Press Release

Allianz Expands Sales Team to Support Increasing Interest in Protecting Retirement Assets

Issued by Allianz

Feb. 13, 2024

The annuity market hit a new record in 2023 with Americans increasingly worried about their retirement

MINNEAPOLIS – Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life) announced today that its broker dealer, Allianz Life Financial Services, LLC, has significantly expanded its sales team to support Americans’ increasing interest in products that provide a level of protection. 

A dozen new positions were added at the start of 2024. And, since 2020, the number of internal sales reps has grown more than 60%, while external representatives have grown 25%.

In particular, Allianz Life Financial Services, LLC increased its presence in the southeast, northeast and Great Lakes regions of the U.S. to represent fixed index annuities (FIAs) and registered-index linked annuities (RILAs). Allianz Life has also expanded its number of sales territories from 58 in 2020 to 72 at the beginning of 2024.

“Growing our team will help us increase our support of financial professionals and their clients by bringing Allianz Life products to more Americans as they seek ways to relieve financial stress through retirement,” said Allianz Life Financial Services, LLC President Corey Walther. “Allianz Life is uniquely positioned to help Americans with both fixed index annuities and registered-index linked annuities that are designed to mitigate risk with a level of protection to help clients attain their retirement goals.”

More Americans are interested in adding FIAs and RILAs to their retirement portfolios. For example, two in three Americans (66%) said they want to add a financial product to their portfolio that offers protection from market downturns in a study from Allianz Life. The overall annuity market hit a new sales record in 2023 driven by prevailing market dynamics like inflation and market volatility posing significant risks to long-term financial stability.

“We believe that clients will continue to seek a financial strategy that helps them manage risks and volatility,” Walther said. “Products like annuities will continue to play an important role in those strategies to help ease some of the biggest worries about preparing for long-term financial stability.”

Allianz added four new wholesalers

As part of the growth, Allianz Life added four wholesalers to bring the company into new territories at the start of the year.  Two of the new wholesalers were promoted within the company. Murray Gengler will represent eastern Tennessee and John Thyberg will cover southern New Jersey and Delaware.

Allianz Life has hired Vinny Minutolo as a regional vice president for broker dealers in the central and northern Florida territory. For the last 13 years, Minutolo was a top performer in the independent channel at Lincoln Financial Distributors. Minutolo was a regional vice president at where he supported independent advisors in central and north Florida for Lincoln’s variable annuities.

Christos Bouroutis joined Allianz Life as a regional vice president for broker dealers. Bouroutis will represent the northeast district in central New Jersey and northern Pennsylvania. He previously worked at TruStage Financial Group, MetLife, Inc. and Transamerica Corp.

* Allianz Life conducted an online survey, the 2023 Q4 Quarterly Market Perceptions Study in November 2023 with a nationally representative sample of 1,005 Respondents age 18+.

Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. Variable annuity guarantees do not apply to the performance of the variable subaccounts, which will fluctuate with market conditions.

Products are issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. Variable products are distributed by its affiliate, Allianz Life Financial Services, LLC, member FINRA, 5701 Golden Hills Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55416-1297. 800.542.5427 www.allianzlife.com

This content does not apply to the state of New York.

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