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

Description: This paper reviews the need for longevity insurance during retirement, and then establishes a framework to study the total asset allocation decision in retirement, which includes both conventional asset classes and immediate payout annuity products.

Description: In this article, the author discusses the capital shortfall an insurer faces because of the longevity risk on immediate annuities.

Description: This study is designed to analyze new planning approaches and strategies that combine SPIAs with other techniques to create retirement income synergies. Using historical scenarios, it evaluates how different retirement income strategies hypothetically would have met four separate client goals: sustainable income, liquidity, accessibility and legacy. This report summarizes study findings and includes “planning points” to help readers interpret the study data.

Description: Diverse Risks 2016 Call for Essays

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: Retirement income security under defined contribution plans depends upon sufficient savings and decumulating that savings so it provides an adequate income throughout retirement. Investment risk and longevity risk inherently complicate the latter task. The economic rationale for annuitization is clear in this context. However, annuitization rates have historically been very low, a phenomenon that is still not well understood. If retirees are making “rational” decisions based on full information, if their choices are consistent with the pursuit of their financial priorities, then low annuitization rates are not an issue for concern. In this case, retirees who annuitize and retirees who do not must have different financial priorities. However, research by the TIAA Institute shows that the decision to not annuitize is inconsistent with the stated financial priorities of most non-annuitants. It appears that non-annuitants do not und erstand that annuitization would address their financial priorities for retirement.

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: China’s pension system has transformed from traditional retirement system based on command economy to modern pension system based on market economy .

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.