the available index options.

The BlackRock Select Factor Index (“Index”) is a product of BlackRock Index Services, LLC and has been licensed for use by Nationwide Life Insurance Company and Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company (“Licensee”). BlackRock^®, BlackRock Select Factor Index and the corresponding logos are registered and unregistered trademarks of BlackRock. This Product is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by BlackRock Index Services, LLC, BlackRock, Inc., or any of its affiliates, or any of their respective third party licensors (including the Index calculation agent, as applicable) (collectively, “BlackRock”). BlackRock has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration or marketing of this Product. BlackRock makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of this Product or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in this Product or the ability of the Index to track general market performance. BlackRock does not guarantee the adequacy, accuracy, timeliness, and/or completeness of the Index or any data or communication related thereto nor does it have any liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions of the Index.

The product referred to herein is not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by MSCI, and MSCI bears no liability with respect to any such product or any index on which such product is based. The Contract contains a more detailed description of the limited relationship MSCI has with Nationwide and any related funds.

The SG Macro Compass Index (the “SG Index”) is the exclusive property of SG Americas Securities, LLC (together with its affiliates, “SG”). SG has contracted with S&P Opco, LLC (a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC) (“S&P”) to maintain and calculate the SG Index. “SG Americas Securities, LLC”, “SGAS”, “Société Générale”, “SG”, “Société Générale Indices”, “SGI”, and “SG Macro Compass Index” (collectively, the “SG Marks”) are trademarks or service marks of SG. The SG Index has been licensed to Nationwide Life Insurance Company (the “Licensee”) for use in the Nationwide Defined Protection^® Annuity (the “Product”). SG’s sole contractual relationship with the Licensee is as licensor of the SG Index and the SG Marks. SG has no obligation to make payments under the Product. None of SG, S&P or other third-party licensor (collectively, the “SG Index Parties”) to SG is acting, or has been authorized to act, as agent of the Licensee or has sponsored, promoted, solicited, negotiated, endorsed, offered, sold, issued, supported, structured or priced any Product or provided investment advice to the Licensee. The SG Index Parties make no representation or warranty, express or implied, to investors in the Product and hereby disclaim all warranties (including, without limitation, those of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use): (a) regarding the advisability of investing in any products linked to the SG Index or (b) the suitability or appropriateness of an exposure to the SG Index in seeking to achieve any particular objective, including meeting its stated target volatility. No SG Index Party shall have any responsibility or liability for any losses in connection with the Product, including with respect to design, issuance, administration, actions of the Licensee, marketing, trading or performance of the Product. SG has not prepared any part of this document and no statements made herein can be attributed to SG. SG does not act as an investment adviser or provide investment advice in respect of the SG Index or the Product and does not accept any fiduciary or other duties in relation to the SG Index, the Licensee, the Product or any investors in the Product. SG shall have no liability for any act or failure to act in connection with the determination, adjustment or maintenance of the SG Index. Without limiting the foregoing, SG shall have no liability for any damages or lost profits, even if notified of the possibility of such damages. In calculating the daily performance of the SG Index, SG deducts fixed transaction and replication costs that cover, among other things, rebalancing and replicating the SG Index. The total amount of these embedded costs is unpredictable and depends on numerous factors, including leverage of the SG Index, which may be as high as 200%, performance of indexes underlying the SG Index, market conditions and changes in the macro regimes, among other factors. The embedded costs, which are increased by the SG Index’s leverage, will reduce the performance of the SG Index. The volatility control applied by the SG Index may also reduce the overall return.

S&P 500 Average Daily Risk Control 10% USD Price Return Index (“S&P 500 Average Daily Risk Control USD Price Return Index”) is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates (“SPDJI”), and has been licensed for use by Nationwide. Standard & Poor’s^® and S&P^® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services (“S&P”); Dow Jones^® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Nationwide. The Product is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500 Average Daily Risk Control 10% USD Price Return Index.

The “S&P 500” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“SPDJI”), and has been licensed for use by Nationwide Life Insurance Company (“Nationwide”). Standard & Poor’s^®, S&P^® and S&P 500^® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”); DJIA^®, The Dow^®, Dow Jones^® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Nationwide. the Product is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500.

The J.P. Morgan Mozaic II℠ Index (“Index”) has been licensed to Nationwide Life Insurance Company (the “Licensee”) for the Licensee’s benefit. Neither the Licensee nor Nationwide Defined Protection Annuity, (the “Product”) is sponsored, operated, endorsed, recommended, sold or promoted by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (“JPMS”) or any of its affiliates (together and individually, “JPMorgan”). JPMorgan makes no representation and gives no warranty, express or implied, to contract owners taking exposure to the Product. Such persons should seek appropriate professional advice before making any investment. The Index has been designed and is compiled, calculated, maintained and sponsored by JPMS without regard to the Licensee, the Product or any contract owner. JPMorgan is under no obligation to continue compiling, calculating, maintaining or sponsoring the Index. JPMorgan may independently issue or sponsor other indices or products that are similar to and may compete with the

Index and the Product. JPMorgan may also transact in assets referenced in the Index (or in financial instruments such as derivatives that reference those assets). These activities could have a positive or negative effect on the value of the Index and the Product.

The NYSE^® Zebra Edge^® Index has been licensed by ICE Data Indices, LLC (together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, “ICE Data Indices”) to UBS AG and sub-licensed by UBS AG (together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, “UBS”) to Nationwide Life Insurance Company (“Nationwide”). Neither Nationwide nor the Product is sponsored, operated, endorsed, recommended, sold or promoted by Zebra Capital Management, LLC (together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, “Zebra”), ICE Data Indices or UBS and in no event shall Zebra, ICE Data Indices or UBS have any liability with respect to the Product or the Index. Zebra, ICE Data Indices and UBS make no representations, give no express or implied warranties and have no obligations with regard to the Index, the Product, the client or other third party.

The mark NYSE^® is a registered trademark of NYSE Group, Inc., Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (“ICE”) or their affiliates and is being utilized by ICE Data Indices under license and agreement. The marks Zebra^® and Zebra Edge^® are registered trademarks of Zebra Capital Management, LLC, may not be used without prior authorization from Zebra Capital Management, LLC, and are being utilized by ICE Data Indices under license and agreement.

Neither Nationwide nor any of its associated subsidiaries are affiliated with Annexus.

Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle, Nationwide is on your side, and Nationwide Defined Protection® are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.© 2021 Nationwide

AAM-0813AO

J.P. Morgan Multi-Asset Choice^SM allows clients working with a dedicated J.P. Morgan advisor to build a diversified portfolio tailored to their objectives and risk tolerance, with ongoing, dynamic direction to manage today’s complex market conditions. In addition to expert investment advice, clients can benefit from the tax-deferral features of the annuity to minimize the current impact of taxes and maximize accumulation potential. This product was developed by J.P. Morgan Private Bank and J.P. Morgan Wealth Management exclusively for their clients.

“At J.P. Morgan we strive to provide our clients with choices and flexibility that can be customized for their unique needs at every stage of their financial lifecycle,” said Laura Pantaleo, Head of Insurance & Retirement Solutions at J.P. Morgan. “Our new partnership with Nationwide to launch J.P. Morgan Multi-Asset Choice is the latest example of our commitment to innovative products and services that can help clients develop holistic financial plans to meet their long-term goals.”

By providing fiduciary investment advice on this highly customizable investment advisory annuity, J.P. Morgan is enabling clients to work with an advisor to personalize their portfolio. Clients can choose from a wide selection of underlying tax-deferred investment options associated with a choice of seven asset allocation models - US Conservative, Global Conservative, US Balanced, Global Balanced, US Growth, Global Growth, and Global Aggressive Growth. Tax deferral allows clients to buy or sell underlying fund options without triggering any taxable events. All principal and growth remain tax-deferred until the time of withdrawal. Unlike many other tax-deferred vehicles, there is no cap on yearly contributions.

“At a time when concerns about taxes are on the rise, and the demand for more holistic financial planning continues to grow, Nationwide is proud to join forces with market leader J.P. Morgan to launch J.P. Morgan Multi-Asset Choice, a powerful approach to tax-deferred investing,” said Craig Hawley, Head of Nationwide’s Annuity Distribution. “This partnership draws on our decades-long track record of developing annuity solutions that can seamlessly integrate into the platforms that advisors and financial professionals use to provide their clients with a more tax-efficient approach to holistic financial planning.”

Taxes have consistently been a top three financial concern of affluent investors, according to Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority Study. In fact, nearly two-thirds of Americans (60%) expect their taxes to increase in the next four years, according to the 2021 NRI Tax-Efficient Retirement Income Survey.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.7 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of customers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands.

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management is the U.S. wealth management business of JPMorgan Chase. The Unit has ~4,000 advisors and ~$630 billion of assets under supervision offering clients the option to invest when and how they want to. Clients can invest digitally, with no commissions, remotely, or in person with an Advisor in one of 3,500 Chase branches, or by scheduling a meeting with a Wealth Partner in one of our 21 offices. For more information, go to jpmorganwealthmanagement.com.

J.P. Morgan Private Bank provides customized financial advice and strategies to help wealthy clients and their families plan, invest, borrow and bank with intent. Leveraging global capabilities in investing, philanthropy, family office management, credit, fiduciary services, special advisory services and more, the Private Bank brings clients’ investments and financial assets together into one comprehensive strategy to help them achieve their goals and secure the legacy they envision. More information about J.P. Morgan Private Bank is available at privatebank.jpmorgan.com/.

This overwhelming support suggests the proposed legislation would be well-timed, with 77% of financial professionals agreeing that COVID-19 has led their clients to slow or stop contributions toward their retirement savings, and another 50% reporting that their clients’ financial security has been negatively impacted by COVID-19.

Financial professionals indicated that when the SECURE Act of 2019 passed, their clients updated their retirement plans (50%), were able to save more in general (48%), increased their retirement account contributions (48%), and increased their emergency savings (47%). Today, they agree that many of the proposed components of SECURE Act 2.0 would make it even easier for their clients to save for retirement and get back on track toward their goals.

Notably, 93% believe allowing employers to match contributions under a 401(k) plan, 403(b) plan or Simple IRA while employees make student loan payments will increase their clients’ financial security. Eight in ten (81%) agree increasing the catch-up contribution limit for those 60+ to $10,000 for retirement plans and $5,000 for simple IRAs will do the same. Similarly, 79% support increasing the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) age from 72 to 75 years old and 78% agree adding ETFs as an investment option to variable annuities would also be financially beneficial for clients.

Additionally, 93% of financial professionals are in favor of the proposed Saver’s Credit changes, which would simplify and increase tax incentives for low- and middle-income individuals saving for retirement, and 93% say it will promote healthy financial practices.

“The first SECURE Act legislation that passed in 2019 was a tremendous step forward in removing some of the obstacles people experience when saving for retirement,” said John Carter, president and COO of Nationwide Financial. “SECURE Act 2.0 is a significant next step that will help many Americans take control of their financial futures. It’s great to see that advisors and financial professionals helping Americans prepare for retirement also see significant opportunities for their clients in the proposed legislation. We’re encouraged by the bipartisan support taking shape on Capitol Hill.”

In terms of additional opportunities to help clients save for retirement, 94% of financial professionals agree that adding an emergency savings provision to the proposed legislation that would permit employees to withdraw or use limited retirement plan contributions for critical short-term financial needs without an early distribution tax penalty would help improve Americans’ financial security, and 91% agree that it should be included as part of the SECURE Act 2.0 legislation.

“We saw first-hand how many Americans turned to their retirement savings to bridge the gap when faced with a COVID-19-related emergency,” said Eric Stevenson, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions. “By building an emergency savings component into a retirement plan, participants could tap funds without incurring excessive tax consequences or pulling their assets out at market lows. It’s our hope that lawmakers consider an emergency savings provision for SECURE Act 2.0 or in a separate piece of legislation to address lessons learned during the COVID crisis.”

Stevenson testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in support of the proposed legislation in December.

View an infographic highlighting survey results.

Methodology
Nationwide commissioned Edelman Data and Intelligence (DxI) to conduct a 13-question, online survey among 500 full-time U.S.-based financial advisors and financial professionals. Online fieldwork was completed between February 9 – 19, 2021.

As part of its ongoing commitment to economic empowerment and social justice, Nationwide is supporting this important event with a $100,000 contribution and active participation from three top executives.

Eric Stevenson, President of Nationwide Retirement Solutions, is an Oklahoma native and will serve as co-host for the day. Retiring Nationwide Chief Administrative Officer, Gale King and Nationwide Retirement Institute leader, Kristi Martin Rodriguez will participate in panel discussions.

"What’s happening in Tulsa is truly inspiring. Rather than continuing to bury the reality of what happened, the community is embracing its past and using it as a model for how we can accelerate our progress," Stevenson said. "With leadership from Governor Stitt, Senator Lankford, State Senator Matthews, Mayor Bynum, Commission project director, Phil Armstrong and many others, what started as a local effort has become a unifying event and it's driving national awareness and conversations. We are deeply grateful to our sponsors from all over the country who are elevating what happened 100 years ago in the Greenwood District to put words into action and enhance the path forward."

Stevenson will co-host Economic Empowerment Day along with actor and author, Hill Harper and Ron Parker, President & CEO of the National Association of Securities Professionals. The event includes an interactive conference with in-person and virtual opportunities for education and networking as well as high-profile keynote speakers. It is part of a weeks-long programing lineup that includes the June 2 dedication of Greenwood Rising: The Black Wall Street History Center.

“We are thankful to Nationwide for partnering with the Commission to engage Tulsans and Americans about the Racial Wealth Gap on Economic Empowerment Day,” said Phil Armstrong, project director for the Centennial Commission. “Black Wall Street was once thriving and we must create systematic changes to recapture Black wealth in all facets – from personal wealth building, to entrepreneurship and capital. We hope this day is a launching point for change in many lives.”

Anyone can register to attend virtually for $19.21 by visiting the event website.  Proceeds benefit the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Fund, administered as a donor-designated fund through the Tulsa Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Specific priorities to be funded are:

• Access to capital for Black entrepreneurs (TRMCC Economic Development Committee)
• Entrepreneurship development programs (Sky’s the Limit/Mortar)
• Economic development and internship programs for Black youth (Tulsa Regional Chamber/GKFF)

Additional, ongoing, Nationwide efforts to address racial disparity and social justice include:

• Launching the Financial Alliance for Racal Equity in 2020, a coalition of financial services industry partners and historically Black colleges and universities dedicated to attracting, developing and retaining a more diverse workforce in the financial services industry.
• Advocating for equality for decades through partnerships with the National Fair Housing Alliance, National Urban League and UnidosUS and long-standing relationships with the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the Executive Leadership Council, the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit and Catalyst.
• Ongoing internal efforts to identify tangible ways for the company to combat racism and promote social justice through the lens of a Social Justice Task Force made up of diverse leaders across the company.
• Continued commitment to having a diverse Board of Directors and leadership team alongside robust DEI and supplier diversity programs.

These are among the latest findings from the sixth annual Advisor Authority Study powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute®, reflecting the responses of more than 2,500 individual investors, advisors and financial professionals. Taking an in-depth look at Millennials (ages 24 to 39) with investable assets of $100,000 or more, Advisor Authority reveals that this expanding market of emerging investors has unique needs, faces complex challenges—and differs from the generations who precede them.

“Millennials have had more than their fair share of challenges when it comes to their finances, but these younger investors continue to defy stereotypes in unexpected ways—with a focus on long-term goals, a real discipline for planning, and the foresight to seek out an advisor or financial professional to make sure they stay on track,” said Craig Hawley, Head of Nationwide’s Annuity Distribution. “Even in a year where they’ve been hit hard by the pandemic’s impact, it’s clear they understand the power of planning to help protect their assets, and they’re already putting in the work now so they can shoulder the responsibility of retirement in the future.”

Challenged by the Past—Yet Planning for the Future
Millennials now make up over a third of the U.S. population, and are the most diverse and most educated generation so far². Yet, facing overwhelming student loan debt and challenges entering the job market has forced many to delay important life decisions from marriage, to having children and buying their first home.

But when it comes to their financial futures, year over year, more Millennials are taking action. Not only by having a plan for protecting their retirement and their assets, but also by working with an advisor or financial professional. In 2016, only 50% of Millennials said they had an advisor. A mere four years later, that number had grown to 75% in 2020—possibly a sign of increasing trepidation, as 84% said they could do all the right things to manage their finances, and still be blindsided by outside events.

“When it comes to outside events, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an outsized impact on Millennials—and that kind of uncertainty can make balancing current needs with planning for the future seem like a longshot for a lot of the investors in my generation,” said J.J. Perez, President, Nationwide Financial Corporate Solutions. “Flashing back to the Crash of 2008, it’s great to see that this time around, more Millennials than ever are seeking the help of financial professionals to put a holistic plan into place that will help them manage the pandemic’s impact, protect their assets now, and prepare them to reach their long term goals.”

Managing the Pandemic’s Impact
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the financial decisions of Millennials (84%) somewhat more than Gen-Xers (80%), and substantially more than Boomers (67%). It also impacted their top financial concerns, driving considerable shifts in 2020. Protecting assets rose to Millennial’s number-one financial concern (29%) and losses in their portfolios due to the pandemic were a close second (27%). Generating reliable income during retirement rose to Millennials’ number-three financial concern, quadrupling to 21% in 2020 from just 5% in 2019.

Millennials were far more likely to say that being unable to meet financial obligations due to the COVID-19 pandemic (15%) was among their top financial concerns, compared to only 4% of Gen-Xers and 5% of Boomers. In response to the pandemic’s impact, Millennials were somewhat more likely to liquidate assets from their qualified retirement savings plans (13%) than Gen-Xers (5%) and much more likely than Boomers (2%). Millennials were also somewhat more likely to liquidate non-qualified investment accounts, such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds (10%) than Gen-Xers (6%) and much more likely than Boomers (2%).

This younger generation may be dealing with the repercussions of their outsized debt and meager savings for decades to come—especially when the pandemic is forcing them to liquidate assets and lock in losses, at the same time that it’s impacting their job prospects. In fact, Millennial investors were much more likely to experience a pay cut due to the pandemic (29%) than Gen-Xers (13%) or Boomers (5%). Millennials were also somewhat more likely to be laid off due to the pandemic (17%) than Gen-Xers (10%), and much more likely than Boomers (2%).

The Power of Planning to Protect Assets
While protecting assets was their number-one financial concern, 88% of Millennial investors said that having a plan for their investments helps them feel in control, even if they can’t plan for everything. To confront an extreme market drop and ongoing volatility, Millennials were much more likely to have a strategy to protect their assets against market risk in 2020 (71%) than they were in 2018 (53%). In fact, in 2020 Millennials were also somewhat more likely than Gen-Xers (62%) and Boomers (63%) to say they had a strategy in place to protect their assets against market risk.

Of those investors who had a strategy, Millennials were far more likely than Gen-Xers and Boomers to use a diverse range of solutions to mitigate market risk. Registered Index Linked Annuities (RILAs) were a top solution for substantially more Millennial investors (36%) than Gen-Xers (10%) and Boomers (4%). Millennials were also somewhat more likely to rely on liquid alternatives (36%) than Gen-Xers (21%) and much more likely than Boomers (17%). Likewise, Smart Beta ETFs were somewhat more likely to be used by Millennials (30%) than by Gen-Xers (14%) and far more likely than by Boomers (1%).

Notably, Millennials said they were much less likely to rely on traditional diversification for risk management (36%) compared to Gen-Xers (58%) and Boomers (66%). On the other hand, Millennials (72%) were somewhat more likely than Gen-Xers (61%) and far more likely than Boomers (36%) to choose an annuity over the next 12 months to protect against market loss as part of their holistic financial plans.

Preparing to Shoulder the Responsibility of Retirement
While they still have several decades before retirement begins, Millennial investors (81%) were just as likely as Gen-Xers (81%) and Boomers (80%) to have a strategy to help protect themselves against outliving their savings. Likewise, Millennials (78%) were somewhat more likely than Gen-Xers (75%) and nearly as likely as Boomers (82%) to have a strategy in place to generate guaranteed income in retirement.

As the retirement safety net frays, and the future of Social Security comes into question, among those who have a strategy to protect themselves against outliving their savings, it’s notable that both Millennials (42%) and Gen-Xers (49%) said they would be far less likely than Boomers (86%) to rely on Social Security.

With the knowledge that they’re expected to shoulder more responsibility for funding their own retirement, younger investors are open to other solutions. Millennials (75%) were somewhat more likely than Gen-Xers (69%) and far more likely than Boomers (44%) to choose an annuity over the next 12 months to protect against outliving their savings as part of their holistic financial plans. Meanwhile, Millennials (67%) and Gen-Xers (66%) were both far more likely than Boomers (28%) to incorporate an in-plan income guarantee within their defined contribution plan.

While Millennials’ retirement could last 30 years or more, it’s not clear they’re fully aware of their longevity risk. In fact, only 40% of Millennials expect to require retirement income for 30 years or more, compared to 47% Gen-Xers and 35% of Boomers. With decades of savings ahead of them, many Millennial investors are off to a good start. Asked how long they could comfortably live off their current retirement savings, 27% of Millennials said 10 years, 36% said 20 years, while 18% said they already had enough saved for 30 years or more. Considering that more than one-third of Americans are forced into retirement sooner than they’d planned³, it’s increasingly important for all investors to be prepared for the possibility of funding retirement for longer than expected.

Top Factors for Attracting Millennials
The opportunity to work with Millennials is substantial. Advisors and financial professionals can tap into Advisor Authority insights to better understand these younger investors, meet their needs, earn their trust and win their business.

Millennial investors, like other generations, said that years of experience was the number one-factor for choosing an advisor or financial professional—but Millennials (41%) cited this slightly less than Gen-Xers (47%) and far less than Boomers (57%). And while all generations said personalized advice for a holistic plan was the number-two-factor—this was cited by more Millennials (31%) than Gen-Xers (25%) and Boomers (25%).

When choosing an advisor, Millennials also expressed different priorities and unique values. Technology clearly matters more to these digital natives when choosing an advisor or financial professional, with two different technology solutions tied for their number-three factor. Millennials were more likely to prioritize increased use of mobile technology (19%) than Gen-Xers (9%) and far more likely than Boomers (4%). Millennials were also far more likely to prioritize enhancements to their advisor’s website or client portal (19%) than Gen-Xers (7%) or Boomers (3%).

Multi-generational teams, including younger advisors, was another influential factor to work with a financial advisor for more Millennials (17%) than Gen-Xers (11%) or Boomers (2%). Likewise, Millennials were more likely to cite additional strategies for charitable giving (16%) than Gen-Xers (7%) and much more likely Boomers (3%), suggesting that this generation cares deeply about where their money goes. Not surprisingly, reducing fees for younger clients was influential to more Millennials (15%) than Gen-Xers (7%) or Boomers (1%).

Finally, in a year of the unexpected and unprecedented, when concerns about a declining economy, falling markets and ongoing volatility were top of mind, it increased the demand for guided advice. Asked the number-one benefit of working with their advisor when markets are volatile, younger investors were focused on the emotional impact while their older counterparts were more focused on the financial impact. Millennials with an advisor were more likely to say that helping them stay calm and avoid emotional reactions (19%) was the number-one benefit. Meanwhile, Gen-Xers (20%) and Boomers (26%) with an advisor agreed that protecting assets against market risk was the number-one benefit.

For additional insights on Millennial investors, advisors and financial professionals can download the latest Advisor Authority infographic at: https://news.nationwide.com/millennials-planning-retirement/

About Advisor Authority: Methodology
The sixth annual Advisory Authority Survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide Advisory Solutions from May 27 – June 25, 2020 among 1,768 advisors and financial professionals and 817 investors, ages 18+. Among the 817 investors, there were 12 Gen Z (18 – 23) 119 Millennials (24 – 39), 161 Gen X (40 – 55), 433 Boomers (56 – 74) and 92 Matures (75+). Investors are weighted where necessary by age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, income, marital status, household size, investable assets and propensity to be online to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. Because the sample is based on those who were invited to participate in the Harris Poll online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.  

About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S. tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963 that is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com.

That’s one of many findings in a study sponsored by Nationwide, the first and largest provider of pet health insurance in the United States, in collaboration with VetSuccess, the veterinary industry’s definitive analytics experts. The analysis looked at almost ten million pets served by close to 2,000 veterinary practices, comparing those with Nationwide pet health insurance to pet owners whose pets weren’t covered by Nationwide.“We’ve long known from our internal research that pets insured by Nationwide see their veterinarians more often, with the predictable results of catching disease early and getting consistent follow-up care for conditions that need it,” said Dr. Jules Benson, Nationwide’s Chief Veterinary Officer. “I know from my own experience as a practitioner that removing financial barriers to care makes an enormous difference in pet health outcomes and to a veterinarian’s professional and personal satisfaction. It can be tangible when you avoid those Friday afternoon emergency ear infections, or when you see a pet go into remission after a long battle with lymphoma.

“Partnering with VetSuccess on this research has reinforced our earlier findings, bringing rigorous third-party analysis to show that pet health insurance from Nationwide isn’t just about covering the cost of veterinary care. Pet parents who insure their pets with us consistently access veterinary care more often with less concern about cost."

Among the findings, those with Nationwide pet health insurance on their animal companions vs. no pet health insurance:

• Spend more on veterinary care. Revenue per patient increases 92% for insured dogs vs. uninsured dogs. For cats, revenue increases 76% vs. those with no pet health insurance.
• Visit their veterinarians more often. For dogs, that’s 73% more often, resulting in 4.17 annual visits per insured patients vs. 2.41 visits per patient for uninsured pets. For cats, yearly veterinary visits are up 43%, with 2.54 visits for insured pets vs. 1.77 for cats with no insurance.
• Approve surgical procedures more often. Insured dogs are 51% more likely to receive surgical treatment, with a 17% increased spend. Insured cats are 20% more likely to receive surgical treatment, and 38% more is spent on those procedures.
• Stick with their veterinary practice. After three years, 81% of insured dog owners are at the same clinic vs. 46% of uninsured dog owners. That loyalty equates to a lifetime value for insured dogs that is 238% higher than uninsured dogs -- a difference of more than $4,000 in revenue over eight years. For cats, 69% of insured cats are at the same clinic in three years vs. 33% of uninsured cats. This differential represents a lifetime value for insured cats that is 218% higher than uninsured cats, a difference of more than $1,800 in revenue over eight years.

“At VetSuccess, we’re excited to empower the veterinary industry with information that improves the health of their businesses and their patients,” said Martin Traub-Werner, Founder VetSuccess, VP & GM, Data and Platform Technologies, Vetsource. “In working on this analysis with Nationwide, we were interested to see not just the significance of the findings, but also that the results were remarkably consistent across practices.”

Nationwide offers a variety of pet health insurance plans that range from injury/illness to a complete package that includes injury/illness and wellness with coverage of up to 90% of eligible veterinary expenses. For information about Nationwide’s full range of plans and benefits, visit petinsurance.com.

About Nationwide pet insurance
With more than 950,000 insured pets, Nationwide is the first and largest provider of pet health insurance in the United States. Nationwide pet health insurance plans cover dogs, cats, birds and exotic pets for multiple medical problems and conditions relating to accidents, illnesses and injuries. Medical plans are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company (CA), Columbus, OH, an A.M. Best A+ rated company (2019); National Casualty Company (all other states), Columbus, OH, an A.M. Best A+ rated company (2019). Agency of Record: DVM Insurance Agency. Pet owners can find Nationwide pet insurance on Facebook or follow on Twitter. For more information about Nationwide pet insurance, call 800-USA-PETS (800-872-7387) or visit petinsurance.com.

Nationwide’s research uncovered three key themes for construction business owners and the commercial agents who serve them:

1. COVID-19 delivered unexpected blows to construction owners and exacerbated existing issues;
2. Pragmatic business owners expect continued challenges, but are overall optimistic about the upcoming peak season; and
3. Agents can increase their value to business owners now and position themselves for long-term growth.

“COVID-19’s impacts have brought new and existing challenges to the forefront for many construction business owners,” said Linda Stueber, Nationwide’s Senior Vice President of Middle Market Commercial Lines. “As the industry recovers, agents can grow their influence by not only counseling clients on their protection needs for changing operations, but also by sharing expertise to help them run their businesses more effectively.”

COVID-19 heavily impacted construction business owners
Like many other industries, the construction industry battled direct and collateral effects from COVID-19:

• 70% of construction owners were negatively impacted by the pandemic, experiencing the biggest hits to total revenue (52%), their company’s ability to bid on new projects (45%), and their workforce/employee headcount (37%).
• The pandemic also emphasized the need for increased planning, as more than 1-in-5 business owners lacked plans to help their businesses operate through economic uncertainty:
  • 27% didn’t have proper plans in place to successfully navigate project site shutdowns/re-openings.
  • 24% didn’t have a business plan to account for a potential recession.
  • 23% didn’t have enough employees or subcontractors to meet project demand.

Business owners share optimism, despite lingering challenges in 2021
Most construction business owners said they accelerated new strategies or re-evaluated areas of their business to account for the pandemic’s impacts – nearly 90% changed their operations for business continuity or increased efficiency. In many cases, the tightening labor market has also forced them to relax screening criteria for new hires. In fact, 70% of business owners said they have, will or may relax new hire screening criteria and drug testing practices to account for a lack of qualified candidates.

Near-term uncertainty is strong among owners as 79% are worried about meeting their 2021 revenue goals and 76% fear lower customer demand due to an economic recession. Despite their concerns, however, 84% of owners are optimistic about the strength of the 2021 upcoming peak season and their business’s preparation to meet increased demand.

• 85% of construction business owners have changed at least one of their insurance policies, but three-quarters are still worried about having the right policies in place to protect their business.
• While concerns remain, owners believe the economy and their company’s performance will increasingly improve over the next year:
  • In the next 6 months, 48% believe the economy will improve and 67% believe their revenue will improve.
  • In the next 12 months, 60% believe the economy will improve and 75% believe their revenue will improve.

Proactive agent outreach can lead to strong, long-term relationships
With the anticipated uptick in business over the next year, construction-focused independent agents have a prime opportunity to proactively reaffirm their ability and counsel business owners through operational changes and new exposures. Even more, assisting owners to implement new plans that protect against future threats, such as increased cyber or COVID-related liability exposures, is essential as the industry begins to rebound.

The survey results also uncovered that construction owners have a high level of trust for their agents, as many reported leaning on their agents to guide them through the challenging market conditions:

• 89% of construction owners trust their insurance agent’s guidance and feel they can build a relationship over time.
• 87% said their agent regularly checks in to make sure their policy is adequate for their needs.
• Half of business owners engaged their agents over the last 12 months to:
  • Discuss or review their coverage (54%)
  • Create a business plan to address COVID-19’s economic impacts (51%)
  • Improve their business’s safety and loss control efforts (50%)

“Construction owners are looking to build long-term relationships with the agents who serve their businesses,” said Stueber. “By opening a dialogue now to hear their client’s business needs and share expertise and counsel in the short-term, agents can build stronger long-term relationships to be prepared to implement that counsel when construction owners are confident their business will improve.”

Business owners shared strong interest in receiving more resources and guidance from their agents, including:

• Regular policy reviews (46%)
• Information on the latest trends in their industry (43%)
• Updates on cyberthreats and cybersecurity measures (36%)

Agent takeaways:

1. Agents serve a vital role in helping construction clients understand the impacts evolving operations may have on their coverage or risk management needs. Nationwide’s Commercial Insight Center helps agents stay up-to-date on complex industry trends and offers resources to educate clients on topics like the importance of finding good subcontractors or benefits of creating an effective risk transfer program.
2. Highlight the importance of business planning with construction clients to prepare for the unexpected. Work with carriers who specialize in construction risks and have dedicated loss control teams to serve the construction industry on-site and virtually. www.mylosscontrolservices.com offers virtual services, guidance for developing business continuity plans, and share-able resources to control exposures, such as strategies for protecting idle construction projects, preventing falls from heights, or dealing with effects of extreme weather patterns.

*These insights and more were uncovered through Nationwide’s ongoing Agent Authority research series, which includes samples of independent insurance agents, various business owners, and consumers. Previous Agent Authority research reports: Agent-customer relationship; Small business owner needs and challenges; Agents' top concerns through the pandemic; Consumer and business owner cyber preparedness; Business’ growing interest in telematics; Consumers’ adoption of telematics.

Survey Methodology:
Nationwide commissioned Edelman Intelligence to conduct a 20-minute quantitative online survey among a sample of 200 U.S. middle market construction business owners between January 5 – January 14 to explore the actions business owners have taken as a result of COVID-19, understand their outlook on the 2021 peak season and the challenges they’re facing, and gauge their experience working with insurance agents and buying or renewing insurance policies. For the purposes of this survey, middle market construction business owner was defined as anyone who self-reported as being a sole or part owner of a construction company with either 25-500 employees or $10M-$500M in revenue or 20+ fleet vehicles. As a member of CASRO in good standing, Edelman Intelligence conducts all research in accordance with Market Research Standards and Guidelines.

Conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Nationwide Retirement Institute®, the study also found one-fourth (27%) of Americans have saved less or stopped saving for retirement because they lost their job or for other reasons. In result, almost two-in-five Americans (37%) have or are likely to withdraw money from their retirement plan early because of the pandemic, and this percentage is even higher for millennials at 58%.

Overall, the study reveals younger adults have struggled with navigating their finances the most, with 62% of millennials and 51% of Gen Xers saying the pandemic has made their finances more complicated, compared to 27% of boomers.

“COVID-19 has many Americans feeling financially insecure — especially younger ones,” said Eric Henderson, president of Nationwide’s Annuity business. “This presents an opportunity for financial professionals to not only get clients back on track, but ensure they have the right tools and education on topics like taxes in retirement, which can get them closer to their long-term goals.”

The Education Gap on Taxes in Retirement
COVID-19 has put a needed spotlight on the critical role tax planning plays in reaching those long-term goals. Almost half (47%) of Americans expect their taxes to go up significantly in the next four years and the majority (62%) agree it’s more important than ever to minimize taxes now than in retirement. They’re right to be vigilant — 42% of retirees say they didn’t consider how tax rates would affect their retirement income when planning for retirement and now 36% are terrified of what tax rates will do to their retirement income.

While most Americans agree they should minimize their taxes now, the challenge is many aren’t financially savvy enough to do this on their own — especially today. Forty-two percent of all respondents say their taxes have become more complicated as a result of COVID-19, and this percentage jumps to 58% for millennials. Only 58% of adults surveyed know how to use tax planning to get the desired outcome they want from the IRS during tax season.

“The worries retirees have about taxes in retirement should serve as a warning to non-retirees. Too many Americans aren’t considering or knowledgeable about building flexibility into a retirement income plan and this can have costly repercussions down the road,” said Henderson. “There’s an opportunity to bridge the education gap on how different investment and retirement vehicles, such as taxable, tax-deferred and tax-free accounts, can help effectively manage retirement income.”

The Opportunity for Financial Professionals
The good news is many Americans are eager to seek help from a financial professional on this topic, especially millennials. Nearly half of millennials (48%) and one-third of Gen Xers (32%) engaged a financial planner for the first time due to the pandemic, compared to 12% of boomers.

However, the challenge is more than half of Americans (57%) rarely consider the taxes they will pay or are paying in retirement and 31% aren’t receiving the tax advice they need for retirement. There is an immediate opportunity for financial professionals to address this need, with half (50%) of Americans reporting they’d switch financial professionals for someone who could help them plan for taxes in retirement.

More specifically, Americans would like advice on how to receive a tax benefit from itemizing (46%) and how to adjust investments in case of potential increases in capital gains taxes (42%). Another two-in-five (42%) would also like to get professional advice on how to use annuities and life insurance products that may be less impacted by any increases in capital gains taxes.

“The survey shows consumers aren’t receiving the tax planning help they need for retirement, and as a result, they may be paying thousands of dollars more than needed,” said Henderson. “Financial professionals have a major gap to fill in educating clients on the best strategies to reduce unexpected taxes on combined income resources. By taking a holistic approach to financial planning, professionals can help more Americans save and achieve the retirement they want.”

To learn additional insights from Nationwide Retirement Institute’s Tax-Efficient Retirement Income survey, visit www.nationwide.com/lc/resources/investing-and-retirement/articles/tax-efficiency-survey-results.

Methodology
Nationwide commissioned The Harris Poll to conduct a 4-question online survey among 3,002 U.S. residents ages 18 and over. Millennials are comprised of respondents 25-40, Gen Xers are respondents 41-56 and boomers are 57+. Online fieldwork was completed between March 9 — 11, 2021.

Respondents for these surveys were selected from among those who agreed to participate in surveys by The Harris Poll. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the online panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Data are weighted where necessary by age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, income, marital status, and propensity to be online to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.

About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S. tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963 and is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com.

In recognition of April’s designation as Financial Literacy Month, Nationwide and HHF will host three live Charlas that deliver actionable insights on the following topics:

• Wednesday, March 31 – Get Smart on Student Debt
• Wednesday, April 14 – Kickstart Your Retirement
• Wednesday, April 28 – Take Control of Your Money

To register for the free virtual Charlas or to access last year’s content, visit foryourfinancialwellness.com.

“Our best partnerships begin with companies that share our values and vision, this is why we are thrilled about our continued relationship with Nationwide,” said Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of HHF. “Nationwide’s leadership during an historic economic challenge has provided guidance, support and hope to our community through financial empowerment.”

To complement the live Charlas, Nationwide and HHF will present a four-part video-podcast series hosted by a panel of accomplished Hispanic personal finance experts. In the first episode, which premieres on Wednesday, May 5, certified financial planner Paul Roldan, financial freedom strategist Vivi Schenk, and fiduciary financial advisor Karen Vergara discuss the cultural nuances that influence financial behavior.

“Presenting the Charlas program, in partnership with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, is unique in that it delivers culturally-influenced financial education from experts whose own journeys were shaped by their Hispanic heritage,” said Lu Yarbrough III, Nationwide’s Associate Vice President of Enterprise Diverse and Cause Marketing. “Nationwide continually looks for ways to support diverse communities and we look forward to sharing new Charlas content to educate and empower even more people to take control of their financial wellness.”

For additional personal finance resources, money-saving tips, planning calculators and more, visit foryourfinancialwellness.com.

About Hispanic Heritage Foundation
The Hispanic Heritage Foundation is a national nonprofit focused on education, workforce, innovative leadership, and culture to meet America’s priorities. Visit www.hispanicheritage.org Follow HHF on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

King made a lasting and meaningful impact throughout her 37 years with the company by evolving human resource (HR) strategies, policies and benefits, which have created a more engaged, inclusive and future-prepared workforce and culture. She helped prepare the company for the future through her vision of the future of work, future real estate strategy and focus on associate wellbeing. Her leadership also helped to drive Nationwide’s award-winning workplace environment.

“Under Gale’s leadership, our company has been widely recognized for our leading HR practices and as an employer of choice for our strong culture, performance orientation and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Nationwide Chief Executive Officer Kirt Walker. “Her numerous achievements and contributions have proven to be transformational.”

In a testament to her exceptional impact and leadership, King has been honored as one of the 100 most powerful African Americans in the United States by Ebony, a Distinguished Alumnus by her alma mater, the University of Florida, one of Diversity Women’s 2021 Elite 100, a member of the HR Executive of the Year Honor Roll by HR Executive Magazine and one of the 2019 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America by Black Enterprise. She is also an independent director for two Fortune 250 companies, serving on the compensation committee for each.

Vinita Clements will succeed King to lead the enterprise HR organization and will join the Nationwide executive leadership team. Clements joined Nationwide in 2004, with a broad base of experience, having led HR support for most of Nationwide’s business operations.

Clements earned a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication from Wright State University. She currently serves on the board for the Columbus Urban League, is a member of the Senior HR Executives Council and serves as an executive advisor to the Nationwide All Women’s Associate Resource Group. Vinita is active in her support of community programs focused on the arts and education. 

“I’m excited for Vinita to join our senior executive leadership team,” Walker added. “She is known for her strategic thinking, ability to build trusted partnerships and focus on results. Vinita’s demonstrated ability to build strong people and culture strategies, and her breadth of business, HR and leadership experience, will serve her well in her new role. The fact that we can do this is a testament to the breadth of incredible talent within Nationwide, coupled with strong succession plans. It’s this forethought that enables smooth transitions for our businesses during times of change.”

The “Income America” consortium includes American Century Investments, Lincoln Financial Group, Nationwide, Prime Capital Investment Advisors, Wilmington Trust, N.A., and Wilshire. Income America 5ForLife is a series of target-date portfolios with an in-plan Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit. SS&C’s technology, the Retirement Income Clearing & Calculation Platform, is the middleware between record-keepers and insurers performing all accounting and product servicing to efficiently distribute the Income America product offering to plans and participants across multiple record-keeping platforms.

"Income America aims to transform the retirement industry with in-plan lifetime income guarantees. To do so, the income solutions we offer have to be easy to access, distribute and transfer for the record-keeper, retirement plan, advisor and participant," said Matthew Wolniewicz, President, Income America. "SS&C's RICC platform offers a simple but elegant solution for the complex management of these products."

RICC enables record-keepers to own the participant experience while providing web services to guide participant transaction decisions, present guaranteed benefit projections and support integrated account statement services. Functioning as a central data repository for income benefits, RICC supports portability and conversions as participants' benefits move among record-keepers and to companion IRAs.

"RICC is specifically designed to be the single point of connection for record-keepers, eliminating the need for plan administrators to invest in new technology to support the servicing of innovative product solutions like Income America ," said John Geli, President, SS&C Retirement Solutions. "We are excited to work with our partners to support the growth and servicing of participant income solutions in this evolving new market."

*Guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing companies. The income guarantee is based on the income base at age 65, which is set to the greater of the market value or total contributions (less withdrawals) to date. The market value of the account is never guaranteed and fluctuates based on investment performance. While the market value of the account can be withdrawn at any time without any fees or penalties, doing so will cause the loss of the income guarantee.

About Income America Consortium
About American Century Investments 
American Century Investments is a leading global asset manager focused on delivering investment results and building long-term client relationships while supporting research that can improve human health and save lives. Founded in 1958, American Century Investments’ 1,400 employees serve financial professionals, institutions, corporations and individual investors from offices in New York; London; Hong Kong; Frankfurt; Sydney; Los Angeles; Mountain View, Calif.; and Kansas City, Mo. Jonathan S. Thomas is president and chief executive officer, and Victor Zhang serves as chief investment officer. Delivering investment results to clients enables American Century Investments to distribute over 40 percent of its dividends to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, a 500-person, non-profit basic biomedical research organization. The Institute owns more than 40 percent of American Century Investments and has received dividend payments of $1.7 billion since 2000. For more information about American Century Investments, visit www.americancentury.com.

American Century Investments^® provides underlying sub-asset class and target date glide path management as well as marketing support for Income America.

About Lincoln Financial Group 
Lincoln Financial Group provides advice and solutions that help people take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. Today, more than 17 million customers trust our retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise to help address their lifestyle, savings and income goals, and guard against long-term care expenses. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE: LNC) and its affiliates. The company had $303 billion in end-of-period account values as of December 31, 2020. Lincoln Financial Group is a committed corporate citizen included on major sustainability indices including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and FTSE4Good. Dedicated to diversity and inclusion, we earned perfect 100 percent scores on the Corporate Equality Index and the Disability Equality Index, and rank among Forbes’ World’s Best Employers, Best Large Employers, Best Employers for Diversity, and Best Employers for Women, and Newsweek’s Most Responsible Companies. Learn more at: www.LincolnFinancial.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Sign up for email alerts at http://newsroom.lfg.com.

About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow the firm on Facebook and Twitter.

About Prime Capital Investment Advisors
Prime Capital Investment Advisors provides a client-centric team approach to full-service financial planning, including fee-based asset management and wealth management through its Prime Capital Wealth Management brand. PCIA currently has 26 locations throughout the United States, with investment advisor representatives serving clients across the nation. Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. ("PCIA"), a Registered Investment Adviser. For more information, visit www.pciawealth.com.

About Wilshire
Wilshire Advisors LLC is a leading global investment technology and advisory company, dedicated to improving outcomes for investors worldwide. Founded in 1972, Wilshire advises on over $1.1 trillion in assets and manages $76 billion in assets. Specializing in innovative investment solutions, consulting services and multi-asset analytics, Wilshire serves more than 500 institutional and intermediary clients worldwide, delivering a high quality, coordinated platform of client-centric investment solutions that leverage the entire firm’s resources to the maximum benefit of our clients. More information on Wilshire can be found at www.wilshire.com.

About Wilmington Trust
Wilmington Trust, N.A. provides corporate and institution services including institutional trustee, retirement plan, agency, asset management, and administrative services for clients worldwide who use capital markets financing structures. Wilmington Trust provides directed trustee, custody, and fiduciary services for retirement plans, companies, foundations, organizations, and financial institutions. Wilmington Trust also provides Wealth Advisory services with a wide array of personal trust, financial planning, fiduciary, asset management, and family office solutions designed to help high-net-worth individuals and families grow, preserve and transfer wealth. Wilmington Trust maintains offices throughout the United States and internationally in London, Paris, Dublin, and Frankfurt. For more information, visit www.WilmingtonTrust.com.

About SS&C Technologies
SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, and has offices around the world. Some 18,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale and technology.

SOURCE: SS&C

MoneyGuide offers holistic planning tools that allow advisors and financial professionals to bring clarity to the discussion around a client’s comprehensive financial plan. This now includes recently added capabilities using analytics to illustrate income distribution, as well as to analyze the client’s benefits and tradeoffs of adding an annuity or other retirement income solutions. As part of this partnership, Nationwide wholesalers will have access to MoneyGuide, as well as training resources to help advisors and financial professionals better leverage MoneyGuide’s retirement income tools and other holistic planning capabilities within their practice—and better meet the needs of the clients they serve.

For advisors and financial professionals, technology is becoming more critical for creating back-end efficiencies, delivering a customized client experience and developing personalized, holistic financial plans. In fact, investors say that personalized advice as part of a holistic financial plan is consistently among the top three reasons they choose to work with an advisor or financial professional, according to Advisor Authority. But these aren’t the only factors driving the adoption of technology solutions.

“The COVID Pandemic is driving the convergence of two powerful trends: advisors’ accelerated adoption of technology and investors’ growing need to protect against outliving savings with a guaranteed stream of retirement income,” said Craig Hawley, Head of Nationwide’s Annuity Distribution. “Our new alliance with MoneyGuide gives advisors and financial professionals the tools they need to demonstrate the value of lifetime income and seamlessly integrate a guaranteed income solution into a client's holistic financial plan.”

A growing number of investors, including 75% of Millennial investors and 69% of Gen X investors, say they are likely to choose an annuity in the next 12 months to help protect against outliving savings and generate income as part of a holistic financial plan. Currently, a selection of Nationwide’s annuities offering a guaranteed income solution are available for illustration on the platform.

“Generations of investors have trusted Nationwide to protect their wealth, protect their retirement and better prepare them for the future,” said Tony Leal, President of Envestnet | MoneyGuide. “This partnership is a springboard for the advancement of financial wellness, and with these new capabilities, advisors and financial professionals can rely on Envestnet | MoneyGuide and Nationwide to continue providing access to solutions that can help their clients achieve the financial future of their dreams.”

Nationwide has a team of dedicated resources to help advisors and financial professionals integrate MoneyGuide into their practice and their holistic financial planning process. To learn more, advisors and financial professionals can call their Nationwide wholesaler or contact fintech@nationwide.com

With the addition of multiple client-centric enhancements to Nationwide New Heights Select, the popular product suite continues to evolve to provide more choice and greater client value. These latest additions include two new indices, new bucketing capabilities for greater diversification, highly competitive accumulation opportunities and increased lifetime income payout percentages on one of the optional income riders.

“As interest rates remain near record lows, while concerns about volatility run high and the cost of living in retirement continues to rise, investors face a complex challenge. They need solutions to help them grow and protect their retirement savings—as well as a guaranteed income stream to protect their lifestyle in retirement,” said Eric Henderson, president, Nationwide Annuity, at Nationwide Financial. “Nationwide New Heights Select fixed indexed annuity has been enhanced to provide pre-retirees with greater growth potential and principal protection at a time when they need it the most, while also providing a guaranteed source of retirement income they can’t outlive.”

Two New Indices for Greater Diversification and Growth Opportunity
New Heights® Select offers growth opportunity with strategy options that track the performance of an index and lock in earnings at the end of each strategy term. Now, for even greater diversification, new bucketing capabilities allow a clients’ contract value to be allocated among up to five strategy options, including two new indices.

Nationwide New Heights Select now offers the SG Macro Compass Index, one of the first global multi-asset indices in an FIA that utilizes the current economic outlook to determine its asset allocation. It has the ability to adapt to current market conditions by pivoting and leaning into growth assets when markets are bullish and defensive assets when markets are bearish. The methodology leverages the expertise of Societe Generale’s Quantitative Research team. It is rooted in the deep academic research of macroeconomic regimes created by Dr. Solomon Tadesse who is an experienced investment executive and seasoned thought leader.

Nationwide New Heights Select has also added the NYSE® Zebra Edge® II Index, based on a methodology developed by economist Professor Roger G. Ibbotson and his team at Zebra Capital Management, and founded on Ibbotson’s behavioral finance research. It uses his behavioral finance filtering process to evaluate the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States each quarter, and then removes the riskiest and most volatile companies to identify equities with the potential for higher returns with less risk.

“While guaranteed income is crucial for clients, advisors evaluating guaranteed income FIAs should also consider many other factors. The opportunity cost of selling a product with poor growth potential is simply too risky,” said Annexus co-founder Don Dady. “It’s always important to also give your clients the greatest opportunity for growth potential, to provide flexibility if their plans change and they don’t choose to trigger income.”

Annexus Co-Founder Ron Shurts added, “For Nationwide New Heights Select, the addition of these two new indices, bucketing strategies for greater diversification and the increase of the lifetime withdrawal percentages are significant enhancements to an already successful suite of products, providing the potential for higher annual returns and more guaranteed income.”

Guaranteed Income for Life with Bonus Features
Nationwide New Heights Select offers two optional living benefit riders available for an additional charge, to create a source of guaranteed income for life. The Nationwide High Point 365® Select Lifetime Income rider with Bonus now offers higher lifetime payout percentages with the flexibility for earlier withdrawals. It includes a bonus of 10% of a client’s purchase payment added to their Minimum Income Benefit Value at contract issue². In addition, the Minimum Income Benefit Value will continue to grow daily at a 7% compound annual rate until the earlier of 10 years or until beginning lifetime income withdrawals, whichever comes first³. By year 10, the Minimum Income Benefit Value is guaranteed to at least double. All protections and guarantees are backed by the claims paying ability of Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company.

For more information on Nationwide New Heights® Select, including the enhanced diversification of asset classes and allocation strategies, highly competitive accumulation opportunities and optional income riders, contact your Nationwide wholesaler, Annexus-affiliated independent distribution company or visit www.NationwideNewHeights.com.

¹Source: Analysis of Beacon, 3Q 2020 report. Best-selling guaranteed income FIA YTD through 9/30/2020. Interpretation of “Income FIA with a guaranteed roll-up” includes any fixed indexed annuity with a Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit rider that features a guaranteed rollup on the income base. Riders or products in which lifetime income is entirely based on potential index growth rather than guaranteed growth through a roll-up are excluded.

²A 10% bonus calculated on the purchase payment, will be added to the Minimum Income Benefit Value at contract issue

³This assumes that no withdrawals are taken.

American workers see great value in products that provide guaranteed income in retirement, according to participants in a consumer study on this topic¹. More than seven in 10 surveyed said they would use a guaranteed income product if offered in their employer-sponsored retirement plan. The same number said these solutions would make it easier to budget their money in retirement, and they would feel more confident in preparing for retirement. Plan participants are also focused on protecting their savings from market volatility — as a result of the financial impacts of COVID-19, half of retirement savers are more concerned about future market volatility than they were before the pandemic².

“Working together with our retirement industry partners, we developed the ‘Income America’ consortium to offer a defined contribution solution that helps plan participants concerned about outliving the money they’ve set aside for retirement,” said American Century Investments President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Thomas. “Our recent 2020 Retirement Plan Participant study indicates that more than 80 percent of participants would keep their assets in their retirement plan if they had an income option. We believe Income America provides an innovative approach to helping more people achieve a successful and comfortable retirement.”

How Income America Works
Income America is a series of portfolios built on a target date glide path designed by American Century and held in a portable, non-proprietary, multi-manager Collective Investment Trust (CIT). It is available as both a traditional series of target date portfolios, Income America, and as a companion series of target date portfolios with an in-plan Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB), known as Income America 5ForLife. Either series can be used as a plan’s QDIA. The pricing power of the consortium firms allows Income America to deliver a cost-effective Collective Investment Trust vehicle, resulting in lower fees for participants. Income America 5ForLife is designed to be SECURE Act-compliant and to meet ERISA 404 and 3(38) fiduciary requirements, relieving plan sponsors of liability for the screening of GLWB providers, fund managers, stable value managers and glide path managers. Both Income America series are competitively priced and Income America 5ForLife is portable among major recordkeepers where Income America 5ForLife is available. Both series are fully liquid, and participants can withdraw their Income America account balance from the series at any time without penalty.

“By partnering on this important new solution, we look forward to continuing to help retirement plan participants not just understand how to save for the retirement they envision, but help them take those savings and translate them into a monthly check that will last through retirement,” said Jamie Ohl, Executive Vice President, President, Workplace Solutions, Head of Life & Annuity Operations, Lincoln Financial Group. “As more Americans rely on their workplace retirement plan as their primary savings vehicle, it is more important than ever that we focus on the outcomes that will help them build financial security — because in planning for retirement, the ultimate outcome is income.”

By offering Income America 5ForLife in their retirement plan, employers can help ensure their employees will have access to a protected, guaranteed stream of income in retirement, giving them more confidence in their financial futures. When a plan participant moves accumulated retirement assets to Income America 5ForLife, the initial value of the account plus ongoing contributions (less withdrawals) establish an “income base” on which an annual five percent guaranteed lifetime payment will be based once the income feature is activated when the participant reaches age 65 or older. If the market value of the participant’s account has appreciated and is more than the sum of net contributions at age 65, the income base will “step up” to the higher market value amount (a one-time event) when the participant turns age 65. Alternatively, if the market value of the account at age 65 is lower than the amount of net contributions to date, the income base that determines the payout amount will remain set at the net contribution level. A joint option is also available but will lower the payout percentage.

“Income America 5ForLife is the latest solution that leverages our expertise as a top distributor of retirement plans and a leading insurer of in-plan guarantees, to provide plan sponsors and their participants with a simple, low cost, portable solution to meet their retirement income needs,” said Eric Henderson, president of Nationwide Annuity. “According to Nationwide’s recent Advisor Authority study, demand is strong, with two-thirds of Millennial investors and Gen X investors indicating they are likely to incorporate in-plan guarantees within their qualified retirement plans.”

Prime Capital Investment Advisors Chairman Scott Colangelo said, “We are honored to consult with this diverse group of contributors on the initial product design. Given the strong interest in these solutions, we expect advisors and plan participants to gravitate toward Income America’s unique offering.”

Consortium Member Roles and Responsibilities

• American Century Investments: Target date glide path provider and underlying fund manager; firm’s glide path is designed to provide greater certainty of outcomes for a broader number of participants
• Lincoln Financial Group and Nationwide: Stable value fund management; recordkeeping platform providers; guaranteed income providers with S&P life insurance company ratings of A or better
• Prime Capital Investment Advisors: Product consultant responsible for product design, including sourcing consortium partners and providing the investment universe for Income America 5ForLife

In addition to the primary consortium participants, other prominent retirement industry firms involved with Income America include:

• Fidelity Investments, Vanguard, and Prudential: Serve as underlying fund managers
• SS&C Technologies: Provides the Retirement Income Clearing and Calculation Platform (RICC), a middleware application designed to facilitate the efficient distribution and servicing of in-plan guaranteed income products across various recordkeepers and participating insurers.
• Wilmington Trust: Serves as trustee of the collective investment trust and ERISA 3(38) investment manager fiduciary
• Wilshire: Investment advisor fiduciary under ERISA 3(21) responsible for recommending the glide path manager, GLWB providers, underlying fund products and stable value offerings to the trustee from an investment universe selected by the product consultant for each category

About American Century Investments
American Century Investments is a leading global asset manager focused on delivering investment results and building long-term client relationships while supporting research that can improve human health and save lives. Founded in 1958, American Century Investments’ 1,400 employees serve financial professionals, institutions, corporations and individual investors from offices in New York; London; Hong Kong; Frankfurt; Sydney; Los Angeles; Mountain View, Calif.; and Kansas City, Mo. Jonathan S. Thomas is president and chief executive officer, and Victor Zhang serves as chief investment officer. Delivering investment results to clients enables American Century Investments to distribute over 40 percent of its dividends to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, a 500-person, non-profit basic biomedical research organization. The Institute owns more than 40 percent of American Century Investments and has received dividend payments of $1.7 billion since 2000. For more information about American Century Investments, visit www.americancentury.com.

About Lincoln Financial Group
Lincoln Financial Group provides advice and solutions that help people take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. Today, more than 17 million customers trust our retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise to help address their lifestyle, savings and income goals, and guard against long-term care expenses. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) and its affiliates. The company had $303 billion in end-of-period account values as of December 31, 2020. Lincoln Financial Group is a committed corporate citizen included on major sustainability indices including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and FTSE4Good. Dedicated to diversity and inclusion, we earned perfect 100 percent scores on the Corporate Equality Index and the Disability Equality Index, and rank among Forbes’ World’s Best Employers, Best Large Employers, Best Employers for Diversity, and Best Employers for Women, and Newsweek’s Most Responsible Companies. Learn more at: www.LincolnFinancial.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Sign up for email alerts at http://newsroom.lfg.com.

About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow the firm on Facebook and Twitter.

About Prime Capital Investment Advisors
Prime Capital Investment Advisors provides a client-centric team approach to full-service financial planning, including fee-based asset management and wealth management through its Prime Capital Wealth Management brand. PCIA currently has 26 locations throughout the United States, with investment advisor representatives serving clients across the nation. Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a Registered Investment Adviser. For more information, visit www.pciawealth.com.

About SS&C Technologies
SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, and has offices around the world. Some 18,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale and technology.

About Wilshire
Wilshire Advisors LLC is a leading global investment technology and advisory company, dedicated to improving outcomes for investors worldwide. Founded in 1972, Wilshire advises on over $1.1 trillion in assets and manages $76 billion in assets. Specializing in innovative investment solutions, consulting services and multi-asset analytics, Wilshire serves more than 500 institutional and intermediary clients worldwide, delivering a high quality, coordinated platform of client-centric investment solutions that leverage the entire firm’s resources to the maximum benefit of our clients. More information on Wilshire can be found at www.wilshire.com.

About Wilmington Trust
Wilmington Trust, N.A. provides corporate and institution services including institutional trustee, retirement plan, agency, asset management, and administrative services for clients worldwide who use capital markets financing structures. Wilmington Trust provides directed trustee, custody, and fiduciary services for retirement plans, companies, foundations, organizations, and financial institutions. Wilmington Trust also provides Wealth Advisory services with a wide array of personal trust, financial planning, fiduciary, asset management, and family office solutions designed to help high-net-worth individuals and families grow, preserve and transfer wealth. Wilmington Trust maintains offices throughout the United States and internationally in London, Paris, Dublin, and Frankfurt. For more information, visit www.WilmingtonTrust.com.

*Guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing companies. The income guarantee is based on the income base at age 65, which is set to the greater of the market value or total contributions (less withdrawals) to date. The market value of the account is never guaranteed and fluctuates based on investment performance. While the market value of the account can be withdrawn at any time without any fees or penalties, doing so will cause the loss of the income guarantee.

American Century Investments® provides underlying sub-asset class and target date glide path

management as well as marketing support for Income America.

©2021 Income America, LLC

PNN-2029AO

¹ Consumer Opinions on In-Plan Guaranteed Income Investment Options, Lincoln Financial COVID-19 Sentiment Tracking Study, September 2020

² Lincoln Financial & CivicScience Protection Survey. Data gathered by CivicScience: 6/18/2020 – 6/25/2020

To confront these concerns, successful advisors and financial professionals are proactively looking ahead, by focusing on strategies to protect their clients, practices and profitability, and position their firms for future growth. These are among the latest findings revealed by Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority study, powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute® and conducted online by The Harris Poll, reflecting the responses of more than 2,500 advisors, financial professionals and individual investors. The study defines successful advisors as those who earn a personal annual income of $500,000 or more from their advisory business, or individually manage a total AUM of $250 million or more.

“Year over year, Advisor Authority has looked at the traits of the most successful advisors and financial professionals to understand what sets them apart from the competition. But what stands out in 2020 is that the pandemic was an outsized challenge for advisors and financial professionals at every level, even the most successful,” said Craig Hawley, Head of Nationwide’s Annuity Distribution. “There is one thing that comes through crystal clear: it is more important than ever to adapt your practice and adopt the CEO mindset of successful advisors and financial professionals in order to manage today’s complex dynamics and position your firm for future profitability.”

Not Immune to the Pandemic’s Impact
Advisors’ practices are not immune to the business impact of COVID-19. Just as expectations for profitability have declined dramatically for the most successful advisors and financial professionals in 2020, only 52% of all other advisors and financial professionals expected the profitability of their practice to increase in the next 12 months, compared to 74% in the 2019 study—a decline of 22 percentage points.

Asked what macro factor most concerned them when thinking about the success of their practice, the most successful cohort and all others agree that the COVID-19 Pandemic (33% and 35%, respectively) outpaced all other factors by a wide margin, with market volatility a very distant second (both 15%).

COVID’s Impact Drives Outlook Down and Concerns Up
Successful advisors and financial professionals also recalibrated their financial outlook downward. Only 37% of successful advisors and financial professionals reported an optimistic financial outlook for 2020, compared to 53% in 2019, plummeting 16 percentage points. Only 39% of all other advisors and financial professionals reported an optimistic financial outlook for 2020 versus 49% in 2019, declining 10 percentage points

Worries about the economy and market also surged. Successful advisors and financial professionals who were concerned about a U.S. economic recession over the next 12 months spiked to 80% in 2020 from 65% in 2019, while all other advisors and financial professionals’ surged to 76% in 2020 from 59% in 2019. Likewise successful advisors and financial professionals concerned about an ongoing bear market over the next 12 months jumped to 76% in 2020 from 67% in 2019, while all others increased to 73% in 2020 from 59% in 2019.

Market volatility was also top of mind in 2020, with more than two-thirds of successful advisors and financial professionals (69%) and all others (67%) anticipating increased fluctuation in market volatility over the next 12 months. Asked what macro factor was most likely to cause market volatility over the next 12 months, the successful cohort and all others said that the COVID-19 Pandemic outpaced all other factors (58% and 63%), followed by presidential elections (both 41%) and U.S. economic performance (38% and 41%).

Protecting Practice and Profitability
Yet, despite rising concerns and declining optimism, Advisor Authority revealed successful advisors and financial professionals are looking ahead to enhance the profitability of their practice.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted even the best laid plans for most of us. But when it comes to their top practice management concerns related to the pandemic, successful advisors and financial professionals remained nimble and primarily focused on solutions. Their top priority, first and foremost, was the health and safety of their employees (31%) as well as their own (31%). This was followed closely by, providing a digital “work from home” strategy for employees (28%), addressing decreased profitability (28%) and providing a digital experience and self-service tools for clients (27%).

When asked what will be most important to enhance profitability over the next 12 months, successful advisors and financial professionals were more likely than the prior year to say that the push for new clients remained their top driver (50% in 2020 vs 41% in 2019). Along the same lines, attracting and retaining clients’ heirs (29%) and targeting high net worth clients (28%), were a distant second and third. Technology was also important for successful advisors and financial professionals to enhance profitability over the next 12 months, including adding new technology (22%) and consolidating technology (17%).

Protecting Clients Against COVID’s Impact
Likewise, technology helped successful advisors and financial professionals to better support clients over the next 12 months, with serving clients remotely rising to number-one (37%), while freeing up time to focus on one-on-one relationships with clients (31%) and providing more personalized holistic planning (30%) were also among the top three. When asked which technology would help them better serve clients over the next 12 months, “e-signature” solutions were most prevalent (29%), with financial planning software (26%) tools for risk management (19%) and CRM (19%) also among their top choices.

With expectations for volatility running high and the awareness that COVID-19 had an outsized negative impact on clients’ portfolios, protecting against losses outranked all other client concerns in 2020 for all advisors and financial professionals. In turn, the vast majority of successful advisors and financial professionals (95%), had a strategy to protect their clients’ assets against market risk. More than 8 in 10 (82%) said their clients would feel more secure if a portion of their portfolio was invested in an annuity to protect their portfolios against market risk and more than three-fourths (77%) said they would choose an annuity in the next 12 months to protect against market risk as part of a holistic financial plan.

Likewise, with COVID-19 pandemic disrupting many clients’ retirement plans and having a negative impact on how long they could live off their retirement savings, the vast majority of successful advisors and financial professionals (96%) said they had a strategy to protect their clients’ against outliving their savings. Likewise, nearly 8 in 10 successful advisors and financial professionals (79%) said their clients would likely feel more secure if a portion of their portfolio was invested in an annuity to protect against outliving their savings and more than 8 in 10 (81%) said they would choose an annuity in the next 12 months to protect against outliving savings as part of a holistic financial plan.

Targeting New Clients in the Age of COVID
To drive greater growth of their business and build a strong base for the future of their practice, successful advisors continued to target a new generation of clients and adopt strategies to retain the heirs of their current clients.

In most recent years, successful advisors and financial professionals have typically focused on Generation X investors as their primary target. While putting more focus on Millennials (40%) and less on Gen Xers (35%) and Boomers (12%) in 2019, priorities shifted back in 2020. Asked which generation of investor would be their primary target over the next 12 months, successful advisors and financial professionals moved away from Millennials (28%) back to Gen Xers (37%) and also increased their focus on Boomers (19%).

Year over year, successful advisors focus on marketing innovation. To extend their reach, build brand equity and capture their share of new clients, successful advisors and financial professionals are more likely than all other advisors and financial professionals to have changed their marketing strategies to attract the next generation (58% vs 52%). Their top strategies included working more with client’s family and children (28%), increased use of mobile technology (26%), increased use of social media (26%) and socially responsible investing (24%).

Finally, the most successful advisors and financial professionals are determined to stay engaged as wealth changes hands, despite studies revealing that the drop-off rates of clients’ heirs can range from 65% to as much as 90%. Year over year, successful advisors and financial professionals are far more likely than all others to have a strategy in place to retain the heirs of their current clients (84% vs. 68%), and this trend remained strong in 2020.

Among those with a strategy in place, working more with clients’ heirs in the planning process (38%) was their top strategy. A proactive approach to retain heirs may also include building a multi-generational team, offering innovative wealth transfer solutions and partnering with experts such as estate attorneys. By connecting across generations, successful advisors and financial professionals can earn heirs’ trust, keep their business in-house and ensure the long-term success of their firm.

For more insights , advisors and financial professionals can also download the latest Advisor Authority infographic at: https://news.nationwide.com/advisor-authority-reveals-how-pandemic-impacts-successful-advisors/

Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority study powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute explores critical issues confronting advisors, financial professionals and individual investors—and the innovative techniques that they need to succeed in today’s complex market. This is the fifth in a series of ongoing releases from the sixth annual study.

About Advisor Authority: Methodology
The sixth annual Advisory Authority Survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide from May 27 – June 25, 2020 among 1,768 advisors and financial professionals and 817 investors, ages 18+. Among the 1,768 advisors and financial professionals, there were 758 RIAs, 642 Registered Reps, 500 Wirehouse and 165 other advisors. Among these, 465 were defined as “successful advisors” – those who earn personal annual income of $500,000 or more from their advisory business, or individually manage a total AUM of $250 million or more. The fifth annual Advisory Authority Survey conducted online in 2019 included 1,021 advisors and financial professionals. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. Because the sample is based on those who were invited to participate in the Harris Poll online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S. tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963 that is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com.

“When we look back on what was one of the most challenging years of our lives, we’re proud of what we were able to do to help our customers and partners manage their own unique challenges,” said Nationwide Chief Executive Officer Kirt Walker. “Whether it was providing auto premium relief, offering deferred payments or enabling households to access emergency funds from their retirement accounts without extra fees, our focus on our customers, on our people and on our communities set us apart as a company that is committed to providing protection with extraordinary care. We were able to do all of this because of our strong foundation of financial strength and stability.” 

Operating revenue was steady year-over-year at $26.6 billion. Nationwide's key measure of profitability—net operating income—was $797 million. The company paid $16.9 billion in claims and benefits to members.

Among key customer and community impact highlights:

• As the pandemic accelerated consumer willingness to adopt usage-based solutions and a heightened sensitivity to price, Nationwide saw 30 percent of new auto business enrolled in SmartRide and SmartMiles—earning savings of up to 40 percent for safe driving. Nationwide expects 70 percent of all new auto business to be through usage-based solutions by 2025.
• To help customers access emergency funds to manage the economic challenges posed by the pandemic, Nationwide processed more than $1.2 billion in emergency COVID-19 loans and distributions payments from retirement savings products while waiving fees for these transactions.
• Last spring and summer, Nationwide offered auto, home and life policyholders the option to defer premium payments to help make ends meet in their households. Of the more than 50,000 policyholder accounts that took advantage of this option, more than 80 percent have caught up or are in the process of catching up on those payments.  
• The company launched the Nationwide Express platform for independent agents, allowing them to turn around customer quotes for new business in as little as a minute, making it easier to do business in an increasingly digital environment.
• It launched a new suite of “in plan” income guarantee retirement plan solutions to help savers secure their retirement nest egg amid historic market volatility. 
• COVID relief grants made through the Nationwide Foundation provided shelter or stable housing for more than 9,300 families and more than 28,000 individuals in communities across the country. 
• To address systemic racism, Nationwide deployed an associate-led Social Justice Task Force that resulted in a $3 million plan consisting of four new initiatives plus the expansion of six existing programs. Funding supports new Habitat for Humanity projects, expanded partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities, expanded internship and hiring opportunities, amplification of the company’s supplier diversity program, as well as new partnerships with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative and sponsorship of the National Fair Housing Alliance’s Keys Unlock Dreams program.
• Nationwide increased its commitment to clean power initiatives by investing more than $200M in the acquisition of 245 megawatts of solar power generation in North Carolina, Texas and Louisiana.
• In response to the pandemic, Nationwide successfully transitioned 98 percent of the workforce to a work-from-home posture last spring. The transition was so successful, Nationwide was able to accelerate a multi-year corporate real estate strategy. The result will be a hybrid work-from-office/work-from-home model, featuring four main campuses across the country and resulting in significant savings long-term with the goal of passing those savings along to customers.

“Nationwide’s diverse product offerings are an advantage for us, and that proved to be the case once again last year. Our financial services businesses delivered strong bottom-line results, contributing substantially to Nationwide’s overall profitability,” said Nationwide Chief Financial Officer Mark Thresher. “In property and casualty, total direct written premium exceeded prior year results. While profitability was a challenge due to significant weather and wildfire activity in the third quarter, we achieved underwriting gains in both personal and commercial lines non-weather results.”

Total policyholders’ equity grew to $28.6 billion in 2020, up from $26 billion in 2019.

“We entered 2020 from a position of strength and with significant momentum,” Walker added. “Through the year we continued to grow and achieved a profit in an incredibly challenging business environment. This allowed us to serve our members and communities, and effectively manage the impacts of the pandemic and historic weather-related claims in the third quarter. And, we did all of this with nearly all of our associates working in a remote environment. As we look ahead, we’re optimistic. The future is now, and we have never been more ready – ready to protect our members, our partners and our communities – all with extraordinary care.”

“Partnering with Paragon will enable Nationwide to expand its footprint in the layered and shared property market,” said Tom Jurgens, Nationwide SVP E&S Brokerage. “They bring a solutions-driven approach backed by expertise, data and analytics which will drive growth.”

“The Paragon team is excited to be partnering with Nationwide in the layered and shared property market,” said Ron Ganiats, CEO and co-founder of Paragon. “Nationwide is a recognized market leader and we look forward to working with the talented underwriting team and existing wholesale brokers to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities.”

As part of one of the largest insurance and financial service providers in the United States, the excess and surplus/specialty team at Nationwide is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, offering property, casualty, personal lines, and specialty insurance coverages and services to organizations of all sizes, from Fortune 100 corporations to small and middle-market companies. Nationwide excess and surplus/specialty products cover unique and unusual classes/coverages for all types of risks and are available through wholesale general agents, brokers and program managers.

To raise awareness of these dangers and prevent all-too-common accidents, Nationwide has opened its eighth annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest in recognition of Grain Bin Safety Week. The goal is to deliver critical education and resources to agricultural professionals and promote safe bin-entry procedures when entry is absolutely necessary. The program also awards life-saving rescue equipment and training to rural fire departments, who are often the first and only line of defense when an entrapment occurs. Nominations for this year’s Nominate Your Fire Department Contest are open until April 30. 

"Working in one of America’s most dangerous industries, most farmers and agricultural professionals have likely heard tragic stories of accidents resulting from grain entrapments,” said Brad Liggett, president of Agribusiness at Nationwide, the country’s no. 1 farm and ranch insurer.¹ “These incidents send shock waves through rural communities when they occur and continue to present a significant industry issue, as thousands of farmers and commercial grain handlers are exposed each year to the life-threatening hazards associated with entering grain structures to remove rotted or clumped grain.”

This year, Grain Bin Safety Week runs from Feb. 21 – 27 and has been officially recognized by the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Since initiating its Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign in 2014, Nationwide has supplied grain rescue tubes and training to 152 fire departments in 29 states.²

“Nationwide's mission of protecting people, businesses and futures with extraordinary care directly aligns with our Grain Bin Safety advocacy program,” said Liggett. “Now more than ever, farmers are being recognized for the important role they play in food security and fueling our country. We are proud of our ability to provide grain rescue tubes and proper training to help protect the men and women who feed the world, and we aspire to make sure every fire department that needs it has access to these safety resources.”

At least four fire departments included in the program have utilized their tubes and training to rescue workers trapped in grain bins. In 2017, the Glenville Fire Department in Minnesota received a call to assist a local farmer who had fallen into a grain silo. Equipped with the grain rescue tube and training provided to the department nearly two years earlier, first responders were able to save the man’s life even though he’d been engulfed up to his face in flowing corn.

Injuries & Fatalities: The Startling Facts 

• Suffocation from engulfment or oxygen-deficient atmospheres is the leading cause of death in grain accidents. 
• In four seconds, an adult can sink knee-deep in flowing grain and be rendered unable to free themselves without help.
• Nearly 400 grain entrapments have been recorded in the past 10 years. It’s estimated an additional 30% of cases go unreported.
• In 2019, there were 38 grain entrapment cases – a 27% increase over 2018 and a four-year high.
• Grain entrapment deaths spiked in late 2019 and early 2020 as a result of wet harvest conditions – a United Press International report showed there were 19 deaths from August 2019 to mid-January 2020 alone, more than all of 2018.
• Historically, 70% of grain entrapments have occurred on farms vs. commercial facilities.
• Many of these farming accidents involve young people who often lack a good understanding of the potential dangers and proper safety procedures.

_{Sources: 2019 Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-Related Injuries and Fatalities and United Press International}

To help prevent further deaths and injuries, Nationwide collaborates each year with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) to provide safety training. NECAS instructors travel to training locations with state-of-the-art grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes. The comprehensive training sessions include classroom education and rescue simulations using the entrapment tools, which are loaded onto 20-foot trailers and able to hold about 100 bushels of grain each. 

Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety Week and Nominate Your Fire Department Contest are supported by the following partners: 

NECAS
KC Supply
Specialty Risk Management
Lutz Agency, Inc.
ProValue Insurance
Valley Insurance Agency Alliance
CHS
Graham Insurance Agency
Rugby Insurance Agency
The Harry A. Koch Co.
New York Farm Bureau^®
Ohio Farm Bureau^®
Maryland Farm Bureau^®
Delaware Farm Bureau^®
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau^®
Scoular
GROWMARK
West Side Salvage
Gregerson Salvage, Inc.
ABIS
Mealiff Insurance & Financial Services
Eclipse Insurance Agency
Beacon Insurance Group
Ohio Corn & Wheat
Gallagher
Sump Saver
First Gabrielson Agency
NOHR Wortmann Engineering

For more information about the program, purpose or nomination process, visit www.grainbinsafetyweek.com or watch this video. 

A new Nationwide Retirement Institute® survey of 313 Black caregivers commissioned in September 2020 reveals the toll the pandemic has taken on those providing care. Many current caregivers are worried that they can’t protect their loved one from getting sick (67%) and among all caregivers, more than half feel that they can’t take a day off (54%).

As Black caregivers struggle to balance work and caregiving, many also have concerns about their financial security, with only 58% answering that they are prepared financially for current or potential caregiving responsibilities (vs. 67% of all caregivers).

Among all U.S. adults, there is a surprising gap in financial literacy regarding the cost associated with being a caregiver. Only about half of Millennials (51%) and Gen Xers (46%) and only about a third of Boomers+ (35%) are knowledgeable about how much it costs to be a caregiver.

For Black caregivers, these costs average more than $5,000 a year and are an unwelcome sacrifice. More than 8 in 10 Black caregivers (83%) believe they should be able to provide care without dipping into their savings. Despite this, some may find themselves in this position, as around a third are worried they’ll be unable to provide money they had planned for their children (33%) or unable to retire one day (30%) because of caregiving expenses.

“The pandemic has disproportionately impacted the Black community greater than other populations,” said Kristi Rodriguez, senior vice president of the Nationwide Retirement Institute. “Many Black caregivers are struggling to balance work while providing care or have experienced a financial hit due to COVID-19. Despite these obstacles, they continue to provide care for their loved ones every day.”

Fighting through the storm
Many current Black caregivers feel the pandemic has prevented them from providing the care they once did (49%) and has made it nearly impossible to complete their caregiving duties (44%). In addition, half (49%) say the pandemic has impacted their financial ability to provide care. What’s more, two-thirds of current Black caregivers are avoiding everyone so they can stay healthy and keep caregiving (67%) and 57% feel they can’t afford to get sick because no one else can provide care for their loved one.

“Caregiving can be financially, emotionally and physically exhausting, but it also is a rewarding experience that changes you as a person,” said Rodriguez. “The challenges of caregiving are exacerbated by the pandemic; it is an especially stressful time.”

Nearly three-quarters of current Black caregivers (73%) wish they had more help with their caregiving duties because of the increased stress of the pandemic. In fact, one in six (17%) say they have had to look for additional caregiving help because of the pandemic, but two thirds of Black caregivers (67%) would not be comfortable having an at-home care provider, because of the pandemic.

The pandemic has also disrupted the intimacy between caregivers and the loved ones they look after. More than half of current Black caregivers (52%) say they use video calls some or all of the time now to provide virtual caregiving, and nearly six in ten (59%) say social distancing makes their job as a caregiver more difficult.

Fear of not being there
Black caregivers are far more likely to say they chose to take on the role of caregiver (71%) and, if given the choice, most (73%) would choose to be a caregiver all over again. In fact, more than two in three Black caregivers (68%) say their biggest fear is not being able to provide care for their loved one.

As a result of being a caregiver, 49% say they have become closer to the person they care for, 34% report being a caregiver brought meaning and purpose into their life, and 29% say caregiving brought their family closer. In addition, more than two in three (69%) current Black caregivers say their family members are helping them with caregiving now that they are home more.

The dual life of a young Black caregiver
More and more, Millennials and Gen Xers are surpassing Boomers+ as the caregivers in their families, typically caring for an aging parent. For younger generations already struggling with work-life balance, this new role amounts to a second job. In the Black community, the workload can be stressful with caregivers spending an average of 32 hours a week providing care. In addition, Millennial Black caregivers spend $6,832 a year in out-of-pocket expenses on caregiving, and Black Gen Xers spend an average of $5,694.

Younger Black caregivers have the added stress of worrying about how their job could impact their caregiving duties. More than one in three Millennials (35%) and Gen Xers (38%) say they are afraid their responsibilities at work could cause them to have to stop providing care to their loved one, and some (32% Millennials, 42% Gen Xers) are even afraid their caregiving duties could cause them to lose their job.

“The pandemic is really bringing a sense of urgency for many Black Americans – especially younger generations – to focus on things such as financial planning, putting your health first and long-term care planning,” said Rodriguez. “One of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones is having a plan for when you need caregiving.”

Back-up plan for care
Black caregivers who are familiar with long-term care are much more likely than all adults 24+ who are familiar with long-term care to have discussed long-term care with their family (64% vs. 41%) and about two-thirds of Black caregivers (65%) have a back-up plan if they can no longer provide care for their loved one. Most commonly, that plan involves another family member caring for them (50%).

While most Black caregivers say the pandemic has made it more important than ever to have long-term care insurance (92% vs. 81% adults 24+), not nearly as many Americans have long-term care insurance in place (8%*). Only one in 20 (4%) Black Americans say they have talked to a financial professional about long-term care costs.

“Amid today’s uncertainty, it is more important than ever to work with a financial professional and use online tools to help plan for the unexpected and make long-term goals a reality,” Rodriguez said. “The good news is that nearly half (48%) of all Black caregivers say they are working with a financial professional for the first time as a result of the pandemic.”

To simplify this complicated issue and encourage discussions around health care and long-term costs in retirement, Nationwide’s Health Care/LTC Cost Assessment tool provides a meaningful, personalized cost estimate that will help financial professionals and clients plan for future medical and long-term care expenses.

To learn more about the 2020 Black Caregivers Survey, visit www.nationwide.com/ltcinsights. Financial professionals can learn more at www.nationwidefinancial.com/nationwide-retirement-institute/

Methodology
The 2020 Nationwide Retirement Institute Black Caregivers survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Nationwide Retirement Institute within the United States between Aug. 25 and Sept. 16, 2020 among 313 Black adults aged 24 and over who are or have been caregivers. Caregivers are defined as those who have ever or are now providing paid or unpaid long-term care to a friend or family member, not through an agency, business, or non-governmental organization. Those who care(d) only for a child under 18 or a child over 18 born with a disability did not qualify as a caregiver for this survey.  

The 2020 Nationwide Retirement Institute Long-term Care survey was conducted online within the United States between Aug. 25 and Sept. 16, 2020 among 959 adults aged 24 and over by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Nationwide Retirement Institute. The survey also included 308 adults 24+ who are or have been caregivers.

Respondents for these surveys were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the online panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Data are weighted where necessary by age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, income, marital status, household size, and propensity to be online to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.

About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S. tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963 and is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com.

“We have had tremendous interest from startups to partner with us and help them accelerate their success – not only through our capital but also our brand and expertise,” said Nationwide CEO Kirt Walker. “Nationwide’s history is built on numerous breakthroughs. We’re excited about the opportunities to identify and accelerate insurtech and fintech solutions that will help better protect people, businesses and futures with extraordinary care.”

Nationwide’s venture capital journey
Nationwide’s venture capital investment initiative began in 2015 with the formation of the ventures team. In 2017, Nationwide announced the creation of a $100 million venture capital investment fund, focusing its investments on insurtech and fintech startups that support six thematic areas:

• Digital Infrastructure - Invest in the advancing infrastructure behind the insurance and financial services industries in the areas of underwriting, data & analytics, alternative distribution, and more.
• Home Solutions - Assist our members in better protecting and managing their most valuable assets through alternative data and analytics, risk intervention technologies, and home services solutions.
• Living in Retirement- Deliver products and services to help consumers prepare for and live better in their next stage of life.
• Small-and-medium sized businesses - Enhance current products and solutions that protect small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and take the friction out of the value chain while helping them operate efficiently.
• Telematics and Fleet Management - Provide services for consumers or businesses utilizing new types of mobility, vehicle connectivity, and telematics.
• Cybersecurity and risk - Protect businesses and consumers from new and evolving digital exposures, risks, and attacks.

“Nationwide’s initial venture capital investments continue to unlock new sources of value – both to Nationwide and the startups with which we partner,” said Mike Mahaffey, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer. “Our ventures team has developed and implemented a successful strategy of identifying the strongest companies in which to invest – ones that have already begun producing products and solutions to help our customers and distribution partners. These additional funds will enable the venture team to expand and accelerate that work.”

To date, Nationwide’s venture capital team has invested in 25 companies and has helped facilitate 31 partnerships between startups and Nationwide business units.

“Our strong relationships with our business partners give us a clear advantage in our venture capital investments. We focus on startups that can help meet the ever-changing needs of Nationwide’s customers,” said Erik Ross, leader of Nationwide’s venture capital team. “In addition to delivering strong financial returns, the venture capital team has proven to be a trusted partner to Nationwide’s business units, collaborating with great entrepreneurs to bring mutually beneficial partnerships to life. Our business partners and our founders are our customers and best references - we’ll continue to do our best to help them both be successful.”

Nationwide’s venture capital investments include HOVER, Indico, Deep Sentinel, Planck, Upstream Security, KINETIC, Vesta Health Care, Socotra, Betterview, Nexar, BlueVine, blooom, Insurify, Next Insurance, Matic, Flo Technologies, Vestwell, Snapsheet, Sure, and NewRetirement. 

Nationwide’s Corporate Development mission
In addition to expanding the venture capital fund, Nationwide recently aligned Corporate Development capabilities to include the venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnership teams. These groups look for unique collaboration opportunities that help business units meet new or developing customer needs. These collaborations are enabled by Nationwide’s best-in-class digital infrastructure, which allows Nationwide to provide a unique digital experience for partners and their customers.

Tech startups interested in partnering with Nationwide can visit https://www.nationwide.com/cps/nw-ventures.html for more information.

Passed in late 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act created opportunities to provide more flexibility and access to annuities within defined contribution retirement plans. In addition to the legislative change, research shows consumers’ need for lifetime income is stronger than ever.

These insights have paved the way for Lifetime Income Builder, a new in-plan guaranteed income solution which provides plan sponsors an efficient structure designed to be QDIA compliant and which offers a combination of liquidity, portability, and ease of use that is currently missing from other in-plan income solutions. This innovative investment option combines guaranteed lifetime income along with a systematic withdrawal strategy that efficiently address the risks a participant faces in generating retirement income.

“It’s an exciting time— a true paradigm shift—for the workplace retirement plan industry and the plan participants we serve,” said Eric Stevenson, President of Nationwide Retirement Plans. “Lifetime Income Builder is the latest in our suite of in-plan guarantees designed to address savers’ growing income needs across all plan types and sizes. This innovative new investment option allows us to better serve existing plan sponsors and consultants while also reaching new clients by providing their participants with the protection they seek, and the guaranteed income they need, to help them achieve a more secure retirement.”

Nationwide and Annexus Retirement Solutions joined forces to create a competitive in-plan solution that helps address the participant’s risk of outliving income, one of the biggest financial challenges faced by many Americans today. This solution embeds a fixed indexed annuity with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit – the Lifetime Income Builder – directly into a collective investment trust consisting of a series of target date funds. This increases income potential while maintaining a familiar investment experience for the participant due to the target date fund structure.

"Until now, the retirement planning industry hasn’t made it easy for participants to know how to secure their financial future,” said Don Dady, Co-Founder of Annexus, the parent company of Annexus Retirement Solutions. “The risks in retirement require an integrated solution for most participants to optimize the potential income from their retirement plan. Lifetime Income Builder is designed to achieve this objective without requiring participants to give up control or flexibility. In partnering with Nationwide, this solution is easier for a participant to understand given the target date fund framework, with the added benefit of helping to maximize results for the participant to and through retirement.”

Nationwide works closely with a carefully chosen group of top-tier asset managers that meet a best-in-class research process. Working with a leading asset manager, along with the Annexus Retirement Solutions partnership, will help enable the development and distribution of a collective investment trust target date fund series with the added benefit of the Lifetime Income Builder.

“Nationwide has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ community,” said Angela Bretz, Nationwide’s Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. “Since our beginnings, we’ve been intentional about creating a culture where every voice is heard and valued. It’s an honor to be recognized for our commitment to LGBTQ rights and we look forward to continuing our work in support of the LGBTQ community.”

“From the previously unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Yet, many businesses across the nation stepped up and continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. “This year has shown us that tools like the CEI are crucial in the work to increase equity and inclusion in the workplace, but also that companies must breathe life into these policies and practices in real and tangible ways. Thank you to the companies that understand protecting their LGBTQ employees and consumers from discrimination is not just the right thing to do—but the best business decision.”

The results of the 2021 CEI showcase how 1,142 U.S.-based companies are not only promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the U.S., but also for the 57% of CEI-rated companies with global operations who are helping advance the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad. Nationwide’s efforts in satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria earned a 100 percent ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 18 million U.S. workers and an additional 17 million abroad. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.

The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:

• Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
• Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families;
• Supporting an inclusive culture; and,
• Corporate social responsibility.

The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

The new fund will be subadvised by GQG Partners, a boutique investment firm founded in 2016 by Rajiv Jain, its chairman and chief investment officer. In under 5 years, GQG Partners has grown to more than $65 billion in assets under management, a testament to their unique perspectives and objective of delivering alpha across market conditions.

The Fund will be managed by Jain, who has more than 25 years of investment experience.

“We look forward to this new partnership with Rajiv and his team of experienced professionals who have quickly developed a strong and respected reputation among institutional investors,” said Mike Spangler, leader of the Investment Management Group at Nationwide. “We’re confident their expertise can help make the Nationwide GQG US Quality Equity Fund a successful addition to our existing portfolio we offer to institutional investors.”

The Nationwide GQG US Quality Equity Fund (NWAWX) is intended to offer investors the opportunity to access the portfolio management skills of the GQG team and their forward-looking quality approach, which focuses on the compounding potential of a company versus a value-growth style box. GQG’s research team includes non-traditional analysts, such as those with investigative journalism and specialized accounting backgrounds, alongside analysts with more traditional skill-sets. GQG believes the combination of the two helps it develop a more comprehensive view of some of the world’s most well-known companies.

“Nationwide is the ideal strategic partner for GQG Partners with their commitment to excellence, and client-focused culture,” said Jain. “Our goals of protecting and compounding capital while aligning with clients is paramount in our business.”

As a strategic partner to advisors, Nationwide provides a full family of subadvised mutual funds designed to help meet the unique investment goals and risk tolerances of investors. Nationwide currently manages 116 funds with approximately $74.4 billion in assets, excluding fund of funds.

Financial professionals interested in learning more should call the Nationwide Funds Group sales desk at 1-877-877-5083 or visit website.

Women investors in 2020 reported significantly higher levels of concern about a U.S. economic recession in the next 12 months than they did in 2019 (82% vs 60%) as well as greater concern about a bear market in the next 12 months than they did the prior year (74% vs 57%). Additionally, more than two-thirds of women (69%) believed that the COVID-19 pandemic would be the most likely cause of market volatility over the next 12 months. Four in ten women (40%) also cited the COVID-19 pandemic as the number-one macro factor that would most adversely impact their portfolio over the next 12 months.

“Women are concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their finances and the resulting uncertainty can make planning for the future—and their retirement—more difficult. For several consecutive years, our Advisor Authority study has revealed the disconnect between women’s growing concerns about their ability to retire and their level of preparation—and the pandemic has taken this to new levels,” said Ann Bair, SVP of Marketing for Nationwide Financial. “While women are acutely aware of the challenges they face, it’s critical that they take steps now to address gaps in their retirement plan, especially as we start a new year.”

Less Optimistic, More Concerned—and Less Prepared to Protect Assets
Given their concerns about the economy, the market and the impact of the pandemic, it follows that women investors were significantly less optimistic about their financial outlook in 2020 compared to 2019 (32% vs 56%). Likewise, men also cited a significant decline in optimism in 2020 (39% vs 53%).

Women were somewhat more likely than men to cite their biggest financial concern as losses in their portfolio related to the COVID-19 pandemic (36% vs 30%). In addition, even more women than men said that protecting assets was their top financial concern (36% vs 28%). In fact, the number of women who cited protecting assets as a top concern increased 10 percentage points in 2020, after steadily declining for the previous four years (2020: 36%, 2019: 26%, 2018: 28%, 2017: 30%, 2016: 32%).

Yet, despite greater concerns about losses to their portfolios and protecting their assets, findings revealed a preparation gap as women were somewhat less likely than men to have a strategy in place to protect their assets against market risk (60% vs 67%). Meanwhile, women were more than twice as likely as men to say they didn’t know if they have a strategy (15% vs 7%).

Preparation Gap Persists When Protecting Retirement
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted women’s retirement plans. Nearly three-fourths of women (72%) said the pandemic has had a negative impact on how long they could live off their retirement savings. Due to the pandemic, more than two in ten women investors (22%) said it’s likely they would need to delay taking retirement income for the next 12 months and nearly one-quarter of women investors (24%) said they would need to reduce the amount of their retirement income withdrawals for the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, women are likely to live longer than men and are likely to face a retirement income shortfall. Over one third of women (39%) expect to need 20 years of income in retirement. Another third (35%) say they'll need 30 years or more. But only one in five women (20%) say they'll be able to live off their current retirement savings for more than 30 years

Yet, women were also less likely than men to say they have a strategy in place to protect themselves against outliving their savings (76% vs 84%) and five times more likely to say they didn’t know if they have a strategy (11% vs 2%).

In addition, women were slightly less likely than men to cite saving enough for retirement as a top financial concern (16% vs 17%). Notably, the number of women who cited saving enough for retirement among their top financial concerns dropped eight percentage points this year compared to last year, after a slight decline over the prior four years (2020: 16%, 2019: 24%, 2018: 26%, 2017: 28%, 2016: 28%).

The Value of Financial Advice
The news isn’t all bad. For the first time since launching Advisor Authority, more than two-thirds of women reported that they worked with an advisor or financial professional—a nearly 10-point increase in 2020 over 2019 (67% vs 58%).

“Now more than ever, women are seeking the help of financial professionals to put a plan into place to protect their assets, manage volatility and save for retirement,” said Lori Hall, Director, Strategic Accounts Nationwide Financial. “Advisors and financial professionals have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to understand women’s retirement planning needs and help them establish a holistic plan to manage through the current uncertainty while remaining focused on long term goals.”

Advisors and financial professionals can help women bridge the preparation gap. Women with an advisor said the number-one reason they choose to work with a financial professional was to feel more confident in their financial future (35%). When markets are volatile, women with an advisor said the number-one benefit of working with a financial professional is to protect their assets against market risk (26%). Among women who did not have an advisor, 56% said it was because they prefer to manage their own assets.

Solutions to Bridge the Gap
The COVID-19 pandemic is driving the need for more guaranteed solutions to help women protect their financial futures. In fact, given the impact of the pandemic, nearly six in ten women (59%) said they'd feel more secure if a portion of their portfolio was invested in an annuity to protect against market risk and more than half (55%) said they would feel more secure if a portion of their portfolio was invested in an annuity to protect against outliving their savings.

Despite challenging markets, more than two-thirds of (67%) women and men said that they did not feel pressure to revise their investing strategy over the next 12 months. While women and men were most likely to protect against market risk using diversification (52% and 59%) and fixed annuities (39% and 34%), women were nearly twice as likely as men to say they used Fixed Indexed Annuities (26% vs 15%), while they were far less likely than men to use Registered Indexed Linked Annuities (3% vs 16%).

To help protect against outliving their savings, women and men were most likely to use Social Security (both 68%) and defined benefit plans/pensions (42% and 45%). However, women were somewhat less likely than men to use other guaranteed income solutions to protect against outliving savings, such as deferred income annuities (DIAs; 10% vs 12%), single premium immediate annuities (9% vs 16%) and qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs; 8% vs 11%).

For more insights on women investors this year, advisors and financial professionals can also download the latest Advisor Authority infographic at: https://news.nationwide.com/women-investors-concerns/

Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority study powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute explores critical issues confronting advisors, financial professionals and individual investors—and the innovative techniques that they need to succeed in today’s complex market. This is the fourth in a series of ongoing releases from the sixth annual study.

About Advisor Authority: Methodology
The sixth annual Advisory Authority Survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide from May 27 – June 25, 2020 among 1,768 advisors and financial professionals and 817 investors, ages 18+. Among the 1,768 advisors and financial professionals, there were 758 RIAs, 642 Registered Reps, 500 Wirehouse and 165 other advisors. Among the 817 investors, there were 297 women and 520 men. Investors are weighted where necessary by age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, income, marital status, household size, investable assets and propensity to be online to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. Because the sample is based on those who were invited to participate in the Harris Poll online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About The Harris Poll
The Harris Poll is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S. tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963 that is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com.

“According to our latest Advisor Authority study, protecting against market losses due to COVID-19 is investors’ number-one financial concern, with protecting assets a close second, and managing volatility third,” said Eric Henderson, president, Nationwide Annuity, at Nationwide Financial. “Our new Nationwide Peak 10 fixed indexed annuity is an effective solution to help mitigate downside risk while still providing growth potential, especially for those clients nearing retirement, at a time in their financial lifecycle when losses can be hard to recoup and every basis point of performance counts.”

Nationwide’s Peak 10 fixed indexed annuity is designed to help manage a low interest rate environment, while providing upside potential with principal protection, to guarantee that investors won’t lose any of their initial investment or credited earnings due to the performance of underlying indexes. Nationwide Peak 10 gives advisors and their clients choice and flexibility with a unique combination of features to manage today’s complex markets. These include two exclusive new indexes, a choice of two tailored options for guaranteed lifetime income, and the flexibility of penalty-free access to assets through certain withdrawals and waivers.

“AmeriLife is committed to providing Americans with peace of mind and offering insurance and retirement planning solutions to help them live longer, healthier lives,” said Mike Vietri, Chief Distribution Officer. “We’re thrilled to be the exclusive distribution partner offering the new Nationwide Peak 10 fixed index annuity, and look forward to working with our distribution to educate consumers on the unique features this product can provide in helping pre-retirees and retirees across the country plan for their future.”

Denny Southern, AmeriLife President of Annuities and Retirement Planning Brokerage Distribution added, “We are honored to partner with Nationwide, in offering a financial solution with unique indexing options and very attractive Lifetime Income features. Nationwide’s Peak 10 provides consumers with protection of their hard-earned money, with upside growth potential.”

Two Exclusive New Indexes
Nationwide Peak 10 offers a fixed account and diverse lineup of four indexes, including two exclusive new indexes from leading financial institutions J.P. Morgan and AllianceBernstein. The J.P. Morgan Cycle℠ Index, exclusively available within Nationwide Peak 10, seeks to outperform the market, allocating to stocks and bonds, with an equity allocation that rotates between different “smart beta” factors based on the business cycle. The AllianceBernstein Growth and Value Balanced Index,℠ currently available only in Nationwide Peak 10, seeks to generate consistent returns while maintaining balance to navigate changing markets, with equity and-fixed income sleeves within a single portfolio which is managed to a modest 5% annualized volatility target using a risk-controlled process.

Nationwide Peak 10 also offers the S&P 500® Price Index and the S&P 500® Daily Risk Control Index. The Nationwide Peak 10 fixed account and all four indexes include a diverse range of crediting options. One-year terms are available for the fixed account and index cap crediting options. Two-year terms are available for index participation crediting options. Investors may allocate assets in up to five account options¹.

Two Options for Guaranteed Income for Life
Americans today can spend decades living in retirement, and according to Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority study, 54% of investors are likely to choose an annuity to protect against outliving their savings. Nationwide Peak 10 gives investors a choice between two options that provide a steady stream of income that’s guaranteed for life—even if their contract value falls to $0².

Guaranteed Income Solution, available at no additional cost, offers a guaranteed 4% simple interest roll-up rate on the investor’s original Income Benefit Base each year for the first 10 years or until the first withdrawal, whichever comes first. Bonus Income+ Rider, an enriched living benefit available for an additional cost, offers a 10% bonus credit included on the investor’s Income Benefit Base, calculated on total premium, and also offers a 7% simple interest roll-up rate on the Income Benefit Base for the first 10 years or until the first lifetime withdrawal, whichever comes first. Bonus Income+ Rider also provides a joint income option for spouses.

Flexibility to Access Assets
Nationwide Peak 10 also offers investors certain options to access their assets with no surrender charges or market value adjustment. This includes a free withdrawal of up to 10% of their contract value³. A long-term care or confinement waiver⁴ and a terminal illness or injury waiver⁵ are also available. In addition, Nationwide Peak 10 is RMD-friendly, even if required minimum distributions exceed 10% of the investor’s contract value⁶.

Nationwide Peak 10® Fixed Indexed Annuity will be available to consumers through financial professionals across the U.S., exclusively through AmeriLife’s national distribution network of over 200,000 insurance agents and advisors, more than 35 marketing organizations, and over 50 insurance agency locations.

Financial professionals interested in Nationwide Peak 10® Fixed Indexed Annuity should contact their IMO marketer. Individual investors interested in learning more about the benefits of Nationwide Peak 10® Fixed Indexed Annuity should contact their financial professional or visit https://NationwideFinancial.com/Peak10.

¹ An account option is the fixed account, or the combination of an index + crediting option.

² All guarantees are backed by the claims paying ability of Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company.

³ Distributions prior to age 59½ may be subject to a 10% early withdrawal federal tax penalty.

⁴ 100% of the contract may be withdrawn penalty free if contract owner is confined to a nursing home for a continuous 90-day period; confinement must begin after the contract is issued and may not be available in all states; maximum issue age is 80

⁵ 100% of the contract value may be withdrawn penalty free after the first contract year if terminal illness or injury is diagnosed after the contract is issued; maximum issue age is 80; not available in NJ; in CT, available only after the second contract anniversary.

⁶ Money withdrawn from the index account during the index term will forfeit potential earnings that would have been credited at the end of the term.

Given the breadth and depth of the actions taken by many in the political process, however, Nationwide is suspending any financial contributions out of its Political Action Committee while we incorporate the broad reaching effects of these recent events into our approach and decisions going forward. This will give our PAC time to update what has always been a bipartisan strategy supporting candidates that align with our inclusive company values as well as the needs of our members and our business.

We believe in our political process and implore all of our federal elected officials to do their duty to protect and defend the Constitution by ensuring the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Biden.

The new funding will enable Indico to further capitalize on its position as a leader in the fast-growing intelligent automation category. Built on its breakthrough artificial intelligence approach, Indico enables customers to capture dramatic efficiency gains by automating the intake and understanding of the document and image-based workflows across the insurance, financial services, and healthcare industries. 

“Indico has built a compelling ‘human-in-the-loop’ A.I. platform that combines the best elements of machine learning technology and people. In certain workflows, Indico’s platform enables people to be four to eight times more productive,” said Brian Anderson, Senior Director for Nationwide’s venture capital team. “Our team believes that many of the best technologies leverage the power of people. Indico is a great example of exactly that strategy.” 

“The global pandemic has created a dramatic new set of challenges for business leaders in 2020,” said Tom Wilde, CEO Indico. “One of the most direct results has been the accelerated investment in digital transformation and automation initiatives to create more robust operating capabilities. We’re thankful for Nationwide’s investment in Indico’s solution for the automation of document intensive workflows. It will help us continue to drive results across our key verticals with our ‘business first’ product strategy and our disruptive core technology advantage.” 

Nationwide’s venture capital team has made several investments, including HOVER, Deep Sentinel, Planck, Upstream Security, KINETIC, Vesta Healthcare, Socotra, Betterview, Nexar, BlueVine, blooom, Insurify, Next Insurance, Matic, Flo Technologies, Sure, and NewRetirement.

Nationwide has committed to investing over $100 million in innovative early- and growth-stage technology companies to help drive next generation products, services, and experiences for our current and future members. 

Nationwide’s partnerships through venture capitalIn addition to Nationwide’s venture capital investment efforts, the company has several notable partnerships within the portfolio, including: 

• In August 2020, Nationwide’s Private Client team launched a Smart Home Solution with Flo by Moen which will give their customers more control in protecting their homes.

• In November 2019, Nationwide announced a three-year commercial agreement with Betterview. Betterview is quickly becoming the platform essential to every transaction around buildings and properties, enabling the insurance carrier to utilize Betterview's predictive roof analytics and risk management platform for commercial property renewals.

• In September 2019, Nationwide launched Spire - a simple, easy-to-understand digital auto insurance platform, built on fair and straightforward principles and designed to be convenient and accessible from your phone. Spire chose portfolio company Socotra as the core system to power its new digital insurance platform.

• In May 2019, Nationwide partnered with small business lender BlueVine and launched the “Pitch to Win” small business contest, which awarded more than $100,000 to small business owners.

Nationwide^® continued to cement its position as an insurance technology leader with the launch of its new Partnership Platform on Nationwide.com. The first-of-its-kind in the insurance industry, Nationwide’s Partnership Platform enables partners and developers to digitally deliver Nationwide’s best-in-class insurance products from across an unmatched portfolio of protection solutions (including auto, home, commercial, pet) on the same digital platform, making the partner experience quick, easy and seamless.

“Consumer and business expectations have evolved, and Nationwide has created industry-leading capabilities to meet those needs digitally, at scale,” says Angie Klett, Nationwide’s Senior Vice-President of Corporate Development. “This new platform allows partners to easily work with us to improve their customer experience, create value for their customers, and drive revenue for their business.”

The Nationwide Partnership Platform serves as an integrated “front door” where companies can quickly enable a partnership with Nationwide, explore our unmatched protection solutions breadth, understand the mutual benefits of partnership, and more. To use Nationwide’s Partnership Platform, potential partners will visit partner.nationwide.com and submit their information. A Nationwide specialist will provide access to the platform, discuss the terms of the relationship, and help tailor digital solutions for their business needs. Partners can rapidly design and deploy an insurance experience leveraging Nationwide’s extensive suite of application programming interfaces (APIs.)

“What historically may have taken multiple integrations, significant cost, and extended execution time across numerous carriers can now be dramatically accelerated with Nationwide’s common, integrated digital partnership platform at a significantly lower cost,” said Klett.

Currently available through the Partnership Platform is a range of pet, auto, home, and commercial insurance solutions with more solutions coming online in the next year.

“To deliver a best-in-class digital partner experience means evolving our platforms with our customers in mind,” says Michael Carrel, Nationwide’s Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Marketing & Enterprise Growth Solutions. “Nationwide will continue to enhance and extend the Partnership Platform, incorporating feedback from partners and customers to rapidly add new features and expand our capabilities.”

For more information about the Partnership Platform, visit partner.nationwide.com.

Nationwide’s technology journey
In addition to the Partnership Platform, Nationwide has made several technology investments to benefit customers, agents, and partners, including:

• Improved digital customer tools, including online options to pay bills, file claims, check account balances and get quotes;
• Expanded suite of telematics, or usage-based insurance products, including SmartRide^® and SmartMiles^®, as well as commercial telematics solutions like Nationwide Vantage 360^®;
• Launched agent tools like Nationwide Express, Nationwide Express Mobile App, and the Commercial Digital Storefront 
• Nationwide has been named by Insider Pro and Computerworld Best Places one of the top 100 work environments for technology professionals for the eighth consecutive year.

“This year has presented significant challenges for us all, from the ongoing global pandemic to the continued social injustices witnessed this year,” said NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL. “The 32 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominees remind us that even in the face of adversity, players continue to raise awareness and use their voice and platform to positively impact their communities. The nominees will leave lasting legacies across the country in a time when we need leadership and strength the most.”

For the third year in a row, all 32 team winners will be highlighted as nominees and recognized for their important work during the week leading up to Super Bowl LV. The 2020 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year will be announced during NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air nationally the week of Super Bowl LV on CBS.

All 32 nominees will receive a $40,000 donation in their name to their charity of choice. The winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award will receive a $250,000 donation to the charity of their choice. All donations are courtesy of the NFL Foundation and Nationwide.

“Nationwide is proud to recognize an impressive class of Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominees,” said Nationwide's Chief Marketing Officer RAMON JONES. “We have long known that NFL players care about the communities where they live and play, but these 32 men have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to advocate for personal causes and inspire action to support them. Nationwide is honored to play a part in sharing their stories and supporting the tremendous work of these community champions.”

Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide's 6th annual Charity Challenge, a social media campaign designed to support and promote team nominees. Fans can vote on Twitter by using #WPMOYChallenge followed by their favorite nominee's last name. The player whose unique hashtag is used the most between Dec. 10 and Jan. 17 will receive a $25,000 contribution to their charity of choice, while the second and third place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations, all courtesy of Nationwide. Hashtag information and official rules can be found at nfl.com/manoftheyear. New this year, fans can win NFL Shop gift cards and additional money for their favorite nominee’s charity. Each Monday during the #WPMOYChallenge, Nationwide will ask fans to respond on Twitter with their favorite nominee and one randomly selected fan each week will win a $100 NFL Shop gift card and $2,500 for their favorite nominee’s charity.

Beginning in 2017, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year trophy silhouette came to life in uniform elements to further recognize past award winners and current nominees. The six current players who have won the award—DREW BREES, THOMAS DAVIS, LARRY FITZGERALD, JASON WITTEN, J.J. WATT and CALAIS CAMPBELL —continue to wear a Man of the Year patch on their jerseys to recognize their outstanding contributions to the game and to their communities. All 2020 nominees will wear a Man of the Year helmet decal beginning Week 14 and continuing through the end of the season in recognition of their accomplishments on and off the field.

For more information on the nominees and the award, visit NFL.com/manoftheyear.

Below is a list of the 2020 nominees: