Research & Reports

After reviewing fourth quarter variable annuity results of stock-traded companies we regularly monitor, we found a familiar mixed result – a few insurers did well while most others saw deposits decline – reflecting how the...

In the past, we have employed comparisons with the sporting world to describe competitive conditions in the variable annuity space, and we’re going to do so again in this, our first commentary of the New...

It’s become our custom to dedicate our last commentary each year to looking back at how the variable annuity business performed, to get the evaluation process started before fourth quarter data are released. Thus in...

There remains a near-constant flow of changes and adjustments being made to products in the variable annuity space, due to a mix of competitive and risk-based concerns, and we don’t see any let-up to this...

Now that summer is winding down, that means we’ll soon be in a familiar time between the end of a quarter and when official data come out, when we’ll be conversing with contacts, swapping anecdotal...

For some months we’ve been planning to provide an update on annuities constructed to wrap living benefits around retail mutual funds and brokerage accounts, because we haven’t checked in on them for a while and...

As this week begins, we’ve been combing through variable annuity contract registrations – including ones from this year we haven’t commented on yet – and so far we’ve been finding interesting designs and approaches getting...

We hear there is a feeling around the industry that, due to the impact of the tumultuous markets, annuity insurers are “looking for the next business model” and are re-appraising their contracts, underlying funds, distribution...

We have a feeling this spring will be a busy one for the variable annuity business because in addition to submitting annual prospectus updates, most insurers will be looking to adjust their contract and benefit...