Research & Reports
Rising Markets, Benefit Riders Helped Spur VA Sales During 4Q10
After reviewing fourth quarter variable annuity sales results of stock-traded insurers in our regular coverage group, we strongly suspect that the industry fared well during that time period as well. What remains to be seen...
Some Variable Annuity Benefits, Contracts Scheduled to Roll Out in May
Over the past few months variable annuity insurers have been filing products that will debut during the May prospectus update season, and in this commentary we’ll touch on some we think are noteworthy…
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2010
Two trends we saw last year in variable product investment options were the introduction of portfolios that had some sort of risk sensitive component to them, along with the trimming of platforms to pare down...
Shifting Directions – Industry Players are Adjusting to New Realities
At this early stage in the year, a growing number of variable annuity insurers are demonstrating a willingness to de-risk in one form or another. What’s not clear is whether these companies are experiencing specific...
Getting Started – What’s in the VA Product Pipeline for Early 2011
Already some interesting competitive moves are being unveiled around the variable annuity business for the first half of the New Year, both of a “de-risking” nature or otherwise. What we are not sure about is...
2010 – For the Variable Annuity Industry, a Time of Renewed Risk Taking
It’s become our custom with the last report of December to offer reflections on how the variable annuity business performed over the past year, and suggest issues to watch in the future. We admit that...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November, 2010
During November, the rate of variable fund filings is usually rather slow, and the same pattern held true this year. We noticed no new registrations during the month. Insurers appeared to be tidying up their...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from October, 2010
In recent years we have tended to see a modest number of variable insurance fund filings during the month of October, and the same pattern held true this time around. There were a few interesting...
An Agreeable Summer – Insurers Post Respectable VA Sales in Q3
As is our custom, we delved into the variable annuity business results of 10 stock-traded insurers we track, and, overall, came away with a pretty positive impression about the third quarter. We say this even...
