Research & Reports

Distribution is, by its nature, the linchpin to the variable insurance space: if you know the channels an insurer sells in, you can get a good idea as to what products and riders it offers...

February is a month where there’s often an increase in the number of variable fund filings as companies prepare changes for the May prospectus update season. This year was no exception as we saw numerous...

For the fourth quarter of 2006 variable annuity sales grew for all the publicly-traded insurers we track, reflecting the experience of the industry as a whole, which we hear rebounded from the lackluster sales of...

In this report, our last of the year, we’ll conclude our two-part commentary summarizing key forces influencing the sale of variable annuities in 2007 – our main three being “features, shelf space and scale” –...

Variable fund filings from December reflected the current emphasis in our business on asset allocation in its various forms, whether through investing in baskets of conventional mutual funds, or newer ideas like Exchange Traded Funds...

In our last report we discussed how insurers are building fee reductions into their variable annuities, which we think is good for the industry in that it may help counter some negative perceptions. This week,...

In composing our usual roundup of variable fund filings from the previous month, we did not see a great many new registrations in July. We identified just two, but they were fairly notable: one was...

We recently took time to reflect on divergent trends within the pricing and structure of variable annuities, a topic that should become more “front-and-center” in the future and cut across distribution outlets, since products and...

We identified 14 new variable insurance funds filed in the month of June, a fairly good number. In addition, activity was fairly energetic around sub-advisory and name changes, mergers, closings and other modifications, covering a...