
Research & Reports
What the Competition Dictates: Continual Refinements to VA Benefit Features
This year might be winding down, but in the variable annuity space we are still encountering registrations of new living benefits and enhancements to existing ones, although a good portion of them won’t actually roll...
No Summer Vacation for Product Development in the Variable Business
During the summer the rate of new features, tweaks and modifications to variable annuities tends to slow down, but the past couple of months have contained enough meaningful filings to keep us quite occupied, and...
The Growing Number of Lifetime GMWBs – in Interesting and Complex Varieties
It’s about time we checked back in on variable annuity lifetime Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefits (GMWBs) and our goal for this report will be to offer highlights of the latest filings and attempt to identify...
Continuing the Discussion: VA Industry Issues Informing Product Designs
With this commentary we’ll follow up on our previous report by reflecting on some important themes in the variable annuity industry and how they are intimately connected to the products, features and funds being marketed...
Beyond the VA “Arms Race” – Towards Meeting Retirement Income Needs
A sentiment we’ve been hearing from industry executives lately is that the variable annuity business already has a plethora of products and features due to the competitive “arms race” that has taken place in recent...
New VA Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefits Are Taking Unique Shapes
We’ve seen a number of new variable annuity lifetime withdrawal benefits filed recently, and some won’t roll out until early next year. For those that will be introduced in the last two quarters it may...