Research & Reports
Thoughts from Q2 Earnings Season – We Suspect VA Sales Improved
Overall, we’re of the opinion that second quarter earnings for stock-traded insurers we watch regularly were pretty strong, and for all of them, variable annuity sales went up sequentially, thus we suspect the industry experienced...
How Do We Think Q1 Variable Annuity Sales Moved? Not By Much, Either Way
Last week we finished reviewing first quarter results for stock-traded insurers we monitor regularly, and for most of them, variable annuity sales were lethargic, thus we expect the industry experienced similar results…
Random Reflections from the LIMRA/LOMA/SOA Retirement Conference
Last week we attended the annual LIMRA/LOMA/Society of Actuaries Retirement Industry Conference held in Washington, D.C., and in this commentary, as we have done in the past, we won’t try to completely recap the event,...
Various Reflections – from Last Week’s Retirement Industry Conference
We have found that the annual LIMRA/LOMA/Society of Actuaries Retirement Industry Conference always manages to stimulate healthy conversation and debate and this year’s edition, held last week in Las Vegas, was no different. In this...
Brief Thoughts on 2014 Annuity Sales – and the Future of the Business
We reviewed fourth quarter and full-year 2014 annuity industry sales and they came out pretty much as we expected they would – variable annuity production was down but fixed annuities, led by those of the...
VA Industry Sales Growth in Q4 Looks Doubtful to Us, All Things Considered
As is our practice each quarter, we reviewed earnings results for selected stock-traded insurers we track regularly, and came to the conclusion that for most of them, variable annuity operations performed more or less in...
Getting Clarity on Transamerica’s Recent VA Product Moves
Last week we noted how Transamerica filed to remove optional guaranteed death and living benefits from one of its variable annuity contracts – something we found quite intriguing – and in this report we will...
The VA Industry’s Product De-Risking Theme Is Continuing Into 2015
In this commentary we will get caught up with recent variable annuity filings – a good number of them involving de-risking – that we think provide great examples of how industry trends and themes that...
VA Sales in 2014 Were Slow Again, Reflecting a Retooling Environment
Each year we devote the last commentary of December to taking a quick look back at the past year in the variable annuity business, and we’ll do so again this time, and also make some...