Research & Reports
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from August, 2016
Last month we saw a pickup in variable insurance fund filing activity, including a number of new registrations which we’ll cover in this commentary…
Some Fall Reflections – on Trends in the Variable Annuity Space
In this commentary we’ll discuss current conditions in the variable annuity business, such as which products are selling the best, and touch on details from recent product filings…
More Rate Sheets – And Fee-Based Contracts – Entering the VA Space
A number of interesting new contracts and optional guaranteed benefits were filed with the SEC recently, leading us to believe the industry is sprucing up its products in sort of a “back to school” mode...
VA Industry Sales Remained Weak in Q2 – And May Drop Further
Leading industry research firms released second-quarter 2016 annuity sales data not long ago, and results for variable annuities were down substantially over last year, while some fixed annuity product types did fairly well…
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from July, 2016
This report will contain our coverage of noteworthy variable insurance fund filings from the prior month. We saw no new registrations in July, but a good deal of activity involving sub-advisory and fee changes…
Hard to Determine a Clear Direction for VA Industry Sales in 2Q16
Based on our review of results of publicly-traded insurers we watch regularly, variable annuity sales fell for most, with at least one bright spot. Thus we are unsure whether the recent downward movement in industry...
New Coverage: Summaries of Selected VA Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefits
This table summarizes five GMIBs that, according to our records, are still available for sale, on variable annuity contracts offered by AXA Equitable, Lincoln National and New York Life…
Reflecting on the GMIB – And Its Current Place in the VA Industry
While the number of guaranteed minimum income benefits (GMIBs) has dropped dramatically from years past, a few still remain for sale, and in this report we will discuss them, and share thoughts on how they...
Impressions on the Second Quarter – And Notes on Recent VA Filings
Second quarter earnings season is now underway and insurers will be reporting their results, thus we are starting to formulate our own thoughts on where variable annuity sales might have moved during that time period....