Bobby Samuelson

close up photography of four baseballs on green lawn grasses

#412 | Prudential Momentum IUL

When Prudential released the first iteration of Index Advantage UL (IAUL) in mid-2012, it was a massive validation of the Indexed UL market. I remember some people referring to it as a “hell freezing over” moment. What most folks didn’t…

#411 | New Accumulation IUL Releases

Over the past couple of weeks, four new accumulation-oriented Indexed UL products hit the market in what is undoubtedly the most active burst of product launches in years. The last time something like this happened was before AG 49-A was…

missle launching at sunset

#410 | The Challenge of Final Expense

Credit: Warner Bros The more I’ve come to understand Final Expense insurance, the more I’ve come to see it as something separate and distinct from what people commonly understand to be life insurance. Final Expense is better described as a…

#409 | Who Killed Columbian?

About 3 weeks ago, the New York Department of Financial Services moved to place Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company into rehabilitation. Crucially, the petition to rehabilitate Columbian Mutual did not include a moratorium that blocks the ability for policyholders to…

close up photo of sorry we re closed sign on glass window

#408 | Reliastar Raises Base Charges

8/27/24 Update - I just received an email from a subscriber about another Reliastar policy with charge increases, this time affecting both the base charges as described below in this policy and the premium load, which jumped from 0% to…

aerial view of the water dam in vacha reservoir bulgaria

#407 | Beyond Term

If you were to put any random person in our industry up on stage and ask them to start explaining life insurance, they’d probably start by explaining the difference between Term and permanent insurance. Dividing the life insurance world into…

photo of body of water during golden hour

#406 | American National Signature Protection IUL

What happens after a private equity firm buys a life insurer? The first order of business almost always seems to be to reallocate the life insurer’s general account to align with the new owner’s investment expertise. That’s the low-hanging fruit.…

bald eagle head

#405 | Lincoln VULone and the End of an Era

In the pre-dawn hours of October 31st, 2018, you would have found me sitting in my chair with my computer in my lap writing an article about Voya formally ceasing to write new life insurance business at the end of…

red moon during night time

#404 | Who Killed PHL Variable?

Introduction I have to start this article with an admission. When I first saw the news about PHL Variable Insurance Company (PHLVIC) being put under administration and then rehabilitation by the State of Connecticut, I didn’t think much of it.…

investigation board with photos maps and cutouts showing connections

#403 | The Double Edged Sword – Assets

Writing insurance is a double-edged sword. One side of the blade are the risks covered by the insurance policies themselves – the liability structure. The other side of the blade are the assets that support those liabilities. Successfully managing an…

closeup photo of black hilt and brown sword
See More Articles