Symetra Life Insurance Company, Bellevue, Wash., has introduced a new variable annuity that is among the most cost-effective of such products on the market. The Symetra Focus Variable Annuity is also one of the only variable annuities available featuring index investment options from Vanguard. The product's low-cost structure and premier investment options are designed to help clients keep more of the returns generated from investments linked to the annuity.

Among variable annuities, costs such as excessive mortality and expense (M&E) fees, administration charges, fund expenses and distribution charges can dramatically reduce financial growth. By contrast, lower charges leave more of the client's money in investment accounts to compound and grow. According to VARDS, a leading source of variable annuities data, average total contract expenses for variable
annuities were 2.51% of assets in 2006.

With Symetra Focus, the average total cost including all available investment options is 1.59% -- 36.6%less than the industry average. Compared with average total expenses among the five most popular variable annuities, Symetra Focus would result in average annual expense savings of 71 basis points for a typical purchase. Those savings could result in significant additional earnings for the client over the long term.