Description: A review of product and sales trends for variable, indexed and fixed annuities against the current backdrop of low interest rates and record equity market valuations

Description: Enhanced or impaired annuities are life annuities underwritten to reflect annuitants' actual mortality. They are not currently prevalent in the U.S. or Canada, where life annuities assume low mortality and are thus unfair for impaired lives. This paper looks at the present annuity marketplace in the United States and Canada. It also reviews the underwriting and marketing of life annuities in the United Kingdom where “enhanced” life annuities are available for a broader cross section of the marketplace. It also reviews the use of P&C risk classification techniques and how they might apply to the annuity marketplace as well as potential legal constraints on broader risk classification for life annuities.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to study mortality-based securities, such as mortality bonds and swaps, and to price the proposed mortality securities. The focus is on individual annuity data, although some of the modeling techniques could be applied to other lines of annuity or life insurance.

Description: This paper suggests a possible framework for the mandatory annuitization of U.S. retirement savings, considers the experience of other countries and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory annuitization.

Description: This paper explains how legal reforms related to annuities have decreased the popularity of annuities among plan sponsors, and then describes how a proposal for a federal charter option for life insurance companies could hold some promise for persuading plan sponsors to put annuities back into savings plans.

Description: An exploration of drivers, cohorts and dynamics for policyholder behavior for VA and FIA based on industry experience data, including changes in recent years and the emergence of long-term data in key areas. We will also discuss critical elements to developing a sustainable and coherent framework to translate this complex experience data into assumption models.

Description: Provides in-depth discussion of IRS Rev. Proc. 2008-24, including tax background of partial annuity exchanges. Then discusses partial annuitizations and “modified endowment contracts.”

Description: Discussion of NAIC efforts to amend the annuity nonforfeiture laws to respond to falling interest rates.

Description: This article explores the development of the annuity market in the UK over the past 20 years. It examines the explosive growth achieved by the enhanced annuity market and delves into the kinds of customers attracted by these products and the kinds of enhancements typically presented. It also explores the impact of government policy changes which have lead to annuity volumes declining and 'drawdown' product becoming more popular.

Description: This research report analyzed the effects of different types of informational interventions on annuity-related behavioral intentions and beliefs, such as estimated retirement age and life expectancy.