Lincoln Benefit Life, a unit of Allstate, has terminated Strong and replaced the manager's product with one from T. Rowe Price in its variable annuity program. The insurer has also added six new funds to the program. The insurer has no plans to make additional changes this year.

The decision to shift investors from the Strong Discovery II to the T. Rowe Price MidCap Growth Fund was revealed in an SEC filing.

The decision was made as the "it is no longer is economic to continue to offer shares of the Strong Discovery Fund II Portfolio, and the adviser intends to close the portfolio to new investments and ultimately to liquidate it," reads the filing.

The filing cited T. Rowe Price similar investment objectives, larger asset base, better long-term performance, and lower expenses as reasons for its selection.

The six new investments were also revealed in an SEC filing and bring the total number in the program to 49.

The new funds include: OpCap Advisor Balanced Fund, OpCap Science and Technology, AIM Basic Value Fund, Fidelity Diversified Mid Cap Fund, Van Kampen Mid Cap Value, and Salomon Brothers Value Equity Fund.  

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