Research & Reports
Seeing VA Business Priorities Revealed Through Public Insurers’ Q3 Results
The third quarter was a mixed bag for the nine major public variable insurers we regularly track, as all saw sales levels fall sequentially, but apparently these companies don’t feel the results were troubling and...
New Internal Replacement Accounting Could Be Challenging for Annuity Insurers
In the coming months, an issue of much interest to annuity issuers will be that of an impending change in accounting for Deferred Acquisition Costs (DAC) on internal replacements that will impact how companies conduct...
Insurers Build More Pricing Options into Their Variable Annuity Contracts
Lately insurers have started to introduce greater choice in variable annuity expense structures, probably due to the ongoing criticism of product fees by regulators, press and other observers, coupled with a sincere desire to provide...
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...
Considering Variable Product Commission and Revenue Sharing Programs
We’ve long been noting how variable annuity insurers are faced with multiple opposing pressures. On the one hand, critics of the business clamor for annuities that are easier to understand and less expensive than the...
An Update on Variable Annuity Products and Features Filed in Recent Months
In the process of identifying the more important changes to variable annuity contracts and features this update season, we haven’t seen quite the volume of new ideas as in the past, but we can say...
A Few Comments on Equity-Indexed Annuities in Regards to the VA Business
While our primary concentration is on the variable insurance business, from time to time we will reflect on the equity-indexed annuity, or EIA, and now is a good time to do so. There are a...
Initial Comment: Considerations on the Current State of the Annuity Business
In approaching the annuity business, we must admit, at times, to conflicting feelings. For one thing, we believe in the value of these products, regardless of type: fixed, variable, index, deferred, immediate and all types...