My primary research focus has been on personal retirement savings and investment products. I have published research on Variable Annuities related to optimal policyholder behavior, contract design, and the valuation and hedging of the embedded guarantees, and on the emerging Registered Index-Linked Annuities. I am also interested in tontines and other products that can allow people to have a more (financially) comfortable retirement. A secondary focus of my research has been on behavioral economics and how it can impact retirees' decision making.
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
Improving Fund Mapping: an Application to Variable Annuities. Journal of Risk and Insurance, forthcoming (2026+, with Wenchu Li & Maciej Augustyniak). WP version
RILAs in the Decumulation Phase. Journal of Risk and Insurance, 93: 268-304 (2026). WP version
Pricing Variable Annuity Guarantees using Monte Carlo Simulations. In: Cohen, A., Loke, SH. (eds) An Invitation to Undergraduate Research in Risk Management. Foundations for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics. Birkhäuser, Cham. Pages 81–107 (2026).
Registered Index-Linked Annuities in Qualified Retirement Plans. Journal of Risk and Insurance, 92: 665-691 (2025, with Cameron Ellis & Jacqueline Volkman-Wise). WP version
Adverse Selection in Tontines. Geneva Risk and Insurance Review , 50: 6-38 (2025, with Nan Zhu). WP version
A Comparison of Index-Linked Annuities. North American Actuarial Journal, 28: 104-125 (2024, with Bobby Samuelson). WP version
Valuing Lifetime Withdrawal Guarantees in RILAs. North American Actuarial Journal, 27: 771-786 (2023, with Chenxin Xu). WP version
Cheaper by the Bundle: The Interaction of Frictions and Option Exercise in Variable Annuities. Journal of Risk and Insurance, 90: 459-486 (2023, with Daniel Bauer). WP version
It's RILA Time: An Introduction to Registered Index-Linked Annuities. Journal of Risk and Insurance 89: 339-369 (2022). WP version
Efficient Valuation of Variable Annuity Portfolios using Dynamic Programming. Journal of Risk and Insurance 88: 1023-1055 (2021). WP version
The Economics of a Secondary Market for Variable Annuities. North American Actuarial Journal, 25: 604-630 (2021, with Nan Zhu). WP version
Variable Annuities: Market Incompleteness and Policyholder Behavior. Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 99, 63-78 (2021). WP version
Preference Discovery. Experimental Economics 23, 694-715 (2020, with Jason Delaney & Sarah Jacobson). WP version
Where Less is More: Reducing Variable Annuity Fees to Benefit Policyholder and Insurer. Journal of Risk and Insurance 86, 761-782 (2019, with Carole Bernard). WP version
Lapse-and-Reentry in Variable Annuities. Journal of Risk and Insurance 85, 911-938 (2018, with Nan Zhu). WP version
Policyholder Exercise Behavior in Life Insurance: The State of Affairs. North American Actuarial Journal 21, 485-501 (2017, with Daniel Bauer, Jin Gao, Eric Ulm & Nan Zhu). WP version
Revisiting the Risk-Neutral Approach to Optimal Policyholder Behavior: A Study of Withdrawal Guarantees in Variable Annuities. Review of Finance 20, 759-794 (2016, with Daniel Bauer). WP version
Current Working Papers:
A Theory of Preference Discovery (2024, with Jason Delaney and Sarah Jacobson). Working paper
For a full list of my research activities, please refer to my CV.