PHL Variable Accumulation Account
The Big Edge Choice®
The Phoenix Edge®-VA
Phoenix Spectrum Edge®
Phoenix Spectrum Edge®+
Retirement Planner’s Edge
Freedom Edge®
Phoenix Premium Edge®
Phoenix Income Choice®
Phoenix Investor’s Edge®
Phoenix Dimensions®
Phoenix Asset Manager
Supplement to Prospectuses
This supplement should be read with the currently effective prospectuses, along with any supplements to the currently effective prospectuses, for the above listed variable annuity products.
The section entitled “PHL Variable and the Separate Account” is deleted and replaced with the following:
PHL Variable and the Separate Account
We are PHL Variable Insurance Company, a Connecticut stock life insurance company incorporated on July 15, 1981. (“PHL Variable”) We sell life insurance policies and annuity contracts through producers of affiliated distribution companies and through brokers. Our executive and our administrative offices are located at One American Row, Hartford, Connecticut, 06103-2899.
PHL Variable is a wholly owned subsidiary of Phoenix Life Insurance Company (“Phoenix”) through its holding company, PM Holdings, Inc. Phoenix is a life insurance company, which is wholly owned by The Phoenix Companies, Inc. (“PNX”), which is a manufacturer of insurance, annuity and asset management products.
On December 7, 1994, we established the Separate Account, a separate account created under the insurance laws of Connecticut. The Separate Account is registered with the SEC as a unit investment trust under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) and it meets the definition of a “separate account” under the 1940 Act. Registration under the 1940 Act does not involve supervision by the SEC of the management or investment practices or policies of the Separate Account or of PHL Variable.
The Separate Account has several investment options with varying degrees of investment risk. You may make contributions to the Separate Account but you assume all of the investment risk for the contract value that you contribute and allocate to the Separate Account. You may also make contributions to the MVA1. The MVA is a non-unitized separate account established pursuant to Connecticut insurance law. For more complete information see the “MVA” section below. Under Connecticut law these Separate Account assets are segregated from our general account and all income, gains or losses, whether or not realized, of the Separate Account must be credited to or charged against the amounts placed in the Separate Account without regard to the other income, gains and losses from any other business or activity of the insurer. The assets of the Separate Account may not be used to pay liabilities arising out of any other business that an insurer conducts and as such are insulated from the creditors of the insurer. We reserve the right to add, remove, modify, or substitute any investment option in the Separate Account.
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For Freedom Edge and Phoenix Income Choice, any reference to the term “MVA” in this supplement is deleted. |
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Obligations under the contracts are obligations of PHL Variable Insurance Company. You may make contributions to the GIA2 which is supported by the assets in PHL Variable’s general account and such contributions are not invested in the Separate Account. The GIA is part of the general account of PHL Variable (the “General Account”). The General Account supports all insurance and annuity obligations of PHL Variable and is made up of all of its general assets other than those allocated to any separate account such as the Separate Account. For more complete information, see the “GIA” section below.
Contract Guarantees
Any guarantee under the contract, such as interest credited to the GIA , MVA, or any guarantee provided by a rider to your variable annuity are paid from our general account. Therefore, any amounts that we may pay under the contract as part of a guarantee are subject to our long-term ability to make such payments. The assets of the Separate Account are available to cover the liabilities of our General Account to the extent that the Separate Account assets exceed the Separate Account liabilities arising under the policies supported by it.
Under Connecticut law, insurance companies are required to hold a specified amount of reserves in order to meet the contractual obligations of their general account to contract owners. State insurance regulators also require insurance companies to maintain a minimum amount of capital, which acts as a cushion in the event that the insurer suffers a financial impairment, based on the inherent risks in the insurer’s operations. These risks include those associated with losses that an insurer could incur as the result of its own investment of its general account assets, which could include bonds, mortgages, general real estate investments, and stocks. Useful information about Phoenix’s financial strength, including information on our General Account portfolio of investments, may be found on our website located under “About Us”/”Financial Strength” along with information on ratings assigned to us by one or more independent rating organizations. Additionally, the consolidated financial statements and financial schedules from PNX and subsidiaries’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, may also be found on our website, www.phoenixwm.com, or a copy of any of the above referenced documents may be obtained for free by calling our Annuity Operations Division.
The section entitled, “Sale of Variable Accumulation Contracts “ is deleted and replaced with the following:
PHL Variable has designated Phoenix Equity Planning Corporation (“PEPCO”) to serve as the principal underwriter and distributor of the securities offered through this Prospectus, pursuant to the terms of a distribution agreement. PEPCO, which is an affiliate of the PHL Variable, also acts as the principal underwriter and distributor of other variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies issued by the PHL Variable and its affiliated companies. PHL Variable reimburses PEPCO for expenses PEPCO incurs in distributing the Contracts (e.g. commissions payable to retail broker-dealers who sell the Contracts). PEPCO does not retain any fees under the Contracts; however, PEPCO may receive 12b-1 fees from the underlying funds.
PEPCO’s principal executive offices are located at 610 W.Germantown Pike, Suite 460, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. PEPCO is registered as a broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as the securities commissions in the states in which it operates, and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or (“FINRA”) (formerly known as the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. or NASD).
PEPCO and PHL Variable enter into selling agreements with broker-dealers who are registered with the SEC and are members of FINRA, and with entities that may offer the Contracts but are exempt from registration. Applications for the Contract are solicited by registered representatives who are associated persons of such broker-dealer firms. Such representatives act as appointed agents of PHL Variable under applicable state insurance law and must be licensed to sell variable insurance products. PHL Variable intends to offer the Contract in all jurisdictions where it is licensed to do business and where the Contract is approved. The Contracts are offered on a continuous basis.
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For Phoenix Income Choice, any reference to the term “GIA” in this supplement is replaced with the term “FIA.” For Freedom Edge, any reference to the term “GIA” in this supplement is deleted. |
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Compensation
Broker-dealers who have selling agreements with PEPCO and PHL Variable are paid compensation for the promotion and sale of the Contracts. Registered representatives who solicit sales of the Contract typically receive a portion of the compensation payable to the broker-dealer firm, depending on the agreement between the firm and the registered representative. A broker-dealer firm or registered representative of a firm may receive different compensation for selling one product over another and/or may be inclined to favor or disfavor one product provider over another product provider due to differing compensation rates.
We generally pay compensation as a percentage of purchase payments invested in the Contract. Alternatively, we may pay lower compensation on purchase payments but pay periodic asset-based compensation in all or some years based on all or a portion of the Contract Value. The amount and timing of compensation may vary depending on the selling agreement and the payment option selected by the broker- dealer and/or the registered representative but is not expected to exceed 8.0% of purchase payments if up-front compensation is paid to registered representatives and up to 2.5% annually of contract value (if asset based compensation is paid).
To the extent permitted by FINRA rules, overrides and promotional incentives or cash and non-cash payments also may be provided to such broker-dealers based on sales volumes, the assumption of wholesaling functions, or other sales-related criteria. Additional payments may be made for other services not directly related to the sale of the contract, including the recruitment and training of personnel, production of promotional literature and similar services.
This Contract does not assess a front-end sales charge, so you do not directly pay for sales and distribution expenses. Instead, you indirectly pay for sales and distribution expenses through the overall charges and fees assessed under the Contract. For example, any profits PHL Variable may realize through assessing the mortality and expense risk charge under your Contract may be used to pay for sales and distribution expenses. PHL Variable may also pay for sales and distribution expenses out of any payments PHL Variable or PEPCO may receive from the underlying funds for providing administrative, marketing and other support and services to the underlying funds. If your Contract assesses a surrender charge, proceeds from this charge may be used to reimburse PHL Variable for sales and distribution expenses. No additional sales compensation is paid if you select any optional benefits under your Contract.
We have unique arrangements for compensation with select broker-dealer firms based on the firm’s aggregate or anticipated sales of contracts or other factors. We enter into such arrangements at our discretion and we may negotiate customized arrangements with firms based on various criteria. As such, special compensation arrangements are not offered to all broker-dealer firms. Compensation payments made under such arrangements will not result in any additional charge to you.
PHL Variable and PEPCO have also entered into so-called preferred distribution arrangements with certain broker-dealer firms. These arrangements have sometimes been called “shelf space” arrangements. Under these arrangements, PHL Variable and PEPCO pay separate, additional compensation to the broker-dealer firm for services the broker-dealer provides in connection with the distribution of the PHL Variable’s products. The payments are made from the Company’s general assets and they may be significant. The broker-dealer may realize a profit on these payments. These services may include providing PHL Variable with access to the distribution network of the broker-dealer, the hiring and training of the broker-dealer’s sales personnel, the sponsoring of conferences and seminars by the broker-dealer, or general marketing services performed by the broker-dealer. The broker-dealer may also provide other services or incur other costs in connection with distributing PHL Variable’s products.
Any such compensation payable to a broker-dealer firm will be made by PEPCO or PHL Variable out of their own assets and will not result in any additional direct charge to you. Such compensation may cause the broker-dealer firm and its registered representatives to favor PHL Variable’s products. PHL Variable and PEPCO currently have preferred distribution arrangements with Summit Brokerage Services, Investacorp Inc. and CFD Investments. We may periodically establish compensation specials whereby we pay a higher amount for sales of a contract during a specified period. While a
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compensation special is in effect, registered representatives may be inclined to favor a product that pays a higher compensation over another product where a compensation special is not in effect.
The following sentence is added to the section entitled “Surrender of Contract and Withdrawals”3:
For your protection, we require a signature guarantee for surrenders, partial withdrawals, or loans (if your contract provides for loans) over $100,000.
| Date: April 1, 2009 | Keep this supplement for future reference. |
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For Phoenix Income Choice, the pertinent section is entitled “Full and Partial Withdrawals.” |
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