An annuity platform
designed for one, simple thing...

Always doing right by the client.

We created a paradigm for annuities that prioritizes the client.

Not the firm, not the representative, not the regulator, but the client. We transform how annuities can be managed, how they can be recommended, and how they can be supervised. Always doing right by the client strengthens compliance, lowers costs, and increases revenue.

We are a transformative annuity platform
reshaping the industry

Actionable Data

Full-range data integration.

Having only part of the data puzzle won't work. Integrating annuity data, contract rules, and client financials transforms what is possible.

Easy Compliance

Low-touch and highly structured.

Through WSP integration, thoughtful automation, and custom algorithms designed for your firm, AKSYS can deliver a transformative compliance experience.

Revenue + Service

Doing right creates revenue.

An unparalleled menu of Platform Strategies services the life of the client and generates long-term revenue.

Doing the right thing for the client

The ideal relationships we have with clients are built on loyalty and trust and reflects a strong foundation of credibility, commitment, and integrity, regardless of the hats we wear.

According to the FINRA Industry Snapshot for 2025, 51% of all 634,508 BD registered individuals were dually registered as both an investment advisor and broker. This upward trend results in more and more dual registrants each year. For annuity recommendations, which hat an dual registrant wears with their client really comes down to the hot topic of monitoring.

But there are increasing challenges in today's annuity industry...

Labor-intensive compliance requirements encourage inaction.

Annuity complexities create immense workload.

Annuity data is never only in one place.

Quantitatively demonstrating specific annuity value for a client, existing accounts or new accounts, is not scalable.

Clients don't understand the impact of disclosures.

It is well accepted that clients do not understand technical disclosure language and that plain English should be used instead. Even using plain English, disclosures should explain the material impacts and limitations of disclosing away monitoring, especially for highly complex products.

In the end, regardless of what disclosure the client signs, sees or hears, they expect a duty of loyalty and duty of care with their money - period.

AKSYS solves these challenges

Unrivaled solutions to hard problems

From the Broker-Dealer and RIA standpoint

Any firm with annuity lines of business faces a litany of challenges beginning with Rule 2330 and Rule 2111, then DOL, then Reg BI. The increased popularity of investment advisory business models blurs the fiduciary lines of "dual-capacity" advisors. Firms with annuity lines of business are constantly - and rightly - fixated on how to efficiently achieve regulatory compliance at both the federal and state level. How do we solve these challenges?

Inforce Annuities & Future Annuities

Our Platform Strategies
Algorithms that sit atop inforce annuities to surveil for contract conditions, contract artifacts, and client financial needs consistent with a targeted WSP directive.
enforce a uniform standard consistent with both Reg BI and Standard of Conduct for IA's where compliance is structured, demonstrable, and predictable.

Our pillars of data integration

WSP Integration

AKSYS sets the table for Principal review by custom integration of your firm's WSP rules and parameters. This virtual Gatekeeper reduces errors and preparation time while preemptively identifying gray areas.

Automated Heightened Review Items reported in response to conditions specified in the WSP.

This conserves Supervisory energy for higher thought processes instead of on redundancies and clerical issues.

Automated Heightened Review Items reported in response to conditions specified in the WSP.

This conserves Supervisory energy for higher thought processes instead of on redundancies and clerical issues.

DTCC API Integration

Robust, real-time

Data is available as of close of previous business day through DTCC's data services.

annuity contract data (VA, RILA, FIA, FA) is integrated into every one of our Platform Strategy algorithms. Specifically, POV, FAR, and IIEX API integration allows our platform to operate on live annuity data.

Robust, real-time

Data is available as of close of previous business day through DTCC's data services.

Contract Rules Integration

Every annuity contract attribute, including but not limited to Product, Living and Death benefit component valuations, and feature rules, is periodically updated from regulatory filings and integrated into every platform strategy. These Contract Rules inform our algorithms on cost and benefit valuation structures and how they are affected by action, or inaction.

Client Profile Integration

The bedrock tenet of the AKSYS Platform is the client financial profile. Every Platform Strategy is integrated with client financial information so that ALIGNMENT can be algorithmically determined with clearly identified, mathematically derived client Financial Objectives, Time Horizon, Risk Tolerance, and Liquidity Needs.

Platform Onboarding Process

Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation

The process begins with our vendor relationship with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation which is a holding company that provides broker-dealers the post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, offering services like clearing and settlement for securities transactions through its subsidiaries, which include the Depository Trust Company (DTC) and the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). Through agreement between AKSYS and the broker-dealer, the broker-dealer’s contract data is securely transmitted daily to AKSYS and is encrypted at rest. If your firm is not already setup on DTCC, AKSYS can coordinate with our DTCC Relationship Manager to get the process started.

Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval & Contract Rules

The SEC’s repository for annuity prospectuses, supplements, and other regulatory filings is called EDGAR which stands for the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system. All annuity Separate Account (VA & RILA) entities are required to make these federal registration filings on EDGAR, and are often organized in a way that enables computer-readable content via Inline XBLR. AKSYS is connected to EDGAR and receives new and updated contract information as soon as it is posted on EDGAR. Once DTCC connectivity has been established, AKSYS can start linking individual annuity contracts to their contract rule repositories via Product CUSIP numbers and service feature codes.

AKSYS Client Data Repository

As the name suggests, the AKSYS Client Data Repository (ACDR) is the repository for client financial data. This information can be imported from the financial professional’s CRM and updated through a web-based API (Application Programming Interface). Through DTCC connectivity, AKSYS links ACDR records to their respective blocks of annuity accounts.

Digitized Written Supervisory Procedures

The Digitized Written Supervisory Procedures (DWSP) represents a process by which we convert your applicable WSP policies and rules into data attributes that are capable of interpretation by AKSYS Platform Strategy algorithms. We would typically digitize the firm's WSP's once all other connectivity has been established so that we can first deliver the firm their unique annuity book of business Platform Insights which allow for more informed, meaningful customization.

Platform Strategy Subscriptions

We will begin subscribing individual annuities into relevant Platform Strategies that align with the long-term intent of the annuity's unique features as well as WSP directives that AKSYS is directed by the firm to follow.

Global Reporting

The AKSYS Platform, through its global reporting capabilities, identifies multiple categories and conditions of in-force Contract Drift

Contract Drift is when an annuity's benefits and costs, or feature availabilities, have become disjointed from where it started causing the annuity to become over-charged, under-valued, and uncompetitve with annuity market alternatives. This can be caused by market loss or growth, contract age, and client age.

℠ with AKSYS Insights Reports. A real eye opener, this Corporate Perspective goes well beyond basic annuity AUM reporting and reveals areas of vulnerabilities policyholders are experiencing typically unforeseen by Compliance or management. Your Executive Team, Compliance and Business Development departments will gain previously unattainable and very valuable information from this reporting.

Platform Strategies

General Framework

AKSYS has 16 Platform Strategies designed to pursue Alignment,

These Platform Strategies are directed to determine whether contracts are currently aligned to the client's financial profile and objectives.

Optimization,

These Platform Strategies are directed to determine whether contracts are currently optimized as to their cost structures, feature sets, and correspondent benefit values.

or Utilization

These Platform Strategies are directed to determine whether contracts are being utilized, currently or over a time period, according to their contract features, long-term intent, and costs.

on a daily basis. This general framework conforms to Reg BI, NAIC, DOL, and IAR obligations.

Signals

Each Platform Strategy has its own algorithm to create Signals

Signals are algorithms designed specifically to alert the AKSYS Platform that the subscribed annuity's unique components and intended purpose, time horizon, risk tolerance, or liquidity needs, is no longer aligned, optimized, or utilized.

℠, which inform the AKSYS Platform that the subscribed annuity is either no longer aligned, optimized, or utilized.

Proposals

The reaction to a Signal is for the AKSYS Platform to propose how that subscribed annuity can be better aligned, better optimized, or better utilized according to that particular Platform Strategy. Proposals are generated and electronically delivered to the Financial Professional's portal.

Sample Client A

For example, each annuity for Sample Client A is subscribed to one, or more, of these Platform Strategies as illustrated below:

Sample Client A

Sample Annuity #1

Sample Annuity #2

Sample Annuity #3

Sample Annuity #4

The AKSYS Platform is Always Active

Each annuity is subscribed to its relevant Platform Strategies. Signal algorithms are always crunching the previous day's close data for the annuity in conjunction with all other repositories of data.

Today, Sample Annuity #1 has a Signal

If Sample Annuity #1 is generating a Signal under Platform Strategy 01, then the AKSYS Platform generates a Proposal for how that subscribed annuity can be better aligned according to Platform Strategy 01.

Next Week, Sample Annuity #2 has a Signal

Similarly, if Sample Annuity #2 is generating a Signal under Platform Strategy 06, then the AKSYS Platform generates a Proposal for how that subscribed annuity can be better optimized according to Platform Strategy 06.

A Question About Ongoing Monitoring

Ongoing Monitoring, who wants to do that? Periodic reviews require time, planning, research, effort and coordination with unpredictable client schedules. Annuity underlying subaccount values move daily, and over time, the next day’s market swing could cause exceptions beyond acceptable ranges. Similarly, client events such as auto purchases, mortgage payoffs, income changes, and the like, affect Alignment. The natural operation of the AKSYS Platform produces a de facto daily review process leap-frogging any need to schedule ongoing monitoring. The AKSYS Platform red flags a range of exceptions through Signals,

literally the day after it happens.

Highly Structured Compliance

The AKSYS Platform framework reduces time frames and lowers costs. Each Platform Strategy’s output - Signals, Proposals, and more – are in sync with Digitized WSP parameters. Thus making for an organized, redundant, defendable, and trainable compliance review process.

A Day in the Life

The Financial Professional

How the Platform Works Day-in, Day-out for the Financial Professional

Previous Day Close Analysis From within your annuity book of business's previous day's close, the various AKSYS Platform Strategies identify and electronically deliver a listing of Proposals to your portal.
PreChecked Proposals Each Proposal generated by the AKSYS Platform reflects an inforce annuity move that was Signaled under one of the 16 Platform Strategies, and which garnered a favorable PreCheck status.
Based on the Digitized WSP, we can check whether certain compliance rules and parameters have been passed and if so, we will mark the Proposal with a favorable PreCheck status.
You will already be familiar
AKSYS will have worked closely with you during the Platform Onboarding to ensure understanding of the Platform Strategies.
with your clients’ Financial Profile, Objective Alignment status, and the Platform Strategy’s purpose and parameters. However, if you do need a refresher, all this necessary information is included in the Proposal.
Proposal Review You review each Proposal in your portal. Those you choose to accept will be acknowledged by you and selected for Recommendation Packet (RecPac℠) generation.
RecPac Generation Once we receive a Proposal acceptance from you, the Platform will compile and generate your RecPac and electronically deliver the pdf to your portal. The RecPac includes all necessary compliance documentation, Carrier forms, and paperwork, which you can download and save, or print out for your old-school clients.
Schedule Client Appointment Upon your review of the RecPac, after including any changes or modifications you may want, your office then schedules an appointment (in person, telephone, zoom) with your client for pitch and presentation of the RecPac.
Compliance Submission Upon receiving client acceptance and approval via electronic or wet-ink signatures, the RecPac is submitted electronically or scanned and transmitted to Compliance for final approval. All preparation and supporting external information, including the display of current values of the sending and receiving accounts as well as illustrations, articles, etc., is included. Electronic submissions require no actual paperwork generation, nor any pen to paper. Those requiring paper submissions will only require wet signatures – no manual entries.
Final Compliance Approval Resolution of any outstanding compliance requirements will be attached to the Proposal Identification Number (PID)
AKSYS will automatically assign a unique identification number called the Proposal Identification Number (PID) to each Proposal which will faciliate organization of data, documents, and archival.
in your portal so that business can close timely.
Archival Archival of the Proposal Identification Number (PID)
AKSYS will automatically assign a unique identification number called the Proposal Identification Number (PID) to each Proposal which will faciliate organization of data, documents, and archival.
will ensure you retain access to all related records for the Proposal, RecPac, and related records for future download, printing, or review.

The Back Office Assistant

How the Platform Works Day-in, Day-out for the Back Office Assistant

Client Appointment Management From the previous day’s close, your portal will receive a listing of clients to be scheduled for a review of their annuity contracts. Depending on your comfort levels and experience, you may peruse the RecPacs generated through the AKSYS Platform “just in case”. If something does not feel right, you call your AKSYS Point of Contact (POC)
During Platform Onboarding, AKSYS will assign a dedicated individual tasked with being your single point-of-contact to coordinate resolutions for you.
to ask any questions or to express any concerns you may have. You do your usual thing, but will no longer have to manually prepare applications, suitability forms, etc. It may take some time to get comfortable with the idea that all paperwork has been compiled and populated for you in the RecPac, which is why you should feel free to review everything until you are comfortable. You will schedule client meetings in whichever ways your office normally conducts client meetings (in person, telephone, or virtual meeting), and upon client acceptance, gather e-signatures or wet-ink signatures.
Gathering Client Signatures After all parties have signed, you will upload compliance documents and carrier paperwork through the AKSYS portal according to the RecPac's PID number for final compliance review.
Final Compliance Approval Resolution of any outstanding compliance requirements will be attached to the Proposal Identification Number (PID)
AKSYS will automatically assign a unique identification number called the Proposal Identification Number (PID) to each Proposal which will faciliate organization of data, documents, and archival.
in your portal so that business can close timely.
Carrier Submission Once final compliance approval is awarded, you can submit the business as usual via fax or email ( electronic order entry coming soon! ) and thereafter track the status of the transaction by its Proposal Identification Number (PID)
AKSYS will automatically assign a unique identification number called the Proposal Identification Number (PID) to each Proposal which will faciliate organization of data, documents, and archival.
in your portal. You will update any NIGO
Not-in-good-order (NIGO) issues are when carrier paperwork is rejected when information is incomplete, incorrect, or missing.
issues through your portal. Your AKSYS POC
During Platform Onboarding, AKSYS will assign a dedicated individual tasked with being your single point-of-contact to coordinate resolutions for you.
will assist you the whole way through in overcoming any carrier roadblocks.

The Supervising Principal

How the Platform Works Day-in, Day-out for the Supervising Principal

Compliance controls the workflow

PreCheck Review From the previous day’s close, the various AKSYS Platform Strategies have identified inforce annuity contract moves that were Signaled under one or more of the 16 Platform Strategies. These are delivered electronically to your AKSYS compliance portal where you can expand the content of each Proposal Identification Number (PID)
AKSYS will automatically assign a unique identification number called the Proposal Identification Number (PID) to each Proposal which will faciliate organization of data, documents, and archival.
(including simulation of the entire Recpac if needed). You have become rapidly familiar with the Platform and are knowledgeable of the specifics regarding each Platform Strategy. So, barring any AKSYS Heightened Review Items,
The Digitized WSP's will enable Platform Strategy algorithms to automatically generate Heightened Review Items that require special attention or careful disclosure.
you can perform a “40 second review” based on your stated WSP parameters (shown on a single page). In the presence of AKSYS Heightened Review Items, it may take additional time, but the appropriate heightened review attention will be included. Note: If the attention or action required by the Heightened Review Item is insufficient, the Proposal will have been automatically rejected and prevented from landing in your AKSYS compliance portal. This is Compliance Gatekeeping at work.
Affirmative PreCheck Next, by affirmative selection, your PreCheck moves the Proposal forward to the Financial Professional's portal with a favorable PreCheck status. This begins the Financial Professional's workflow where he would then decide whether to accept the Proposal and activate for RecPac generation.
Negative PreCheck If PreCheck is not affirmative, your rejection will move the Proposal back to the AKSYS Platform with failed PreCheck status.
Final Compliance Approval Any outstanding final compliance approval requirements will be communicated, recorded, and attached to the PID in both your compliance portal and the Financial Professional's portal. Completion of outstanding items can be tracked, resolved, and affirmed from within your compliance portal so that business can close timely.
Archival Archival of the Proposal Identification Number (PID)
AKSYS will automatically assign a unique identification number called the Proposal Identification Number (PID) to each Proposal which will faciliate organization of data, documents, and archival.
will ensure you retain access to all related records for the Proposal, RecPac, and related records for future download, printing, or review.

Our Platform Stats

Transactions

20,000+

Premium

$193MM+

Years

About us

Founder, Principal

Timothy J. Hightower

With nearly 30 years experience in the financial services industry, Tim serves as the founding principal to AKSYS and is key to strategy development, innovation, and insight.

President

Rory P. McDonald

With 18 years experience in the financial services industry, Rory is responsible for converging strategy and concept into invention and implementation.

Software Developer, Senior

Donald Johnson

Bringing nearly a lifetime of software development and engineering experience, Don is key to our technology apparatus, data connectivity, and engineering innovations.

Client Relationship Manager

Laura L. McDonald

With 25 years experience in financial service office support, Laura has deep industry experience in business processing in her role as platform support to advisor teams and their back offices.

Carrier Relationship Manager

Mary T. Ellison

Mary is responsible for building and maintaining carrier relationships for business flow, data flow, and partnerships, leveraging her 17 years experience in financial service office support.

Software Developer, Junior

Joshua Martinez

Joshua is a core part of our creative team responsible for bringing ideas-to-screen, concepts-to-code, and enhancing user experiences across our app brands.

Analyst

Matthew Luebbert

Matthew is a foundational part of our analytics team responsible for data integrity, daily oversight of platform strategy signals, and broadening the capabilities of our analytics automation.

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We are a transformative annuity platform reshaping the industry

Doing the right thing for the client

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We are a transformative annuity platform
reshaping the industry