Empire Life | New Dividend Scale for Optimax Rate Series 1, 2 and 3
Effective October 1, 2012 we will be decreasing the dividend scale on certain Series of Optimax policies. Please note these changes do not affectpolicies known as Optimax III or the current version of Optimax.
When we establish premium rates for a participating plan, we project the amount we expect to distribute to policyholders as future dividends. From time to time, we may need to adjust the dividend scale when certain factors change, such as mortality expectations or trends on investment returns of the participating account.
Lower interest rates have resulted in lower returns and we now find it necessary to decrease the dividend scale for the first three Series of Optimax policies. These dividend decreases will start with dividends declared on or after October 1st, 2012. Decreases tend to vary by issue age with larger reductions at the mid-to-lower issue ages. The decreases also vary by Rate Series.
The dividends on participating bonus additions, (also referred to as paid-up additions), available on the second and third Rate Series of Optimax, will also be decreased at this time. These dividends were particularly sensitive to the interest rate changes and will be reduced 25% from their current scale.