Research & Reports
Shifting and Moving – Some Thoughts on Competition in the VA Space
It’s our contention that we are in a period of transition within the variable annuity industry, because some leading insurers have hinted their sales have exceeded comfort levels, and these companies will thus be de-risking....
Benefits and Sales – are Intimately Linked in This Variable Annuity Market
It probably no longer bears repeating, but an insurer’s variable annuity deposits nowadays are directly connected to the relative strength of its guaranteed benefits. We are in a period where this rule of thumb is...
Summer Sizzle – VA Product and Benefit Changes Keep Coming
Lately we’ve seen a number of new or revised variable annuity contracts and benefits filed with the SEC, and we find that interesting, since during the summer such activity tends to slow down. We suspect...
Hartford Launches New VA Products – at an Interesting Time for the Industry
Today Hartford announced the launch of new variable annuity contracts and benefits as part of an initiative to re-energize its sales in the U.S. In this commentary we’ll give our thoughts on this move, given...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from April, 2011
The volume of variable insurance fund filings with the SEC during the month of April was fairly slow as compared with other months of the year. We didn’t see any new registrations and we figure...
“In Sync” – VA Sales in 1Q11 Followed Flow of the Financial Markets
Variable annuity sales for stock-traded insurers we cover regularly were split down the middle in the first quarter of this year, one half reporting some measure of improvement sequentially while the rest did not fare...
More Thoughts on Variable Annuity Contract Trends, Other Issues
In this commentary we are continuing our discussion of variable annuity product trends from last week, to take note of actions being taken by insurers to meet varying sources of demand. In addition, we have...
Met’s Move – to Offer a New Edition of its Guaranteed Income Benefit
Enough new product initiatives have been happening around the variable annuity industry to make us curious as to how such ideas may translate into sales over the rest of the year. Last week we saw...
Varied Changes – Coming Soon to Variable Annuity Contracts, Benefits
We continue to see interesting adjustments and enhancements being introduced to variable annuity products, which we think shows that there are still stiff winds of competition around the industry, however muted from the arms race...
