
Research & Reports
Uncertainty Regarding DOL Rule Negatively Impacted VA Insurers in 1Q17
In first quarter earnings calls of stock-traded insurers we watch regularly, a common theme was discussed on pretty much all of them: issues in dealing with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule which put a...
An Update on New VA Contracts and GLWBs Filed This Year
In this report we’ll get caught up with new variable annuity contracts and guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits (GLWBs) filed with the SEC so far this year. In our view, industry filing activity in 2017 has...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from March, 2017
This report covers notable variable fund developments from the last month, a time in which we saw no new registrations, but a good amount of filings that made changes to investment platforms…
Thinking About the Variable Annuity Business in 2016 – and Beyond
Not long ago industry research firms released full-year 2016 variable annuity sales data, thus in this report we’ll give our thoughts on what the numbers revealed, and discuss some themes from last year might remain...
More Notes on Lincoln National’s New GLWB – and Other Matters
Due to this being a somewhat slow period in the variable annuity product pipeline, in this report we’ll delve a little further into a new guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit from Lincoln National scheduled to launch...
Highlights from Recent VA Filings from February and Early March
In this report we’ll get caught up with notable annuity product filings filed with the SEC from February and early March, including new contracts and benefits as well as modifications to existing ones…
Variable Annuity Sales Were Again Depressed in Q4 and Full Year 2016
After reviewing the results of selected publicly-traded insurers from their fourth quarter earnings calls and financial statements, we expect that the variable annuity industry as a whole reflected the experience of these companies, namely lower...
Putting Hartford’s Planned VA Fund Replacements in Perspective
In this commentary we’ll discuss Hartford’s plan to replace a large number of funds in its variable annuity contracts, and the controversy it has generated. We’ll also endeavor to put the proposed move in context...
Some Comments on Recent VA Filings – Including New Contracts
Over the past couple of weeks we have seen a few interesting developments along the variable annuity product pipeline which we'll cover in this commentary, among them a new guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) and...