
Research & Reports
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from October, 2021
Lately we’ve been reporting on how Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing is steadily becoming more prevalent in our industry, and last month that trend continued, as we saw another new ESG portfolio and...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from September, 2021
Last month we saw further evidence that Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) portfolios are migrating into the variable fund space, as a new one was filed with the SEC, and several existing portfolios modified...
A Few Thoughts on VA Spinoffs – and Notable Product News
For more than a decade, the U.S. variable annuity business has been in de-risking mode, and this process has taken many forms. Early on, much of the activity involved product redesign. The most recent manifestations...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from August, 2021
We saw a number of interesting variable fund registrations last month – including a new series of defined outcome portfolios – along with a healthy amount of changes made to insurers’ investment platforms. We’ll discuss...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from July, 2021
After a huge pickup in variable fund registrations during the prior month, in July, filing activity slowed to more normal seasonal levels. The few new offerings were in asset classes and investment styles that are...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from May, 2021
This report contains our regular coverage of noteworthy variable insurance fund filings from the prior month, a period where we saw an uptick in new registrations, which, not surprisingly, were of in-favor fund categories and...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from April, 2021
Variable insurance fund filing activity last month was moderate, in our view, but typical of the time of year, because new funds tend to be registered by February at the latest, in order to be...
Q1 Earnings Review – Annuity Sales Improved For Some Insurers
For most of the public insurers we regularly track, annuity gross sales improved in the first quarter, building on momentum the industry generated over the latter part of 2020. Net flows for several carriers were...
Noteworthy VA Benefit Rate Sheet Updates, Through Early May
At present, variable annuity insurers who want to be at the top of the sales leaderboard must pull off a bit of a balancing act in our view: they must sell guaranteed living benefits (GLBs)...