Research & Reports
Signs from Earnings Calls Point to Lower VA Industry Deposits in 1Q14
In the first quarter of this year variable annuity sales fell, on a sequential basis, for every member of our group of publicly-traded insurers we watch regularly, which makes us pretty sure that the industry...
VA Benefit Buybacks, Special Offers Come Through in May Filings
While the May variable annuity prospectus update season has been somewhat slower than usual, we did see a few interesting product initiatives filed recently, including instances of buyout programs and other incentives targeting holders of...
Notable Product Happenings from Recent VA Contract Updates
This report will be a brief review of noteworthy product developments coming through in annual variable annuity prospectus updates filed recently with the SEC. We are sure more interesting changes and modifications will be coming...
Jackson to Suspend Death Benefit Sales, Pru Proceeds with IOVA
It’s been sort of slow going in the variable annuity product pipeline of late, however last week we saw a few interesting developments come through from Jackson National and Prudential: the former will be trimming...
Concerning VA Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits in the Current Environment
In this commentary we’ll discuss recent trends in variable annuity guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits (GLWBs), which are still a main driver of industry sales even though most major players have cut back on the generosity...
Assorted Happenings – Regarding Variable Products, Benefits, Funds
In this commentary we’ll cover some interesting variable product filings from recent weeks that we think are indicative of where insurers are headed with their designs. We’ll also share some brief thoughts about trends in...
Talking Product – Changes, New Entries on the Variable Annuity Scene
We’ve seen an interesting mixture of product initiatives on the part of variable annuity insurers in recent weeks, which we will share with you in this commentary. Most of these moves had a de-risking quality...
It Looks Like for Most Insurers, VA Sales Were Down Again in 4Q13
We reviewed fourth quarter earnings results for selected publicly-traded insurers we track regularly and came to the conclusion that variable annuity industry deposits dropped for the quarter and the year as a whole. We think...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from January, 2014
During the month of January we saw a large number of new variable insurance portfolios registered with the SEC, as well as plenty of interesting changes to existing funds and platforms. It came as no...