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#378 | Whole Life as a Fixed Income Alternative – Part 1

Full Article For the past 35 years or so, Whole Life has often been positioned against traditional fixed income in a very particular – and peculiar – way. We all know the narrative. Falling interest rates created a long-term phenomenon where Dividend Interest Rates consistently stayed above new money interest…

Product Analytics

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#375 | Engineered Indices & FIA

Quick Take The worlds of Indexed UL and Fixed Indexed Annuities are increasingly converging and with profound potential implications for…

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#374 | The Missed UL Opportunity

Full Article If there is one overarching trend that has dominated the life insurance and annuity landscape since interest rates…

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#373 | 2023 Mid-Year Engineered Index Observations – Part 1

Quick Take Despite the slick marketing material and splashy names, the reality is that the vast majority of engineered indices…

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#370 | Securian’s Great Delinking

Full Article Yesterday, Securian dropped a bombshell announcement that, I think, will rank as one of the more surprising and…

Product Reviews

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#369 | Brighthouse SmartGuard Plus

Quick Take There is no doubt that Brighthouse SmartGuard Plus is one of the most innovative new products to hit…

#368 | Nationwide Flexes Its Muscles in the Hybrid Life/LTC Market. Again.

This article was written by Steve Cox, Head of Life and Hybrid Products at Life Innovators. Special thanks to Ramona…

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#356 | Northwestern Mutual Enters the 10 Pay Fray

Quick Take At first blush, Northwestern Mutual isn't a natural fit for the highly competitive and quickly growing 10 Pay…

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#343 | The Original IVUL – Equitable MSO II

Quick Take Equitable was first-to-market with Buffered crediting strategies in VUL with its 2010 release of the Market Stabilizer Option…

News and Editorials

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#345 | 2022 in Review

With 2022 in the rearview mirror, I thought I’d go back through the full list of articles and give a…

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Survey Responses & TLPR Update

Thanks to those of you who generously took the time to fill out the survey that I sent out earlier…

#246 | The Architect Fallacy

Years ago, I was invited as a guest to a meeting of a distributor’s top agents to decide how to…

#242 | Prudential Files a VUL Protector Reprice

At the end of a recent 4-part article series on the two products with a duopoly on the Guaranteed VUL…

Industry Commentary

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#364 | Reinsurance and the Remaking of Life Insurance

Full Article At the core of reinsurance is the simple concept of risk transfer. Traditionally, reinsurance risk transfer has pertained…

#363 | The Long Reach of Guaranteed UL

Full Article There are a few fantastic scenes in The Lord of the Rings movies that, even after reading the…

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#362 | Accordia and the End of an Era

Full Article Yesterday, Global Atlantic announced that “after carefully evaluating our greatest opportunities to provide the most compelling products and…

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#355 | A Financial Strength Gut Check

Quick Take Life insurer financial strength is arguably made up of three primary components - operations, assets and liabilities. The…

Episode 21
December 14, 2020

Episode 21

Interview with Mike Pepe and Kris Beck of Proformex about the…

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Episode 20
September 21, 2020

Episode 20

Interview with Jon Mendelsohn, CEO and Founder of Ashar Group,…

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Episode 19
September 7, 2020

Episode 19

Interview with Jim Benson, former CEO of John Hancock, CEO…

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Episode 18
August 24, 2020

Episode 18

Interview with Dick Weber of Ethical Edge Consulting on what…

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