Research & Reports
Further Musings on the Competitive Elements of Variable Annuity Features
Due to the variable annuity living benefit arms race we’re seeing commoditization setting in among Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits (GLWBs), with numerous variations emerging not just due to the heat of competition but because insurers...
Spring VA Product Fashions: Designs and Rollups Meant to Outdo the Rest
We’re just entering the season where new variable annuity product filings really begin to pick up, and there’s ample evidence that the guaranteed living benefit arms race is still being waged with great gusto. To...
Market Volatility Persists, Impacting Public Insurers’ VA Results in 4Q07
Usually at the end of each year variable annuity sales rebound from the slow period of the summer, however the fourth quarter of 2007 contained a mixture of good and bad for the public insurers...
Remarking on Sundry VA-Related Moves, Amendments, Launches
Based on what we’re seeing in regulatory filings and our discussions with industry contacts, the variable annuity business is steadily getting busier, and the heightened activity will surely continue straight through the May 1 prospectus...
New VA Contract Notes: Wrapping up 2007 and Getting Into the New Year
In this commentary we’re going to catch up on our monitoring of new variable annuity contract registrations, both from last year and for the start of 2008, and give some highlights on what’s happening in...
The 7% Solution – Leading VA Players Vying Over GLWB Base Increases
This year is shaping up as one that will be marked by heated competition among variable annuity issuers over the generosity of their Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits (GLWBs), and we will be watching to see...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2007
We conducted our regular monitoring of variable fund-related filings to wrap up the last month of 2007 and found evidence of investment trends we’ve been seeing in the industry. New funds-of-funds (F-of-Fs) of different types...
Picking Up Where We Left Off – Another Spate of New VA Withdrawal Riders
It’s only January but we need to comment again on variable annuity living benefit proliferation because, bridging the very end of last year into this one, a number of insurers have filed new or enhanced...
Variable Funds-of-Funds Keep Increasing In Number, Accumulating Assets
Compared to the bull market years, the role that underlying sub-accounts play in the sale of variable insurance products has certainly been diminished, however, a storyline that holds much interest for us is how money...