Solvency II set to boost interest in variable annuities
Variable annuities were launched in Europe shortly before the financial crisis began but, in the face of well-documented hedging problems in the US, the market never really took off. Alex Davis investigates whether the implementation of Solvency II will lead to a greater enthusiasm for the product and whether insurers now have the hedging solutions to cope
Starting life in 1950s America, variable annuities (VAs) really began to take off during the 1990s. The continuing success of the product in the US and the market benefits it promised eventually led to French insuring giant Axa launching its TwinStar VA product in Germany in 2006, a contract that won Life & Pension Risk’s innovation award in 2007.
After selling more than 45,000 policies in less than a year, competitors began launching rival VA products, with ING following later in 2007 and
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