On Tuesday night, New York City was hit with heavy snowfall, and temperatures this week have fallen into the single digits at times. That’s provided a great opportunity for folks like me to hunker down at their desks and get caught up with long-procrastinated tasks. I’m feeling quite productive!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s celebration and are jumping into 2014 with optimism. To my mind, there are plenty of things to be positive about: variable annuity players are toning down their risks, other product types are gaining ground, and quite a few observers expect total sales to rise. The growing popularity of Deferred Income Annuities (DIAs) seems to be evidence that some investors have warmed up to the idea of receiving traditional annuity payouts in retirement...

As I write this, the new Soleares Research web site is not yet up and running, but I figured I’d get the ball rolling with my first blog post just to test out how it feels to write one. My intention is for the blog to be a forum where I can share my thoughts on various issues (not always related to the industry) in a thoughtful, less formal, way...