Commentary
#425 | Waking the Japanese Giants
Earlier this month, Legal and General announced that it was selling its US entity, Banner Life, to Japanese mutual company Meiji Yasuda. The sale marks the next chapter of the continuing retreat of European insurers from the United States life…
#420 | A Question of Value
12/16/24 Update - The South Carolina Department of Insurance has also mandated that A-CAP's South Carolina entities, Atlantic Coast Life and Southern Atlantic Re, stop writing new business as of 12/31. This decision was inevitable and probably unavoidable because Atlantic…
#419 | The PHL Variable Plot Thickens
After 6 months of near-silence on the state of PHL Variable, the Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) released updated financial statements last week – and they’re absolutely jaw-dropping. As of Q3 2024, PHL Variable’s surplus position has deteriorated to negative $2.1…
#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…
#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…
#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…
#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…
#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.…
#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…
#401 | Assurance IQ and the End of an Era
Prudential’s first quarter earnings release held a simultaneously shocking and yet completely predictable announcement – Assurance IQ is being formally shut down. It’s completely predictable because Prudential had already booked hundreds of millions in operating losses on Assurance IQ, pivoted…
