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Research & Reports

Soleares Research, LLC is a market research and consulting firm servicing the annuity and life insurance businesses. We provide, through our website, periodic articles that cover important industry trends; we also offer clients phone or on-site consultations, executive briefings and presentations. We pride ourselves on first-class customer service and responsiveness to our clients. We aim to be an indispensable resource to the marketplace.
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Concerning Directions in the Annuity Business in Late 2013

It's our opinion that the annuity business in the U.S. is showing signs of becoming more balanced in terms of its product offerings and sales practices. Some of this process of change is happening partly...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from October, 2013

This report contains our customary review of variable insurance fund filings from the prior month. October was marked by quite a mixe of activity – and a few interesting new registrations…

Concerning VA Industry Sales and Product Moves for the Rest of 2013

In this commentary we'll share our views on competitive conditions in the variable annuity space, and discuss emerging products that may influence sales over the remainder of this year, and beyond…  

Earnings Held Up for Insurers in Q3 – But VA Sales? Not So Much

It seems to us that most variable annuity insurers fared well this third quarter from an earnings standpoint, helped by a rise in the stock market. However VA sales were down for the group of...

Principal Financial to Offer a GLWB Exchange Program – Not a Buyback

It’s our opinion that vintage variable annuity benefits remain problematic for quite a few insurers, and we expect more de-risking measures to be taken over time.  Last week Principal Financial filed a program that will...

Jackson National Moves to Limit 1035s Over the Remainder of This Year

Last Tuesday Jackson National sent a letter to financial advisors announcing the temporary suspension of 1035 exchanges and qualified transfers of assets into three variable annuity contract suites effective October 25. In this commentary we’ll...

Update: Variable Insurance Volatility-Managed Portfolios

This spreadsheet updates our coverage of variable insurance volatility-managed portfolios, with data through the second quarter of this year. By our count, 28 new vol-control funds commenced operations in 2Q13, and assets all such funds...

Regarding Interest Rate Risk – and How VA Insurers are Managing It

Although the industry is shifting slowly away from risky guarantees, variable annuity insurers are still finding they need to offer fairly strong benefits in order to bring in meaningful sales. What these companies are doing...

Reviewing Variable Insurance Fund Filings from August and September, 2013

In this report we’ll get caught up with variable insurance fund filings from the months of August and September. Normally we do a fund-related report each month but lately we have been in one of...