Research & Reports
Wrapping Up Coverage of Variable Annuity Product Filings from 2019
This report contains our closing thoughts on variable annuity product filings from 2019, a period that, in our view, was lively in terms of competition among insurers, who engaged in further innovation among emerging product...
Notes on Interesting New Variable Annuities Filed in Early 2020
This will be a brief report covering new variable annuities registered with the SEC lately – which we think provide an early indication as to what kind of products will be popular in 2020...
A Discussion of Recent Developments in Structured Annuities
Throughout this year we have covered filings related to structured annuities – a product type that has gotten much sales traction of late – and lately we began to feel that a more substantial update...
Scattered Thoughts Regarding How the Annuity Business Fared in Q3
To follow up on our last report, while the variable annuity business performed well in the third quarter, the same can’t be said for the total U.S. individual annuity market, which, according to LIMRA, saw...
An Update on Variable Annuity Product Filings from Recent Months
In this report we’ll get caught up with some variable annuity product filings submitted to the SEC from October through the middle of this month. It was an interesting mix, including new contracts and riders...
Another Update – on New Variable and Structured Annuity Filings
Last month we saw a “bumper crop” of new registrations submitted to the SEC, a group that included multiple variable annuities and a new structured product. We’ll discuss them in this commentary...
More Thoughts on VA Living Benefits – and Clarifying an RMD Provision
In this report we’ll discuss industry trends in election rates of guaranteed living benefits (GLBs), citing data from LIMRA, and make a correction to our coverage last week of a new lifetime withdrawal benefit from...
An Update on VA Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits and Rate Sheets
In this commentary we’ll review a new variable annuity guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) filed recently by Nationwide, and touch on some recent trends in rider rate sheets, which seem to point to a de-risking...
Yet More Thoughts on New VAs and Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits
This week we’ll once again weigh in on patterns we’re seeing in variable annuity product development, which will serve as an accompaniment to our updates of Featured Research tables covering new contracts and guaranteed lifetime...