Research & Reports
Where Annuity Products Might Be Headed, Given the Current Environment
We hear there is a feeling around the industry that, due to the impact of the tumultuous markets, annuity insurers are “looking for the next business model” and are re-appraising their contracts, underlying funds, distribution...
Q1 Results Brought New Accounting Adjustments for the VA Business
First quarter earnings season concluded last week for the publicly-traded insurers we regularly monitor, and for most of them, variable annuity deposits and net flows declined, much as we expected. What surprised us were accounting...
The Pace of De-Risking Quickens, Changing the Outlook for the VA Business
A number of leading variable annuity insurers have started to take more drastic steps to trim their risk profiles, cut costs and otherwise regroup during this difficult period, and we expect more activity of this...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from March, 2009
During March, there were fewer SEC documents that came through related to variable insurance portfolios compared to the month earlier – which was very busy – so perhaps that was to be expected. Quite a...
Insurers Start Plotting New Approaches With Variable Annuity GLWBs
The variable annuity living benefits arms race is certainly dying down in most quarters, however we think the most common feature being sold, the Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB), will remain important in the scheme...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from February, 2009
We’ve said this in past reports often enough, that February is always the most active time of year for filings of variable insurance funds, as insurers and asset managers take the month to get the...
Various Stressors Are Impacting the VA Business as Spring is on the Way
We have a feeling this spring will be a busy one for the variable annuity business because in addition to submitting annual prospectus updates, most insurers will be looking to adjust their contract and benefit...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from January, 2009
Since February is drawing to a close, we need to provide you with our regular run-down of filings of variable insurance portfolios from the prior month, and we’ll start off by saying during January we...