Research & Reports
VA Benefit Modifications and How They Might Play in Distribution Channels
Variable annuity benefit tweaking and modifying has been happening a bit less frequent lately, and we attribute this to the summer slowdown. Filing activity ought to be picking back up as we get into the...
New Pension Reform Act Should Help Annuity Business on Several Fronts
In our opinion, the new Pension Protection Act of 2006 does much to encourage Americans to save for retirement and contains provisions to make annuities more attractive both within Defined Contribution (DC) plans and in...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from July, 2006
In composing our usual roundup of variable fund filings from the previous month, we did not see a great many new registrations in July. We identified just two, but they were fairly notable: one was...
Publicly-Traded VA Insurers Fare Better in Q2 – as Reported in Earnings Calls
We always look forward to reviewing major public insurers’ quarterly calls during earnings season, as these companies in many ways act as barometers for the health of the variable annuity business as a whole. In...
VUL Breeding: Hybrid Policies Mix Protection, Equity Exposure and Liquidity
Variable Universal Life (VUL) policies certainly have a lot going for them in terms of optionality and flexibility, with the insured being able to adjust the death benefit, the timing and level of premium payments,...
Shifting and Tweaking Going on Within VA Withdrawal Benefits for Life
It’s about time we issued one of our periodic updates on what’s happening in variable annuity lifetime withdrawal benefits, because they are so important to sales and the filing activity around them still vigorous. The...
VA Sales and the Opposing Themes of Staying Competitive – or Cost-Conscious
We recently took time to reflect on divergent trends within the pricing and structure of variable annuities, a topic that should become more “front-and-center” in the future and cut across distribution outlets, since products and...
Catching Up on Recent Variable Annuity Benefit Changes and Developments
We’ve identified a few brand-new variable annuity benefit guarantees filed over the past couple of months, but more frequently we’ve been seeing modifications of existing riders, such as clarifications to special provisions, pricing adjustments and...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from June, 2006
We identified 14 new variable insurance funds filed in the month of June, a fairly good number. In addition, activity was fairly energetic around sub-advisory and name changes, mergers, closings and other modifications, covering a...