Research & Reports
Thoughts on the Business in Q2 – Based on Preliminary Sales Data
Second quarter earnings season will be wrapping up soon and next week we’ll devote these pages to our customary delving into what was revealed on insurers’ conference calls. For now we’ll provide some perspective on...
Catching Up Again – With VA Product and Rate Sheet Changes
Although our country is still faced with very challenging times and the financial markets have been volatile, that does not mean that variable annuity product activity has come to a standstill. Not by any means...
Recent VA Rate Sheet Updates – and Another Benefit Buyout Offer
In this report we’ll cover notable developments of recent weeks that occurred on the variable annuity scene: rate sheet updates from two major insurers, both of which took effect today, and a new benefit buyback...
Covering an Assortment of VA and FIA Product Developments
Despite the market turmoil and social upheaval, we have no shortage of things to cover this week regarding the annuity scene: lately there have been a number of new variable annuity registrations, new guaranteed benefit...
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....
A Quick Overview of VA Product Changes and Rate Sheet Updates
The month of May is a time when insurers file annual updates to their variable annuity and fund prospectuses, and, admittedly, many filings have been coming through of late – more than enough to keep...
Another Roundup – of VA Product Moves From Recent Filings
Thanks to the COVID-19 crisis we’ve had ample time to hunker down and monitor the variable annuity filing pipeline and in this report we’ll discuss some interesting developments we found, ranging from new registrations, notable...
“To Be Expected” – Insurers Cut VA Benefits in Response to Market Upheaval
Given the turmoil in the financial markets it’s only natural to think that variable annuity insurers would start to de-risk in earnest, and they have been – we have seen numerous products cutbacks come through...
Covering a New GLWB – and Recent Benefit Rate Sheet Updates
In this report we’ll provide thoughts on a new variable annuity guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) scheduled to launch during the May prospectus update season, and notable changes to existing riders we discovered in benefit...