Research & Reports
Reflecting on the VA Industry in 2009: A Time of Shifting Realities
It’s become our custom to dedicate our last commentary each year to looking back at how the variable annuity business performed, to get the evaluation process started before fourth quarter data are released. Thus in...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November, 2009
This November, the rate of variable insurance fund filing was relatively slow, as is usually the case each year, but we also got the feeling that insurers are being more cautious with their investment platforms,...
“One From Column A” – Optionality Within VA Benefit Allocation Programs
To date, pretty much all variable annuity insurers impose investment restrictions on clients who purchase guaranteed living benefits, the balancing act is to do this while still affording some measure of choice, and in this...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from October, 2009
During the month of October there was the usual moderate stream of variable insurance fund filings, and within them one could see evidence of key priorities for the industry, one of the most obvious being...
Checking Up on Trends in Variable Annuity GMIBs – Changing, Mixing, Matching
On the variable annuity scene, insurers are still changing their guaranteed living benefits with great alacrity in response to market conditions, albeit less aggressively than in the past, and while most of this movement is...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from September, 2009
During September the rate of variable insurance fund filings with the SEC slowed down a bit – as is the tendency each year – and accordingly there were relatively few new registrations. We think activity...
Recent Distribution Moves – That Are Influencing VA Product, Rider Offerings
Through the second quarter of this year, there remains a lead pack of variable annuity writers still offering relatively rich living benefits, and by our reckoning, this fact contributed to their robust sales during that...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from August, 2009
During August we identified a number of new variable insurance portfolios filed with the SEC, most of them funds of funds (F-of-Fs), however the most frequent activity – as has been the case in recent...
Upward Market Movement Provided Relief to Insurers’ VA Risk Levels
The recovery in the financial markets that took place in the second quarter not only helped variable annuity sales bounce back for most insurers, another positive development was a reduction in the levels of risk...
