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Research & Reports

Soleares Research, LLC is a market research and consulting firm servicing the annuity and life insurance businesses. We provide, through our website, periodic articles that cover important industry trends; we also offer clients phone or on-site consultations, executive briefings and presentations. We pride ourselves on first-class customer service and responsiveness to our clients. We aim to be an indispensable resource to the marketplace.

VA Insurers’ Profits Were Up in 2Q14 – But Sales? Perhaps by a Little

During the second quarter publicly-traded insurers we monitor regularly experienced increased profitability within their variable annuity operations, however sales for most were somewhat lackluster, as has been the case of late…

Another Structured Annuity is On The Way – This Time from ING

To date, only a few insurers have come out with structured annuities, which contain a basket of index-linked options with buffers to protect investors against a set percentage of losses. That’s why we were somewhat...

Reviewing 2013 Industry Sales and Considering What the Future May Hold

Not long ago leading research firms LIMRA and Morningstar released final annuity industry sales data for 2013 – after quite a long wait – and in this commentary we’ll give a few thoughts on the...

It Looks Like for Most Insurers, VA Sales Were Down Again in 4Q13

We reviewed fourth quarter earnings results for selected publicly-traded insurers we track regularly and came to the conclusion that variable annuity industry deposits dropped for the quarter and the year as a whole. We think...

In 2013, VA Sales Eased While Other Annuity Products Gathered Steam

Throughout most of 2013, variable annuity sales took a downward trajectory, due mostly to the de-risking undertaken by insurers, mirroring moves they had executed the year before. While net flows into VAs slowed, fixed and...

Concerning Directions in the Annuity Business in Late 2013

It's our opinion that the annuity business in the U.S. is showing signs of becoming more balanced in terms of its product offerings and sales practices. Some of this process of change is happening partly...

Earnings Held Up for Insurers in Q3 – But VA Sales? Not So Much

It seems to us that most variable annuity insurers fared well this third quarter from an earnings standpoint, helped by a rise in the stock market. However VA sales were down for the group of...

Jackson National Moves to Limit 1035s Over the Remainder of This Year

Last Tuesday Jackson National sent a letter to financial advisors announcing the temporary suspension of 1035 exchanges and qualified transfers of assets into three variable annuity contract suites effective October 25. In this commentary we’ll...

More FIAs Are Offering Vol Management – to Capitalize on Consumer Interest

Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, we have seen a variety of volatility management strategies developed around the industry, from creative hedging strategies devised by variable annuity insurers to hedge their benefit risks, to...