Research & Reports
Insurers are Reshaping Annuities to Offer Unique Income-Focused Guarantees
The annuity industry is now in a period where it is seeking to develop new product types, using the lessons learned during the heady days of the variable annuity arms race. It is abundantly clear...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from January and February, 2013
At The Soleares Report it’s our intention to always keep up with what’s happening in variable insurance underlying funds, and in this commentary we’ll cover noteworthy filings from the first two months of this year…
Jackson National Jumps to Top of VA Industry Sales Standings for 4Q12
From some of our sources we heard that Morningstar was to report final fourth-quarter 2012 variable annuity sales data today, and, if early indications prove correct, we think Jackson National took the No. 1 spot...
Insurers Are Building New VA Living Benefits to Handle Interest Rate Risks
As variable annuity insurers have been scaling back on their products, they have tended to make more refined adjustments over time, aimed at addressing specific contingency factors. Recently we have seen a few insurers introduce...
Thanks to De-Risking, Sales Were Down for Leading VA Insurers in Q4
By the end of last week we finished reviewing the fourth-quarter earnings reports of selected publicly-traded insurers we watch regularly, and we came away with the suspicion that variable annuity industry sales were probably down...
As Market Leaders Make De-Risking Moves, Other VA Players Follow Suit
Around the variable annuity business, the past few weeks have been characterized by a pattern of activity that goes like this: first, rumors start circulating about a given company making a de-risking change, only for...
Insurers Are Creating More Optionality Within Their VA Contracts, Riders
Due to the constant stream of product changes occurring around the industry, variable annuity insurers are finding they must make adjustments much quicker than ever before, in order to respond to market conditions and moves...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November-December, 2012
It’s been our habit to provide a regular review of noteworthy variable insurance fund filings each month, however during the holiday season there were other product happenings that got us a little behind in that...
Thinking About Retrenchment – and Related Themes Affecting the VA Market
Variable annuity product filing has been a bit slow of late, so in this commentary we will take a step back and reflect on the subject of retrenchment within the industry, how most insurers are...