Commentary
#302 | An Eminent Mortality Disaster?
At the end of 2021, Scott Davidson, CEO of OneAmerica, was on a virtual Indiana Chamber of Commerce news conference with other local CEOs discussing the impact of COVID on their businesses. Davidson’s main point was to advocate for vaccinations…
#301 | The Rise of Defined Outcome Funds
Since the creation of indexed insurance products in the mid-1990s, the core value proposition has always been index-linked downside protection with upside potential. As I was told by one prominent annuity distributor recently said: “we believe in insurance, sure, but…
#300 | Get Ready for AG 49-B
At the NAIC Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF) virtual meeting in early December, Fred Andersen (MN), the chair of the IUL Illustration Subgroup, read a prepared statement asking for comments on a particular nuance related to AG 49-A and the…
#298 | Malice – or Mechanics?
This is the last post of 2021. It's been a heck of a year - thanks for continuing to support The Life Product Review. Happy Holidays and a Merry New Year! I remember well when, several years ago, a spate…
#296 | The Unstoppable Force and the Immovable Object
Over the past decade, the entire life insurance industry has been reshaped by falling and then persistently low interest rates and investment yields. Life insurers have exited the market, been sold, spun off and now, increasingly, parceled up and dumped…
#295 | Dispatches from Annuityland – Part 3
Since starting The Life Product Review in 2012, I’ve been committed to delivering independent and objective product intelligence. But I knew there would come a day when I would be writing about something that I’d been involved in bringing to…
#294 | Dispatches from Annuityland – Part 2
In the first dispatch from Annuityland, I made the overarching observation that most folks in our industry carry one of two passports – either for life insurance or annuities – but that there is a lot to learn by traveling…
#292 | Dispatches from Annuityland – Part 1
In my experience, most folks carry a passport from one of two countries – life insurance or annuities. These passports give the holder access to the unique ecosystem built around the product. Imagine someone with an annuity passport walking into…
#289 | The Private Equity Playbook
For two weeks in a row, I’ve put my normal article on ice to write something that specifically addresses articles released by other publications that are, you know, a smidge more prominent and have a slightly larger readership than The…
#285 | The Lesson of the Cares Act
To quote the great Yogi Berra, “in theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is.” That’s certainly the case with the Washington Cares Act, a well-intentioned law designed to provide a backstop for the growing…
