Research & Reports
Differing Priorities: For Industry Players Given the Current Environment
Right now we are attending the annual marketing conference of the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) in Washington, D.C., where we are comparing notes with people in the industry, to hear what themes and issues are...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2010
Two trends we saw last year in variable product investment options were the introduction of portfolios that had some sort of risk sensitive component to them, along with the trimming of platforms to pare down...
Wading Back – Into Variable Annuity Living Benefit Competition
We firmly believe that, over the near term, most leading variable annuity players will need strong guaranteed living benefits to maintain their current sales levels – if not capture more market share. We say this...
Shifting Directions – Industry Players are Adjusting to New Realities
At this early stage in the year, a growing number of variable annuity insurers are demonstrating a willingness to de-risk in one form or another. What’s not clear is whether these companies are experiencing specific...
Getting Started – What’s in the VA Product Pipeline for Early 2011
Already some interesting competitive moves are being unveiled around the variable annuity business for the first half of the New Year, both of a “de-risking” nature or otherwise. What we are not sure about is...
2010 – For the Variable Annuity Industry, a Time of Renewed Risk Taking
It’s become our custom with the last report of December to offer reflections on how the variable annuity business performed over the past year, and suggest issues to watch in the future. We admit that...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November, 2010
During November, the rate of variable fund filings is usually rather slow, and the same pattern held true this year. We noticed no new registrations during the month. Insurers appeared to be tidying up their...
Rate Switch – Pru Discloses Details of New Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits
We were all set to publish a commentary on another subject, but since Prudential submitted filings to the SEC late this afternoon with particulars on new guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits it has in the pipeline,...
Mixed Messages – Can VA Insurers Hope for a Strong Showing in Q4?
We have a somewhat positive outlook for variable annuity industry sales in the fourth quarter, even though things tend to slow down during that time period, there has not been a great deal of product...
