Research & Reports
A Few Thoughts on VA Spinoffs – and Notable Product News
For more than a decade, the U.S. variable annuity business has been in de-risking mode, and this process has taken many forms. Early on, much of the activity involved product redesign. The most recent manifestations...
An Update on Variable Managed-Volatility Portfolios Through 2Q21
This spreadsheet updates our coverage of variable insurance volatility-managed portfolios for the second quarter of 2021. By our count, as of June 30 we counted 200 such portfolios in operation, containing over $288 billion in...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from August, 2021
We saw a number of interesting variable fund registrations last month – including a new series of defined outcome portfolios – along with a healthy amount of changes made to insurers’ investment platforms. We’ll discuss...
Summaries of New VA Contracts Registered With the SEC in 2021
This table contains summaries of 18 new variable annuity contracts registered with the SEC so far this year…
The Latest – on New Variable Annuity Contract Launches
In our view, activity along the variable annuity product pipeline continues to be lively, and in this report we’ll cover new contracts that, based on our reading of regulatory filings, have launched or are close...
Random Thoughts on the Business, as Summer Draws to a Close
Now that we’ve reached the weekend and are, for the most part, caught up with annuity product developments, in this commentary we’ll share our thoughts on some topics we think are of most interest to...
On Jackson’s RIA Variable Annuity – and Other Notable Product Filings
In our view, two types of annuities are most in demand at the moment, namely registered index-linked annuities and variable annuities for fee-based advisers. Regarding the latter, we believe they are being built to address...
Q2 Earnings Review – RILAs Again Fueled Industry Sales Growth
Judging by the results of publicly traded insurers we regularly track, the annuity industry experienced sales growth in the second quarter, building on momentum generated during the prior quarter…
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from July, 2021
After a huge pickup in variable fund registrations during the prior month, in July, filing activity slowed to more normal seasonal levels. The few new offerings were in asset classes and investment styles that are...