subscriber-login-icon
Subscriber Login
Sign Up

Research & Reports

Soleares Research, LLC is a market research and consulting firm servicing the annuity and life insurance businesses. We provide, through our website, periodic articles that cover important industry trends; we also offer clients phone or on-site consultations, executive briefings and presentations. We pride ourselves on first-class customer service and responsiveness to our clients. We aim to be an indispensable resource to the marketplace.
Sort By Type
Select
All Reports Research
Sort By Topic
Distribution
All 1035 exchanges Acquisition Asset allocation Benefit buyback programs Benefit exchange programs Benefit Rate Sheets Benefit risk update Commissions Compliance Contingent annuities Contract exchange programs Death benefits Deferred income annuities Defined Outcome Portfolios Distribution DOL fiduciary rule Dual Direction ESG Investing Fee-based annuities Fixed annuities Fixed-indexed annuities Hedging Immediate annuities IOVAs IRAs Living benefits Managed-volatility portfolios Marketing Merger Monthly fund report Net flows Pensions Principal protection Purchase provisions Qualified plans Quarterly earnings report Quarterly reports Registered Index-Linked Annuities Reinsurance Reserving Sales Suitability Taxes Variable annuities Variable funds Variable life Year in review report

On Revenue Sharing, Directed Brokerage Deals – More Disclosure is Coming

Variable product insurers and mutual fund companies have at times used creative means to pay for, or receive compensation from, financial firms they have relationships with, while not always revealing these arrangements to shareholders. Now...

Seeing VA Business Priorities Revealed Through Public Insurers’ Q3 Results

The third quarter was a mixed bag for the nine major public variable insurers we regularly track, as all saw sales levels fall sequentially, but apparently these companies don’t feel the results were troubling and...

Beyond the VA “Arms Race” – Towards Meeting Retirement Income Needs

A sentiment we’ve been hearing from industry executives lately is that the variable annuity business already has a plethora of products and features due to the competitive “arms race” that has taken place in recent...

Impressions on Consumer-Friendly Issues for the Variable Annuity Business

In our last report we discussed how insurers are building fee reductions into their variable annuities, which we think is good for the industry in that it may help counter some negative perceptions. This week,...

VA Benefit Modifications and How They Might Play in Distribution Channels

Variable annuity benefit tweaking and modifying has been happening a bit less frequent lately, and we attribute this to the summer slowdown. Filing activity ought to be picking back up as we get into the...

Publicly-Traded VA Insurers Fare Better in Q2 – as Reported in Earnings Calls

We always look forward to reviewing major public insurers’ quarterly calls during earnings season, as these companies in many ways act as barometers for the health of the variable annuity business as a whole. In...

Considering Variable Product Commission and Revenue Sharing Programs

We’ve long been noting how variable annuity insurers are faced with multiple opposing pressures. On the one hand, critics of the business clamor for annuities that are easier to understand and less expensive than the...

Q1 Earnings Calls Continued: Evidence of Further Need for Innovation

With this commentary we’ll resume our coverage of first quarter earnings calls and show how some insurers, due to their scale and ability to offer cutting-edge ideas, have seen resurgence in their variable annuity sales,...

Q1 Earnings Calls of Public Insurers Illustrate Need for Continued Sales Growth

Last week we listened to first quarter earnings conference calls of five publicly-traded insurers who do business in the U.S. variable space, and for some of these companies, annuity sales improved, although surrenders – more...