Research & Reports
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from January, 2015
In January we saw a substantial number of new variable fund registrations filed with the SEC, and it looks like most of them will debut during the May prospectus update season. In this report we...
VA Industry Sales Growth in Q4 Looks Doubtful to Us, All Things Considered
As is our practice each quarter, we reviewed earnings results for selected stock-traded insurers we track regularly, and came to the conclusion that for most of them, variable annuity operations performed more or less in...
Several Insurers Filed New VA Contracts That Will Debut Later This Year
Last week a few insurers registered new variable annuity contracts that won’t launch until several months from now – and some of their key elements not yet fully fleshed out – so in this commentary...
Forethought Registers New VA Contract With Enriched GLWBs
For the most part, variable annuity insurers have been scaling back on the generosity of their guaranteed benefits, but there are a few out there who are not afraid to offer rather aggressive features, and...
Jackson National Files to Offer New Death Benefits in April
If anyone had doubts that Jackson National wants to maintain its leadership position in variable annuity sales, those would have to be dispelled by the company’s filing last week of new guaranteed minimum death benefits...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2014
This past December we saw no new registrations of variable insurance funds, but that isn’t out of the ordinary because filing activity usually slows down late in the year. In any event, plenty of other...
Getting Clarity on Transamerica’s Recent VA Product Moves
Last week we noted how Transamerica filed to remove optional guaranteed death and living benefits from one of its variable annuity contracts – something we found quite intriguing – and in this report we will...
The VA Industry’s Product De-Risking Theme Is Continuing Into 2015
In this commentary we will get caught up with recent variable annuity filings – a good number of them involving de-risking – that we think provide great examples of how industry trends and themes that...
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...