Description: An overview of the immediate payout annuity market.

Description: I recommend a Social Security deferral product, and two annuity enhancements. I then discuss the challenges faced in getting such products distributed.

Description: The article discusses PLR 201632004, which addresses the partial annuitization rules of IRC section 72(a)(2) in the context of a deferred income annuity rider attached to a variable deferred annuity contract.

Description: Summarizes IRS private letter ruling PLR 200818018, released Jan. 29, 2008, related to treatment of certain payments under Immediate VAs as SEPPs, and discusses its significance.

Description: This article offers issues and trends with immediate payout annuities.

Description: Discussion about the pros and cons of providing lifetime income options in defined contribution plans, and about the pros and cons of annuitization vs. structured payouts. Discussion triggered by an SOA research report authored by Steve Vernon.

Description: In the June 2014 issue of Product Matters, Doug Robbins of Pacific Life authored a fascinating article entitled “Velocity of Diversification.” Therein, he proposed a pricing measure that describes the “…speed at which confidence in profitability is attained”. How can stochastic modeling of mortality be applied to analyze the velocity of diversification, and how would that measure be affected by volatility in the underlying assumptions?

Description: SECURE 2.0 included provisions that improve the ability of insurers to serve those who own qualified annuities. Several previously disallowed distribution methods are now allowed. These changes should increase the availability and desirability by contract owners to choose a payout annuity compared to required minimum distributions. An insurer considering enhancing qualified annuitization offerings might follow the approach outlined to potentially increase qualified annuitization sales and assist contract owners in protecting their principal more directly than previously.

Description: This paper considers the risk that actual mortality will be lower than the mortality assumed when pricing life annuities on impaired lives. It develops a method for managing this risk through a Provision for Adverse Deviation PAD.

Description: The NAIC approved the 2012 Individual Annuity Reserve table as the standard for computing reserves for individual annuity contracts and developed a model law regulation for states to adopt. On February 17th, 2015, ACLI submitted a letter to Alexis MacIvor, Chief of the Insurance Branch in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, notifying her that as of December 24, 2014, 26 states had approved the 2012 IAR Table as the reserve standard for immediate annuity contracts issued on or after January 1, 2015. The letter thus confirms that the 2012 IAR Table is the Prevailing Commissioners' Standard Table for purposes of computing life insurance reserves under section 807(d) of the Code for individual annuity contracts.