The Insured Retirement Institute, the Washington advocacy group that evolved in 2008 from the National Association of Variable Annuities, has published its 2013 Fact Book, an annual “guide to information, trends, and data in the retirement income industry.”
The book contains useful descriptions of the retirement income market, historical sales data on variable and fixed annuities, definitions of the types of annuities and explanations of how they work, and demographic breakdowns of annuity ownership, among other information.
A wide range of readers—from insurance company executives looking for trends as well as individual investors trying to understand the differences between variable annuity share classes—is likely to find something useful in this 190-page spiral bound book.
According to an IRI press release, “The IRI Fact Book is published each year to help public policymakers, the media, advisors and their clients, and the entire insured retirement industry understand and keep current on changes in the retirement marketplace. The IRI Fact Book also is designed as a training tool and resource for those new to the business.”
Though designed for the public at large, the book doesn’t appear to be priced for maximum distribution. IRI members can obtain a free digital download of the Fact Book here or order a print copy for $74.95. Non-members can set up an account at IRI and purchase either a digital download or print copy at non-member rates ($249.95 and $149.95, respectively), according to IRI.
To its credit, the book contains the good, the bad and the ugly about annuities and annuity trends, including a frank discussion of the impact of low interest rates on the annuity market and a discussion of the reasons for the withdrawal of some former variable annuity issuers from the marketplace.
Many insurance and investment companies contributed information to the book. Other contributors include many of the research firms in the retirement income space, such as Advantage Compendium, Beacon Research, Cerulli Associates, Cogent Research, Corporate Insight, GDC Research, Morningstar, and Practical Perspectives.
© 2013 RIJ Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.
