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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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Some Speculation on Q1 Performance of the VA Business – and Other Matters

Now that the first quarter has ended and we are well into the next one, we’ll share some thoughts on how we think the variable industry may have done so far this year. We think...

Spring Arrivals – of New Variable Annuity Product Concepts and Revisions

Each year we look forward to the May prospectus update season – despite the onslaught of filings – because interesting storylines always seem to emerge during that time. In this commentary we’ll discuss a few...

Insurers are Reshaping Annuities to Offer Unique Income-Focused Guarantees

The annuity industry is now in a period where it is seeking to develop new product types, using the lessons learned during the heady days of the variable annuity arms race. It is abundantly clear...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from January and February, 2013

At The Soleares Report it’s our intention to always keep up with what’s happening in variable insurance underlying funds, and in this commentary we’ll cover noteworthy filings from the first two months of this year…

Jackson National Jumps to Top of VA Industry Sales Standings for 4Q12

From some of our sources we heard that Morningstar was to report final fourth-quarter 2012 variable annuity sales data today, and, if early indications prove correct, we think Jackson National took the No. 1 spot...

“What’s Working?” – Thoughts On the Industry As it Awaits Q4 Sales Data

In this report we’ll try to break from our usual preoccupation with product nuances to raise questions as to where the variable annuity business is headed. It’s clear that most insurers are moving beyond offering...

Insurers Are Building New VA Living Benefits to Handle Interest Rate Risks

As variable annuity insurers have been scaling back on their products, they have tended to make more refined adjustments over time, aimed at addressing specific contingency factors. Recently we have seen a few insurers introduce...

Thanks to De-Risking, Sales Were Down for Leading VA Insurers in Q4

By the end of last week we finished reviewing the fourth-quarter earnings reports of selected publicly-traded insurers we watch regularly, and we came away with the suspicion that variable annuity industry sales were probably down...

As Market Leaders Make De-Risking Moves, Other VA Players Follow Suit

Around the variable annuity business, the past few weeks have been characterized by a pattern of activity that goes like this: first, rumors start circulating about a given company making a de-risking change, only for...