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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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How Do We Think Q1 Variable Annuity Sales Moved? Not By Much, Either Way

Last week we finished reviewing first quarter results for stock-traded insurers we monitor regularly, and for most of them, variable annuity sales were lethargic, thus we expect the industry experienced similar results…

Random Reflections from the LIMRA/LOMA/SOA Retirement Conference

Last week we attended the annual LIMRA/LOMA/Society of Actuaries Retirement Industry Conference held in Washington, D.C., and in this commentary, as we have done in the past, we won’t try to completely recap the event,...

Various Reflections – from Last Week’s Retirement Industry Conference

We have found that the annual LIMRA/LOMA/Society of Actuaries Retirement Industry Conference always manages to stimulate healthy conversation and debate and this year’s edition, held last week in Las Vegas, was no different. In this...

Brief Thoughts on 2014 Annuity Sales – and the Future of the Business

We reviewed fourth quarter and full-year 2014 annuity industry sales and they came out pretty much as we expected they would – variable annuity production was down but fixed annuities, led by those of the...

VA Sales in 2014 Were Slow Again, Reflecting a Retooling Environment

Each year we devote the last commentary of December to taking a quick look back at the past year in the variable annuity business, and we’ll do so again this time, and also make some...

Sizing Up the Playing Field – More Thoughts on 3Q14 Industry Sales

In this commentary we’ll provide more of our observations on annuity sales in the third quarter, and consider the competitive landscape as we enter the holiday season…

In 2013, VA Sales Eased While Other Annuity Products Gathered Steam

Throughout most of 2013, variable annuity sales took a downward trajectory, due mostly to the de-risking undertaken by insurers, mirroring moves they had executed the year before. While net flows into VAs slowed, fixed and...

“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...

VA Insurers Attempt to Design Attractive – But Manageable – Guarantees

A dilemma for insurers working in the variable annuity space these days is how to offer guarantees without taking on undue amounts of risk. To our minds this consideration is a priority for the industry,...