Research & Reports
Regarding Equitable – its VA Business and Near-Term Prospects
As first-quarter earnings season will be in full swing next month we’ll offer up a few thoughts on Equitable, the insurer who spun off from parent AXA via initial public offering in May of 2018....
Another Roundup – of VA Product Moves From Recent Filings
Thanks to the COVID-19 crisis we’ve had ample time to hunker down and monitor the variable annuity filing pipeline and in this report we’ll discuss some interesting developments we found, ranging from new registrations, notable...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from March, 2020
In March there’s usually less variable insurance fund filing activity compared to the prior month, which was again the case this year. However, we did see several new registrations, and there was no shortage of...
“To Be Expected” – Insurers Cut VA Benefits in Response to Market Upheaval
Given the turmoil in the financial markets it’s only natural to think that variable annuity insurers would start to de-risk in earnest, and they have been – we have seen numerous products cutbacks come through...
Update: Variable Insurance Volatility-Managed Portfolios
This spreadsheet concludes our coverage of variable insurance volatility-managed portfolios for 2019. By our count, at the end of the year there were 208 such portfolios in operation, containing nearly $280 billion in assets…
A Final Note on Managed-Volatility Portfolio Trends in 2019
In our view, variable managed-volatility portfolios performed relatively well in 2019, benefiting from the momentum in the equity markets that prevailed through most of the year. This brief report will conclude our coverage of such...
Some Thoughts Regarding the Proposed Jackson National IPO
Recently U.K.-based Prudential plc disclosed plans to spin off its Jackson National unit, a move we think will have many ramifications for the U.S. annuity industry. In this report we’ll attempt to put this matter...
New Coverage: Summaries of New VA Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits Filed With the SEC in 2020
This table commences our coverage of new variable annuity Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits (GLWBs) filed with the SEC so far this year and contains summaries of three riders…
New Coverage: Summaries of New VA Contracts Filed With the SEC in 2020
This table commences our coverage of new variable annuity contracts filed with the SEC in 2020 and contains summaries of nine new products…