Midwest Holding Announces Launch of S&P 500 ESG Index for the Fixed Annuity Space

Midwest Holding Announces Launch of S&P 500 ESG Index for the Fixed Annuity Space

LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Midwest Holding Inc. (NASDAQ: MDWT), a technology-driven, life and annuity platform, today announced that its subsidiary American Life & Security Corp has launched the industry's first ever Fixed Annuities based on the S&P 500 ESG Index.

The S&P 500 ESG Index is comprised of a subset S&P 500 companies built to meet the increasing needs of investors seeking socially responsible investments aligned with a mainstream index which is published by one of the foremost index authorities in the world, S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI).

"We are pleased to announce the addition of the S&P 500 ESG Index as a part of our American Select Fixed Indexed Annuity product suite. Offering our customers access to socially responsible investment options is important to us as a company and corporate citizen, and we are thrilled to be the first carrier to launch in the space." said Midwest Holding Chief Executive Officer Georgette C. Nicholas.

S&P DJI published an article in November exploring the implementation of ESG strategies and their growing importance to the insurance space: Insurance Talks: Exploring ESG Implementation in Insurance, a timely complement to American Life's new product launch.

The S&P 500 ESG Index is a broad-based, market-cap-weighted index designed to measure the performance of securities meeting sustainability criteria, while maintaining similar overall industry group weights as the S&P 500. The index's methodology scores and ranks eligible companies through S&P DJI's proprietary ESG Scores, targeting 75% of the market capitalization in each S&P 500 GICS^® industry group. 

About Midwest Holding Inc.
Midwest Holding Inc. (NASDAQ:MDWT) is a technology enabled life and annuity company. Midwest is comprised of four distinct, inter-connected businesses that work together to connect individuals seeking to fund retirement with asset managers and institutional investors seeking uncorrelated, enhanced returns. Midwest develops and distributes annuity products with these investors who form, capitalize and manage their own reinsurance capital vehicles utilizing Midwest's infrastructure and expertise. Ultimately, the goal is to build a platform capable of significant long-term earnings power for the company's stakeholders. For more information visit http://midwestholding.com

The S&P 500 ESG Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (S&P DJI), and has been licensed for use by Midwest Holding Inc. S&P® and S&P 500^® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P"); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by S&P DJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by Midwest. Midwest's Fixed Annuities based on the S&P 500 ESG Index are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P DJI, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates, and none of such parties makes any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P DJI.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could," "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "intend," or "continue," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology used in connection with any discussion of future operating results or financial performance. These statements are only predictions and reflect our management's good faith present expectation of future events and are subject to a number of important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements include among others, the following:

• the success of the changes in our executive leadership;
• our business plan, particularly including our reinsurance strategy, may not prove to be successful;
• our reliance on third-party insurance marketing organizations to market and sell our annuity insurance products through a network of independent agents;
• failure to maintain adequate reinsurance;
• our inability to expand our insurance operations outside the 22 states and District of Columbia in which we are currently licensed;
• our annuity products may not achieve significant market acceptance;
• failure to obtain new customers, retain existing customers, or reductions in policies in force by existing customers; and
• higher service, administrative, or general expense due to the implementation of our business plan.

Readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements.  For details on factors that could affect these expectations, see also the risk factors and other cautionary language included in Midwest's filings with the SEC, which can be obtained online at the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov or on Midwest's website at http://www.midwestholding.com. Except as required by law, Midwest does not undertake to update forward-looking statements contained in this release.

Contacts:
Investor: ir@midwestholding.com
Media: press@midwestholding.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/midwest-holding-announces-launch-of-sp-500-esg-index-for-the-fixed-annuity-space-301454958.html

SOURCE Midwest Holding Inc.