Research & Reports
Q1 Results Brought New Accounting Adjustments for the VA Business
First quarter earnings season concluded last week for the publicly-traded insurers we regularly monitor, and for most of them, variable annuity deposits and net flows declined, much as we expected. What surprised us were accounting...
The Pace of De-Risking Quickens, Changing the Outlook for the VA Business
A number of leading variable annuity insurers have started to take more drastic steps to trim their risk profiles, cut costs and otherwise regroup during this difficult period, and we expect more activity of this...
Uncovering Meaning in Recent Rounds of VA Industry Repositioning
Since the second half of last year, the variable annuity business has been in transition, and a nearly constant stream of adjustments have been made to contracts, riders, not to mention other things, these certainly...
Sundry Thoughts on VA Sales – During a Time of Rider Tweaks and Twists
Lately we’ve learned there was movement along the variable annuity sales leader board during the fourth quarter. For now we think the top 25 will remain in place, with some shifting within that group, although...
Various Stressors Are Impacting the VA Business as Spring is on the Way
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...
Sliding Finish to a Volatile 2008 as Downward Markets Jolt VA Players
Fourth-quarter earnings season has almost concluded and in this report we’ll offer our customary review of variable annuity operating results for selected publicly-traded insurers. As we expected, most companies went through a difficult time during...
Reflecting on 2008: a Turning Point Year for Variable Annuity Players
This is our customary early retrospective of the past year for the variable annuity business, in which we’ll offer a narrative of how things unfolded chronologically in 2008, the market conditions that arose and their...
Benefit Bases, Risks and Related Competitive Matters on the VA Scene
By now it’s obvious that in the variable annuity business leading players have either started to cut back on the generosity of their guaranteed benefits or are thinking strongly about doing so, since the downturn...
A Shift in the Living Benefit Arms Race – VA Insurers Start to Scale Back
In the past six years the variable annuity industry has been marked by fierce competition between insurers over who has the richest guaranteed living benefits, a phenomenon that has come to be known as the...