We admit we are a little late in providing our coverage of variable managed-volatility portfolios for the first quarter – and we are sorry for the delay. This commentary will contain highlights from the data we compiled and notes on happenings within this subset of the variable fund universe...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from May, 2020

In our view, the rate of variable insurance fund filing activity was slow in May but that was to be expected since new portfolios set to debut this year would have been registered well in advance of the prospectus update season. Most filings we will cover here involved adjustments to insurers’ investment platforms...

Stock-Traded Insurers’ VA Sales Held Up in Q1, Despite Market Drop

First quarter variable annuity sales for most stock-traded insurers we track regularly improved compared to the prior year, once again due to lower interest rates making the product look better than fixed and indexed annuities. Effects from the COVID-19 crisis were just beginning to be felt in the quarter – they will show up to a greater extent in

In our view some interesting variable insurance fund filings came through during April, including a few new registrations, sub-advisory and fee changes, and prospectus supplements addressing market risk issues in light of the COVID-19 crisis...

Regarding Equitable – its VA Business and Near-Term Prospects

As first-quarter earnings season will be in full swing next month we’ll offer up a few thoughts on Equitable, the insurer who spun off from parent AXA via initial public offering in May of 2018. We’re certainly overdue in doing so – this year we will add it to the list of companies whose earnings calls we follow each quarter...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from March, 2020

In March there’s usually less variable insurance fund filing activity compared to the prior month, which was again the case this year. However, we did see several new registrations, and there was no shortage of changes to fund platforms. Of particular note was that multiple insurers made adjustments to fees and expenses...

In our view, variable managed-volatility portfolios performed relatively well in 2019, benefiting from the momentum in the equity markets that prevailed through most of the year. This brief report will conclude our coverage of such portfolios for that year...

February is usually when many new variable portfolios are registered in preparation for the May prospectus update season and such was again the case this year. During the month we also noticed quite a few interesting changes being made to investment platforms...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from January, 2020

In January multiple new variable insurance funds were filed with the SEC – including an ESG offering – while the most noteworthy changes to existing funds, in our view, involved sub-advisory replacements and proposed liquidations...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2019

This report is our last installment of our monthly coverage of notable variable insurance fund filings from 2019. In December we didn’t see many new fund registrations, but there was no shortage of changes and adjustments to investment platforms...

Since we started publishing The Soleares Report, at the end of each year have provided a review – like this one – of how the variable annuity industry fared based on currently-available data, which is intended to help our readers reflect on the recent past and prepare for internal planning meetings...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November, 2019

This report contains our customary coverage of notable variable insurance fund filings from the prior month. During November we saw one new registration, while the most common changes were sub-advisory replacements, mergers and liquidations, as well as adjustments to fund fees...

In this commentary we’ll get caught up with two months’ worth of noteworthy variable insurance fund filing activity. During that time there were quite a few interesting developments, and new registrations...

An Update on Managed-Volatility Portfolios With Data Through 2Q19

In this report we’ll get caught up with our coverage of variable insurance managed-volatility portfolios, as we have just finished compiling data through the first half of this year...

During the month of August, we didn’t see a great deal of variable fund filing activity. One new registration came through, but the most prevalent occurrences were changes to sub-advisors, portfolio fees and expenses...

New Structured Annuities on the Way – Plus Notes from Other Filings

In this commentary we’ll get caught up with recent developments in structured annuities – there was a new registration and the launch of one that had been in the pipeline – and we’ll also cover some variable annuity filings...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from July, 2019

In our view, July was a very busy month in terms of variable insurance fund filing activity, a time in which we saw a number of interesting developments that we’ll share in this commentary...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from June, 2019

This will be a fairly long commentary because variable insurance fund filing activity picked up nicely last month – among notable developments was the filing of a newly-formed trust containing a large number of fund registrations. Along with this report we’ll be updating our coverage of managed-volatility portfolios...

In our view, variable insurance portfolio filing activity was slow during March, thus this commentary will be a brief one compared to past fund reports. During the month we didn’t identify any new registrations, but we did see a good number of sub-advisory changes, and other adjustments...

This report will conclude our tracking of variable insurance managed-volatility portfolios for 2018, referencing data we have gathered from trust annual reports. In addition to trends in fund assets and returns, we will discuss refinements we have made to our data set...

Historically February is when many new variable funds are filed in preparation for the May prospectus update season when such funds will be added to variable contracts. That pattern was very much in effect this year; in addition, we saw numerous adjustments and changes...

This commentary contains our customary review of variable fund-related filings from the prior month. In December we saw a smattering of new registrations plus numerous investment platform changes, including sub-advisory replacements and proposed mergers...

If we were to characterize the year 2018 for the variable annuity business based on what we know thus far, we would call it a time of renewal, as sales started to recover, an improvement that has helped brighten prospects for the annuity industry as a whole...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November, 2018

This commentary contains our customary review of variable fund-related filings from the prior month and a quarterly update on trends in variable managed-volatility portfolios with data through the third quarter...

In this commentary we’ll cover noteworthy variable fund filings from last month, a time when we saw multiple registrations of new funds of funds (F-of-Fs), some that will invest in underlying exchange-traded funds (ETFs), others that will seek to manage for volatility. We saw a large number of fund changes...