subscriber-login-icon
Subscriber Login
Sign Up

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.
Sort By Type
Select
All Reports Research
Sort By Topic
Variable funds
All 1035 exchanges Acquisition Asset allocation Benefit buyback programs Benefit exchange programs Benefit Rate Sheets Benefit risk update Commissions Compliance Contingent annuities Contract exchange programs Death benefits Deferred income annuities Defined Outcome Portfolios Distribution DOL fiduciary rule Dual Direction ESG Investing Fee-based annuities Fixed annuities Fixed-indexed annuities Hedging Immediate annuities IOVAs IRAs Living benefits Managed-volatility portfolios Marketing Merger Monthly fund report Net flows Pensions Principal protection Purchase provisions Qualified plans Quarterly earnings report Quarterly reports Registered Index-Linked Annuities Reinsurance Reserving Sales Suitability Taxes Variable annuities Variable funds Variable life Year in review report

A Season of Change – In Which VA Insurers Are Moving Tentatively

Many variable annuity issuers have been filing changes to their products – mostly of the de-risking variety – but they have not taken what we would call drastic measures. We think this is because most...

A Quick Look Back – on 2011 and its Significance for the VA Industry

As we have done in the past, we reserved our last weekly commentary of this year for a reflection on how the variable annuity business performed in 2011. It is our way of getting a...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November, 2011

In this report we’ll provide our usual highlights of recent variable fund filings, and comment on the announcement today from Sun Life Financial that it will discontinue sales of variable annuities in the U.S. To...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from October, 2011

The month of October was an active one in terms of variable insurance fund filings with the SEC, and we strongly suspect that a number of the changes were connected with product initiatives insurers have...

“Headwinds” – Market Doldrums Caused Problems for VA Issuers in 3Q11

Earnings season for stock-traded insurers we monitor regularly has concluded, and, for the most part, variable annuity sales for those companies fell, due to a combination of factors that have become familiar to anyone following...

“Trick or Treat” – a Bag Full of De-Risking, Fire Sales, and a Market Bounce

If we were to liken the variable annuity industry to a ship on the high seas, we’d have to say it has been tossed around by contrary winds of late. Choppy equity markets and low...

More Thoughts on Prospects for the Industry, Given the Current Environment

We fully expect more product de-risking, and other changes and adjustments, to occur on the variable annuity scene over the last quarter of the year. However we also think the value proposition of the industry...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from August, 2011

As is our habit, we sifted through SEC filings related to variable insurance funds, and in August found numerous changes and adjustments to investment platforms, in particular there were plenty of mergers and liquidations, either...

The Latest VA Contract Designs – With Pricing, Options as Priorities

This week, we thought it would be a good time to check in on new variable annuity contract filings with the SEC, since we’ve seen a good number come through recently…