iPipeline^®, a leading global provider of comprehensive and integrated digital solutions for the life insurance and financial services industry, and Fiduciary Exchange LLC (FIDx), a leading insurance technology provider, today announced a strategic expansion of their longstanding relationship with the launch of Insurance Exchange Express (IX Express) — a jointly developed solution designed to make digital annuity distribution more accessible to small and mid-market broker-dealers and financial institutions.

An out-of-the-box offering, IX Express is a solution that extends digital distribution capabilities – once limited to larger, upper-market firms to a broader segment of the market. It delivers a streamlined, essential operating platform that enables more firms to easily adopt digital annuity capabilities and scale their business.

Through the integration of FIDx’s Insurance Exchange and iPipeline’s AFFIRM® for Annuities solution, IX Express delivers a single unified annuity experience — eliminating operational friction, reducing new business processing errors, and eliminating disconnected workflows. IX Express enables firms with more limited resources to access integrated infrastructure that has traditionally required significant customization and investment. By introducing a standardized approach, it dramatically shortens implementation timelines—from the six to twelve months typical of traditional deployments to just weeks.

“iPipeline has long delivered a fully integrated, end-to-end annuity experience for the industry’s most sophisticated firms,” said Pat O’Donnell, CEO, iPipeline. “With IX Express, we’re extending that same platform-based approach to the small to mid-market, removing the cost, complexity, and time constraints that have historically limited access to digital distribution. Building on our strong strategic relationship with FIDx is what makes this possible at scale, marking a significant step forward in our strategy to make seamless, scalable annuity solutions available to the entire market.”

IX Express unlocks meaningful value for carriers. As insurers increasingly move toward digital-only new business submission models, many have limited or withdrawn access to firms reliant on paper-based processes. IX Express helps carriers reduce not-in-good-order (NIGO) rates, lower processing costs, and expand distribution into previously underserved segments of the market for carriers.

“The annuity industry has spent years building digital infrastructure for the largest firms. IX Express flips that equation,” said Rich Romano, CEO, FIDx. “For carriers, this brings digital distribution into segments they haven’t been able to reach. By removing the cost and complexity of platform connectivity, it makes offering annuities more accessible than ever before.”

IX Express comes at a pivotal time for the industry, as rising demand for retirement income solutions coincides with a broader shift away from paper-based processes. With IX Express, iPipeline and FIDx continue to help firms modernize annuity workflows, improve operational efficiency, and support growth across distribution channels. The result: firms of all sizes are better positioned to scale, compete, and deliver meaningful outcomes for advisors and clients alike.