The life and annuity regulatory environment is still changing, and interest rates are still low.
All of the upheaval has put pressure on issuers to focus less on unveiling major new products and programs, and more on making what they already do work better.
That focus has raised the profile of the issuers' announcements about new alliances. A few years ago, they might have been overshadowed by flashier announcements. Today, alliance announcements are stars.
(Related: Lincoln Adds Indexed Variable Annuity)
Here's a look at three of the announcements that have caught our eye recently.
1. Prudential Financial Inc. and Babylist Inc.
Prudential formed this strategic relationship to give expecting parents access to crowd-funded life insurance.
Families that are expecting babies can now add life insurance to their baby gift wish list registries.
Friends and relatives can use the registry listings to contribute cash to a life insurance purchase fund. The parents can then use the cash contributed to pay for term life insurance.
Prudential will also be providing baby-related financial advice articles for the Babylist site.
Prudential estimates that about one-third of U.S. baby gift registries are posted on Babylist.
