Description: The 1990s saw the rise of many types of variable investment products within the life insurance industry. It was only natural that hedging strategies and products would emerge in response to the inherent risk of loss of value in variable life and annuity products. This article explains a 21st-century twist on the concept for annuities, the Enhanced Earnings Death Benefit EEDB Rider.

Description: This article discusses how to use distribution systems to get a bigger share of wallet with each customer.

Description: Read the March 2017 issue of Product Matters published by the Product Development Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: A discussion of where insurance companies and their products fit in the retirement asset market and trends over the past few decades. Some historical data on the insurance companies' share of retirement assets is included.

Description: An overview of guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits (GLWB) on registered index-linkedannuity (RILA) products and a stochastic analysis of market risks.

Description: A discussion about how insurance companies weathered the storm of low interest rates in 2003.

Description: Income i.e., immediate annuities are insurance products that benefit from mortality pooling, so they can generate the highest level of lifetime “income now” per dollar of retirement assets put to work. Including an income annuity as a portion of a retirement portfolio often results in an immediate increase in the level of income generated by that portfolio while at the same time ensuring that a portion of the total income is payable for a lifetime.

Description: This article discusses an update to a survey that focuses on how companies are trying to price for and understand the risks inherent in the products they sell.

Description: Target volatility, as an investment strategy, has been used by many funds not only as a way to smooth return but also as a way to manage risks of the VA guarantees. Contrary to existing research which favors volatility targeting over fixed allocation, this article shows that because of the existence of market jump risk, target volatility strategy does not necessarily offer an improved risk profile for VA writers. Further, target volatility coupled with leveraging can significantly increase tail risk for insurance companies.

Description: Read the July 2016 issue of Product Matters!