Research & Reports
More From the Pipeline – Including an Index Annuity With Floors
Well, things have been heating up along the annuity product pipeline, that’s for sure, and what we’re seeing reflects priorities and preferences around the industry. Much activity of late has centered around registered index-linked annuities...
Notes on Interesting New Annuities from Allianz and New York Life
So far this year this year we’ve seen much innovation related to registered index-linked annuities (RILAs), since their sales are sizzling, however we see other product types that have potential for growth over the near...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from June, 2021
In June we were surprised to see a bumper crop of variable fund registrations, nearly all of them defined outcome portfolios, which have protective features found on registered index-linked annuities (RILAs). This yet more evidence...
Update: Notable VA Benefit Rate Sheet Changes in 2021
This spreadsheet continues our 2021 coverage of variable annuity rate sheet updates that involved noteworthy changes from the prior sheet; it contains 66 entries…
Covering Notable Rate Sheet Updates – and Another Buyout
It’s been two months since we provided our readers with an overview of guaranteed living benefit (GLB) rate sheet trends, so in this report we’ll get caught up with the latest developments on that front,...
Newer Products Blur Distinctions Between RILAs, Other Annuities
Lately the surging sales of registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) have led insurers and other financial firms to join the bandwagon and come up with variations on them. We’re not sure whether all these new designs...
Some Thoughts on a Very Active Fixed-Index Annuity Pipeline
Lately we’ve started to cover fixed-index annuities (FIAs) more closely, and in so doing noticed that part of the market has been quite active in terms of product development, this despite a decline in sales...
An Update on Variable Managed-Volatility Portfolios Through 1Q21
This spreadsheet commences our coverage of variable insurance volatility-managed portfolios for 2021. By our count, at the end of the fourth quarter there were 203 such portfolios in operation, containing over $284 billion in assets…
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from May, 2021
This report contains our regular coverage of noteworthy variable insurance fund filings from the prior month, a period where we saw an uptick in new registrations, which, not surprisingly, were of in-favor fund categories and...