Research & Reports
Concerning the RIA Market – and Noteworthy Product Filings
The number of variable annuity contracts designed for fee-based financial advisors has been growing of late, and in this commentary we’ll share some thoughts as to the why this is happening, and weigh in on...
GLWB Movements – Answering the Competition, Preparing for Next Year
It’s our feeling that newer variable annuity lifetime withdrawal benefits getting filed of late – plus various modifications to existing ones – are being introduced this quarter to “prime the pump” for next year. Barring...
Q4 Launches – Products Insurers Hope Will Attract Sales into the New Year
It’s our feeling that these days, most variable annuity insurers are in a “reactive mode” in that few are making truly bold moves with their products; rather they are content to make modifications and enhancements...
Competitive Direction: Tactics VA Market Leaders May Employ, Near Term
It will take a little while before variable annuity industry sales results from the third quarter come out, and at this point we are unsure what those numbers may reveal, since we are not expecting...
Back to School – Viewpoints on VA Industry Issues as Q3 Winds Down
The weather has gotten cooler, football season has commenced, and families are back from vacation, all these things serving to remind us that we are coming to the end of the third quarter. In this...
Contract Trends – Fresh Ideas, Approaches in New Registrations
We continue to see new variable annuity contracts in the pipeline that have what we call non-traditional chassis and pricing, and we think insurance companies are developing such products to anticipate future needs – not...
Rising Tide – Variable Annuity Insurers See Deposits Lift in Q2
We were somewhat surprised to find that variable annuity deposits for most of the stock-traded life insurance companies we monitor regularly were quite strong in the second quarter. Therefore we now suspect the industry as...
Q2 Expectations – For Variable Annuity Industry Sales, Net Flows
Second-quarter earnings season for insurance companies is now underway and we’re looking forward to learning how variable annuity sales went, however we are not very optimistic about how the industry as a whole fared, for...
Lincoln’s VA/LTC Combo – Still in the Pipeline and a Topic of Conversation
Sometimes it takes an annuity insurer several attempts to get a new product up and running, especially if it is a first for the industry. Such has been the case with a long-term care benefit...