Report on Life and Annuity Living Benefit Riders: Considerations for Insurers and Reinsurers

The Reinsurance Section, Product Development Section and the Committee on Life Insurance Research announce the release of a new report that investigates life and annuity living benefit riders and their implications from both a direct writer and a reinsurer perspective. Authored by a Milliman team led by Carl Friedrich, the report defines various living benefit riders, provides historical sales data and general filing requirements, explores how underwriting and administration is handled, and examines direct and reinsurance pricing implications of the riders to the extent they impact policyholder optionality and base plan financial characteristics. Appendix II presents the results of a survey of company practices related to the riders. Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits (GLWBs), Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefits (GMIBs) and other living benefits not triggered by a covered health event are not included in the study, nor are annuities that waive surrender charges when a health event occurs. For a quick overview, please see the Life and Annuity Living Benefit Riders Brief. Also, a consumer perspective of the study results is provided.

Materials

Thank You

The Sponsors would like to thank the companies that participated in the study and the following individuals that served on the Project Oversight Group:

• Gregory Brandner, FSA, MAAA, chair
• Jeff Beckley, FSA, MAAA
• Kenneth Birk, FSA, MAAA, CERA
• Ing Chian Ching, FSA
• Matthew Fingerhut, FSA, MAAA
• Jean-Marc Fix, FSA, MAAA
• Michael Palace, ASA, MAAA
• Steve Schoonveld, FSA, MAAA
• Parag Shah, FSA, MAAA
• Ronora Stryker, ASA, MAAA, SOA Research Actuary
• Jan Schuh, SOA Sr. Research Administrator

Questions

If you have questions or comments on this research, please contact Ronora Stryker, SOA Research Actuary, at rstryker@soa.org.