Valmark Financial Group Launches Its TOPS® ETF Portfolios Within John Hancock's Suite Of Variable Insurance Solutions

AKRON, Ohio, May 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Valmark Financial Group today announced the launch of its TOPS® ETF Portfolios as investment options within the variable life insurance solutions offered by John Hancock. The addition of John Hancock further solidifies TOPS® as the leading independent provider of ETF Portfolios within the life insurance and annuity market. Since its founding, Valmark has been at the intersection of the life insurance and investment world, and now, with almost 20 years of experience, TOPS® is one of the longest running managers of ETF portfolios in the U.S.  

"Variable products are a leading solution, especially in this low interest rate environment, because they align the long-term interests of insurance companies with those of policyholders," said Larry J. Rybka, Chairman and CEO at Valmark Financial Group. "This new move by John Hancock will make their products even more attractive to Valmark Member Firms who are advocates for their clients' best interests."

Variable life insurance policies and variable annuities typically offer a wide range of underlying investment choices. Managed ETF portfolios provided by TOPS® are often offered alongside traditional, actively managed funds from other leading money managers. 

"We recognize that traditional, actively managed funds and the S&P 500 index funds have historically been the most popular investment within Variable Universal Life and Variable Annuity products," said Michael McClary, Chief Investment Officer at Valmark Financial Group and TOPS® ETF Portfolio Manager. "However, we believed early on that the TOPS® Portfolios belonged alongside other high quality investment choices as a viable engine to power variable-based insurance contracts. The five risk-adjusted TOPS® portfolios offer wider diversification than a single index and rebalancing within a single sub-account."

John Hancock is the 20th insurance company to add TOPS® sub-accounts to their separate account products and rounds out all of Valmark's core carriers to be offering TOPS® as part of their portfolios.

"Our relationship with John Hancock and Manulife goes back to before we started our broker-dealer in 1996," said Rybka. "John Hancock was an early pioneer in the variable space and has always been a favored insurance solution by our Member Firms."  

"The team at John Hancock is world class," said McClary. "The in-depth due diligence process that took place in adding the TOPS® sub-account options will offer our Members additional confidence in John Hancock as long-term solutions. There is nothing more comforting than receiving affirmation from professionals you respect that you are doing a quality job and helping investors reach their goals." 

"Over the last decade, Michael McClary and his team have done an incredible job of teaming up with our carrier partners to integrate TOPS® as an investment option in many of the best-in-class variable life and annuity products in the marketplace," said Rybka. "We are proud of our advocacy for variable products and firmly believe that our true understanding of both life insurance and ETFs puts us in a unique position to improve the variable insurance offering for both clients and the broader industry."

About Valmark Financial Group, LLCValmark Financial Group is a holding company of several subsidiaries, including: Executive Insurance Agency, Inc., a national producer group; Valmark Securities, Inc., a broker-dealer and member of both FINRA and SIPC; Valmark Advisers, Inc., a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment adviser; and the Valmark Policy Management Company, LLC, which provides ongoing policy management and monitoring services for life insurance policyholders. With a proud history of working with independently owned financial services firms committed to high ethical standards in over 30 states throughout the United States, Valmark offers a wide range of insurance and investment solutions for high net-worth clients. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio with operations in St. Paul, Minnesota, Valmark, through its affiliated entities, has helped its member firms place over $50 billion of life insurance death benefits and manage insurance policies with a cumulative cash value of over $8 billion dollars. Valmark's affiliated RIA, Valmark Advisers, has an estimated $5 billion in assets under management, including approximately $2.5 billion in variable sub-account assets within its TOPS® funds. To learn more about Valmark Financial Group, visit www.valmarkfg.com.  

Securities offered through Valmark Securities, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC.

About John Hancock and ManulifeJohn Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife globally, including Canada, Asia and Europe. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were CAD$1.3 trillion (US$1.0 trillion) as of December 31, 2020. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com.

One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and education savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

Variable universal life insurance has annual fees and expenses associated with it in addition to life insurance related charges (which differ with the product chosen), including surrender charges and investment management fees. Variable universal life insurance products are long-term contracts and are sold by prospectus.  They are subject to market risk due to the underlying sub-accounts, and are unsuitable as a short term savings vehicle. The primary purpose of variable universal life insurance is to provide lifetime protection against economic loss due to the death of the insured person.  Cash values are not guaranteed if the client is invested in the investment accounts.  There are risks associated with each investment option, and the policy may lose value.

The TOPS® ETF Portfolios are managed by ValMark Advisers, Inc., and distributed by Northern Lights Distributors, LLC and Milliman Financial Risk Management, LLC serves as the sub advisor. Northern Lights Distributors, LLC is not affiliated with ValMark Advisers, Inc., Milliman Financial Risk Management, LLC or John Hancock.

The portfolios described above are not retail mutual funds and are only available under variable annuity contracts, variable life policies or through participation in tax qualified retirement plans.  Although the portfolios' investment adviser or subadvisers may manage retail mutual funds with similar names and investment objectives, no representation is made, and no assurance is given, that any portfolio's investment results will be comparable to the investment results of any other fund, including other funds with the same investment adviser or subadviser.  Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Please contact 1-800-827-4546 to obtain product and fund prospectuses (for New York, contact 1-877-391-3748, option 4).  The prospectuses contain complete details on investment objectives, risks, fees, charges and expenses as well as other information about the investment company. Please read the prospectuses carefully containing this and other information on the product and the underlying portfolios and consider these factors carefully before investing.

Insurance products are issued by: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), Boston, MA 02117 (not licensed in New York) and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Valhalla, NY 10595 and securities offered through John Hancock Distributors LLC through other broker/dealers that have a selling agreement with John Hancock Distributors LLC, 197 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02117.

Contact: Jamie Summerville – VP, CommunicationsValmark Financial Group130 Springside DriveAkron, OH 44333P: 330.576.1234 x3609E: [email protected]www.valmarkfg.com

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SOURCE Valmark Financial Group