Research & Reports
New Coverage: Summaries of In-Force VA Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits
In this new table we have our summaries of all variable annuity GLWBs we have identified as still being for sale thus far in 2010; over time we will update it to capture changes that...
Variable Annuity Sales from 4Q09 Reveal Uneven Patterns in the Industry
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...
Insurers Are Filing New VA Benefits Well Before the May Update Season
It’s common practice for variable annuity insurers to use the prospectus update season to bring out new products or enhance existing ones. Usually we don’t see major changes start cropping up until a month or...
“Five at 65” – Enhancements of Variable Annuity Riders Are Picking Up Again
Innovation permeates the very core of the variable annuity business; in fact we’ve come to expect near-constant creativity from actuaries and product development specialists. The rate of movement may have slowed compared with years past,...
Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from December, 2009
It’s once again time for us to check in on what’s been happening with variable insurance funds, and during December there wasn’t a great deal of filing activity with the SEC, but that’s normal for...
A Bit of a Disconnect? A Near-Term Outlook on VA Industry Results
When fourth quarter variable annuity sales results come out, we’re convinced they will reflect a lack of participation by the industry in the improving equity markets – much as was the case in the prior...
Sorting Through Notable Variable Annuity Product Developments
We continue to see an interesting mix of variable annuity contracts and features coming out, some following the trend towards the simpler and cheaper, others more fully loaded. Regardless of this diversity, we firmly believe...
NFL Game Planning: A Fitting Analogy for the Industry at the Start of 2010?
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...
Reflecting on the VA Industry in 2009: A Time of Shifting Realities
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...