The picture accompanying this post is a view of the tree at the corner of my street and the many leaves littering the grass around it. It’s a scene emblematic of the fall but it also holds an extra meaning for me.

Why is that? It’s because I have taken unto myself to rake the leaves regularly, but the thing is, it’s a thankless task. On raking days, I can get the grass completely clear but not for long: almost immediately more leaves have fallen to the ground. It was only days ago that I raked up and you can see by the picture that you wouldn’t know that I had done anything! It’s amusing and maddening at once.

Some neighbors have taken notice. One nameless lady made a remark to me about how the leaves just keep falling (I forget her exact words) and added, before walking off: “that’s why we would wait until November to rake up.” I can’t see myself doing that as it would mean the accumulation would be way too deep for my taste.

I think most of us deal with jobs that require constant effort and maintenance. Certainly, keeping up with annuity product development is one of those. Even in years when sales are down there’s always something going on. I still focus mainly on the variable side of the house and try to keep up with as much as I can, whether it be at the contract level, benefits, features, and VA funds.

In my reports I touch on fixed, indexed and income annuities when I can. I would say it’s mandatory to do so given how the fixed side is the engine of the industry these days. This week I took the time to do research into FIA income riders and bonuses and I was struck by how rich they have become. I’ll leave it to my readers to decide if we are not in “arms race” conditions again.

In closing I’ll say that in my reporting I have erred on the side of covering as many regulatory filings and related developments as I can. I hate missing anything important or interesting. But like those pesky leaves falling from the corner tree, that process is never ending. And such a volume-based approach has its disadvantages.

Could I start to trim the number of filings I deal with each week and take a more targeted approach which would allow me to dig deeper into product specifics? I’m thinking about it. But no matter what, I will always have an itch to cover everything that’s coming through.