Research & Reports
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)...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from March, 2021
In this report we’ll cover variable insurance fund developments from last month. While we saw a reduction in the rate of filing activity, some notable things occurred, such as the registration of a new defined...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from February, 2021
Variable fund filing activity usually picks up in February, as new offerings are registered so that they can launch in time for the May prospectus season. This year we did see a few new arrivals,...
Some Springtime Storylines for the U.S. Annuity Business in 2021
Now that spring is upon us, the worst of the COVID-19 crisis hopefully over, and the first quarter of the year is drawing to a close, we have started to get a handle on where...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2020
This will be a longer-than-usual variable fund report as December was quite an active time, especially for insurer Jackson National, which filed numerous moves, including new fund registrations, sub-advisory changes and reorganizations which are scheduled...
The Year 2020 Was Fraught With Challenges for Annuity Insurers
This will be our customary year-end report, based on what we know from U.S. annuity industry data through the third quarter. It certainly goes without saying that 2020 was a trying one for us all,...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from November, 2020
In November we saw several new variable fund registrations, most notable among them a series of defined outcome funds that mimic the attributes of registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) in that they will offer limited protection...