SIMON Markets and SIMON Annuities and Insurance Services (SIMON) and Raymond James Financial have teamed up to bring SIMON’s end-to-end digital platform for annuities to all 8,000-plus Raymond James advisors. The new partnership extends SIMON’s best-in-class insurtech solution to Raymond James’ national network of advisors, aligning both firms in their commitment to radically simplify wealth management through product education and analytics.
SIMON’s award-winning platform for annuities is now available to all Raymond James advisors via single-sign-on connectivity, delivering an engaging digital experience with access to on-demand training and analytics for annuity products approved at Raymond James.
“Our vision of placing transparent, accessible information in the hands of advisors is strategically aligned with Raymond James’ education-based approach to wealth management,” says Jason Broder, CEO of SIMON. “With this partnership, SIMON and Raymond James are together reshaping the way advisors serve their clients. We couldn’t be more excited to deliver the insurtech capabilities of SIMON’s platform to such an impressive group of market participants, and to have their leadership around the table as we innovate new solutions.”
Scott Stolz, President of Raymond James Insurance Group, says: “Given the diversity and breadth of annuity products in the marketplace today, education is imperative. Up until now, it’s been a challenge to access all of the available – and often required – training. SIMON’s annuities solution brings all NAIC product-specific training from 20+ carriers to one, easy-to-use platform. In addition, its in-depth product analysis that resides in the system’s Marketplace will make it easier for our advisors to sort through the various product options to find the solution that best meets their clients’ financial needs. To have all of this right on our advisors’ desktops is a huge step forward.”
“As a single source of real-time information about annuity products, SIMON is an end-to-end experience for the recommendation, sale, and servicing of annuities,” adds Beth Maziad, Senior Vice President of Raymond James Insurance Group. “While product-specific training and product education are the first pieces implemented at Raymond James, we’re laying the foundation to roll out the platform’s Marketplace and post-trade analytics as well, which will greatly enhance and simplify the advisor experience.”
The annuities solution launch expands the existing partnership between SIMON and Raymond James, following the launch of SIMON’s end-to-end solution for structured investments to all Raymond James advisors in 2019.
Tom Layton, Vice President of Product Management at Raymond James, who played a pivotal role in introducing SIMON to the firm and the subsequent rollout of SIMON’s structured investments solution last year, noted, “SIMON helps our advisors learn about, access, and utilize risk-managed products in a more efficient manner. Expanding our partnership with SIMON to include annuities was a logical next step, and it aligns with Raymond James’ commitment to provide our advisors with industry-leading financial services technology to support their clients and business.”
