Research & Reports
Reflecting on the Year Almost Past: 2006 in the Variable Annuity Business
As the holiday season is now upon us, in our last commentary of the year we’ll take the opportunity to quickly consider how things went for the variable annuity business in 2006, using currently-available data,...
What the Competition Dictates: Continual Refinements to VA Benefit Features
This year might be winding down, but in the variable annuity space we are still encountering registrations of new living benefits and enhancements to existing ones, although a good portion of them won’t actually roll...
Uncovering Industry Trends Through Study of Available Data on Living Benefits
We’re always on the lookout for real concrete data on variable annuity living benefits and to that end we’ve been combing through insurers’ quarterly financial supplements and statutory statements to extract whatever information is publicly...
Keeping Up With the Continuous Stream of New VA Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits
At The Soleares Report we’re resolved to remain on top of the latest variable annuity features and benefits, but the task certainly isn’t easy. Indeed, if we were to focus only on tracking lifetime withdrawal...
New VA Contract Filings Reflect Emphasis on Lower Pricing, More Options
We’ve made it one of our regular tasks to monitor new variable annuity contract designs being introduced, so with this report we’ll share with you our latest findings on this subject, to take stock of...
VA Contract Notebook: Tendencies Within New Designs Filed This Year
With this report we’re going to take a little time to consider what’s currently popular in variable annuity contract designs, based on our understanding of sales trends and our evaluations of new products filed this...
Following Up on Recent Revisions to VA Guaranteed Living Benefits
As the May prospectus update season is now in full swing, we anticipate that a fresh stream of new variable annuity living benefit concepts will be coming out due to competitive pressure. It’s always challenging...
More of a Bargain: Movements in VA Contract Design and Structure
If there’s any one trend in variable annuity design we see building momentum, it’s that of insurers offering contracts with lower-than-average costs, usually combined with a relatively modest number of sub-accounts and optional benefits. Since...
Continuing the Discussion: VA Industry Issues Informing Product Designs
With this commentary we’ll follow up on our previous report by reflecting on some important themes in the variable annuity industry and how they are intimately connected to the products, features and funds being marketed...
