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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.
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Change is Constant – and Probably Unavoidable for VA Issuers

Lately we have found the kind of product adjustments and upgrades occurring around the variable annuity business to be rather interesting and revealing about the priorities of insurers, their distribution partners and clients. We imagine...

Lincoln’s VA/LTC Combo – Still in the Pipeline and a Topic of Conversation

Sometimes it takes an annuity insurer several attempts to get a new product up and running, especially if it is a first for the industry. Such has been the case with a long-term care benefit...

VA Contract Update – Designs Moving in Specialized Directions

Judging by new variable annuities we’ve seen registered with the SEC this year, we get the impression that a good number of them were built to meet very specific needs and issues of distributors. It...

Talking Product – Reflecting On Changes, Innovation in the VA Business

There remains a near-constant flow of changes and adjustments being made to products in the variable annuity space, due to a mix of competitive and risk-based concerns, and we don’t see any let-up to this...

An Ongoing Process – Finding Significance in VA Industry Product Changes

Because of the steady flow of tweaks and adjustments insurers have been making to their variable annuity offerings, it’s not easy to determine which changes are meaningful, and which are simply “noise.” In this commentary...

Despite Allure of Withdrawal Benefits, GMIBs Retain Considerable Popularity

Even though there are many more lifetime withdrawal benefits on the variable annuity scene today, we maintain that Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefits (GMIBs), due to their unique attributes, are still highly valued by financial advisors,...

Beyond Product – Insurers Work to Become Retirement Planners, Aggregators

There’s little doubt that success in the variable annuity marketplace over the years has been largely dictated by product and distribution strength, competition depending on what’s currently in favor, whether it be the latest VA...

Growing Focus on Annuity Exchanges – Fines are Levied, Regulations Updated

Given that tax-free 1035 exchanges are widely acknowledged to be a large portion of annuity sales, we think it’s important for companies working in the marketplace to monitor how these exchanges are being perceived and...

Assessing Windows of Opportunity for Variable Annuities in Qualified Plans

One topic we plan to tune into regularly in our reports is the use of variable annuities in qualified plans, a practice that has its critics, yet quite a few industry observers think this section...