Research & Reports
Our Summer Studies Will Involve Gathering More Data on VA Products, Features
One of our objectives for the upcoming third quarter – traditionally a time each year when variable annuity sales tend to tail off regardless of how the market is doing – will be to pore...
The Province of VA Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits – A Constantly Shifting Terrain
In the variable annuity business, it’s crucial for leading companies to have new ideas in the pipeline at all times because the living benefits arms wars are still being waged with great intensity. The way...
Benefit Outlook – Disparate Notes on VA Guarantees and the Current Climate
A significant number of variable annuity contracts and benefits will be rolling out over the next few months, and as we monitor the goings on, we’ll be watching to see whether new product ideas will...
Spring VA Product Fashions: Designs and Rollups Meant to Outdo the Rest
We’re just entering the season where new variable annuity product filings really begin to pick up, and there’s ample evidence that the guaranteed living benefit arms race is still being waged with great gusto. To...
Impressions on the Variable Annuity Business in 2007 – Part I
Last year at this time we published a commentary with our reflections on how the variable annuity industry performed in 2006, based on what we knew at that point, and made some suggestions as to...
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...
Tracking VA Industry Competitive Moves through Q2 and Beyond
This report will wrap up our observations regarding second-quarter variable annuity sales results of major public insurers we normally monitor, and will also include some quick thoughts on new guaranteed living benefits that have been...