Industry Commentary
#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…
#284 | Brookfield Buys American National
This article makes a lot of references to financial data about both Brookfield and American National. All of the data comes from public sources, specifically statutory filings and 10-Ks. You can find all of the information at the SEC website…
#278 | Principal Completes its Strategic Review
Yesterday morning, Principal announced the conclusions of the strategic review that had been brought on by activist investor Elliott Investment Management’s increased stake in the company earlier this year and their demands that Principal take a hard look at its…
#275 | Permanent Insurance Goes Direct(ish)
If you were to just read the industry headlines, you’d think that the only revolution happening right now in the life insurance space is the explosion in growth and investment in online insurance marketing firms. That’s why I wrote last…
#274 | The Online Life Insurance Gamble
Last week, the insurance world was rocked by news that Ethos Life had secured an additional $200 million in funding at a whopping $2 billion valuation, placing the firm at roughly half the size of Brighthouse Financial, two-thirds the size…
#268 | Constellation Buys Ohio National
A few days ago, Ohio National announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Constellation Insurance Holdings, a de-novo insurance holding company without even a website that is owned by two Canadian pension plans. The transaction is styled as…
#265 | A Strategic Review at Principal
Last week, Principal announced that it is “initiating a strategic review of its business mix, capital management and capital deployment options” as a result of activist fund Elliott Management taking a 10% stake in the company. Immediately – and understandably…
