
Research & Reports
Regarding Rate Sheets – And Other Recent VA Product Moves
We are expecting variable annuity filing activity will be picking up soon as we are entering the May prospectus season, however we are unsure whether insurers will introduce many new product ideas as they are...
Free Riffing – On Current Themes in the Variable Annuity Industry
Product filing activity around the variable annuity business has been kind of slow in our opinion, at least compared to past years, so in this report we’ll do some “riffing” – offering up impromptu thoughts...
Jackson National Files New Variable Annuity for Fee-Based Advisors
This week we’ll discuss a new variable annuity filed by Jackson National designed to be sold through fee-based advisors, which may be an indication that new Department of Labor fiduciary rules – set to come...
Puzzling Out Meanings Within Recent VA Contract and Rider Filings
In this commentary we’ll discuss some variable annuity product filings with the SEC from recent weeks that we found interesting, some of which, we’ll admit, have elements we are not yet totally clear on…
Variable Annuity Industry Sales in 4Q15 – Hard to Get a Handle On
As is our custom, we reviewed fourth quarter results of publicly-traded insurers we monitor regularly, and found it hard to come up with a strong indication as to where the industry finished for that period....
Insurers are Preparing VA Product Changes for May – and Beyond
In recent SEC filings we’ve seen interesting variable annuity developments scheduled to take place either during the May prospectus update season – typically the time when insurers update or launch new products – or even...
Tendencies We Noticed – in VA Product Filings and Changes in 2015
In this report we’ll reflect on variable annuity product activity that occurred during 2015, and suggest whether or not similar patterns might continue into this year – and beyond…
Notes on New Variable Annuity Contracts Filed Recently With the SEC
This report will cover a number of new variable annuity contracts registered last week, which to us provide evidence that the industry product pipeline is beginning to pick up…
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2015
In December, we noticed a few new variable fund registrations – nearly all of them fixed income offerings – plus familiar themes from prior months. In particular, there were quite a few instances of money...