Research & Reports
VA Insurers are Taking Divergent Paths in this Period of Uncertainty
The way we see it, variable annuity insurers are moving in one of two directions these days: either de-risking, or enhancing their products with an eye toward moving up the market share ranks. What this...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from January and February, 2012
We’ve arrived at the point in the year when the rate of SEC filings related to variable insurance funds increases as insurers touch up their investment platforms for the prospectus update season. In this report,...
“Shuffling the Deck” – Intriguing VA Product Changes are in the Pipeline
In recent weeks we have noticed a marked increase in variable annuity product filings being submitted to the SEC, most containing tweaks and adjustments scheduled to take effect in May. If this rate of filing...
The Price of De-Risking: Sales for Most VA Issuers Dropped in 4Q11
After reviewing variable annuity sales of selected publicly-traded insurers from the fourth quarter of 2011, we’re of the opinion that, for that time period, industry-wide deposits declined a bit sequentially. However for the full year,...
Results Are Coming In – and VA Sales Appear to Have Cooled Off
As we write this, stock-traded insurers are in the middle of earnings season, and 4Q11 variable annuity sales data are being released. So far, most companies we monitor regularly have been reporting sequential declines in...
Coming Into Focus – Pending VA Product Changes Are Being Finalized
Last year some variable annuity insurers filed what appeared to be de-risking tweaks to their products, but with key details left undisclosed, and some of these planned changes have stayed in the pipeline for quite...
“The Daily Show” – Hartford Enhances Ratchets on New Benefits
The recent filing by Hartford Life of two new variable annuity benefits that feature highest daily account value growth has the industry buzzing, and we think for good reason. Observers of the market will be...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2011
With the publication of this report we’ll conclude our regular monthly coverage of variable insurance fund filings from 2011. We thought December was quite an active month: there was a nice batch of new registrations,...
VA Insurers Tread Carefully in Adjusting Products, Launching New Ideas
As the New Year has gotten underway, we can’t say we’ve seen any real earth-shattering variable annuity products as of yet. Indeed, some tweaks and revisions filed with the SEC last year have not rolled...