Description: New Zealand is about to launch its first variable annuity with guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits. The product design is mindful of the lessons from the financial crisis in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Description: This document contains material excerpted from a speech given on June 17, 1997 by Tom Kelly, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of LIMRA International, at a LOMA/LIMRA Strategic Issues Conference in Singapore. It focuses on the life insurance industry around the world and some of the forces driving change and their implications.