Bringing a Cutting-edge Insurance Product to Market with Numerix

Insurers today are placing more priority than ever on innovating as a means of meeting client demands. In fact, according to the International Insurance Society, executives see product innovation and new customer acquisition as their top growth opportunities. 

Bringing new, cutting-edge products to market, however, can bring several common challenges, tied to a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, shifting client expectations and needs to balance innovation with business budgets and requirements. These were precisely the challenges that VidaCaixa faced as the firm endeavored to innovate its product offerings. 

As the life insurance and pension subsidiary of CaixaBank and the market leader in Spain with more than €131 billion in assets under management, VidaCaixa set out to do something no other Spanish insurer had done: design and launch a variable annuity product conceived and built locally, from the ground up. The goal was not only to introduce a new product, but to establish a scalable framework that could support future innovation.

The challenge of building a new class of product

Developing a variable annuity embedded within a unit-linked product brings together actuarial complexity, market risk modeling, regulatory scrutiny, and operational scale. VidaCaixa needed to balance attractive investment opportunities with meaningful guarantees, all while operating in an environment where traditional models struggled to cope with persistent low yields.

The first hurdle was valuation. The firm had to value thousands of policies efficiently across multiple asset classes and risk profiles, supported by an economic scenario generator capable of producing consistent, realistic paths. This was not a batch calculation problem; it was a core business capability that had to be reliable, fast, and repeatable.

Regulation added another layer of complexity. Because Solvency II did not explicitly cover the innovative structure VidaCaixa was pursuing, the insurer needed a workflow that could withstand rigorous scrutiny and deliver results with the precision and transparency required by the regulation. 

Finally, execution mattered. The firm’s Financial Risk, Actuarial and Capital Management, and Investments teams all had to work from a common framework, aligning quantitative models with strategic priorities. And all of this had to be delivered on an ambitious timeline.

Choosing a partner, not just a platform

After evaluating multiple providers, VidaCaixa selected Numerix. The decision went beyond software capabilities. While Numerix’s CrossAsset Python SDK and its Economic Scenario Generator (ESG) offered the advanced analytics VidaCaixa required, what ultimately differentiated Numerix was its collaborative approach and commitment to knowledge transfer. VidaCaixa wanted a partner willing to work side-by-side with its teams, sharing expertise and building internal confidence.

As Raúl Merino of VidaCaixa’s Market Risk Management team put it, “From day one, Numerix felt like an extension of our team. Their experts worked closely with us, reviewing requirements, testing solutions, and adapting as our needs evolved."

Building the solution together

The joint project centered on creating a comprehensive pricing and risk framework powered by Numerix CrossAsset Python SDK and the Numerix ESG engine. This powerful combination offered a flexible foundation that could be integrated into VidaCaixa’s existing IT landscape while remaining adaptable to future products.

Key elements of the solution included:

• Customizable infrastructure: The Python SDK allowed VidaCaixa to tailor models and workflows to its specific product design, rather than forcing the business into a rigid template.
• Advanced economic scenario generation:  Numerix’s ESG enabled the calibration and simulation of multi-asset scenarios that reflected both financial market dynamics and actuarial considerations, a critical requirement for unit-linked variable annuities.
• End-to-end implementation: VidaCaixa and Numerix worked as a single team, iterating on requirements, validating outputs, and stress-testing workflows to ensure regulatory readiness.
• Expertise and best practices: Drawing on Numerix’s deep technical experience reduced implementation risk and ensured the framework aligned with global standards.

This collaborative, iterative approach paid off. The integrated framework now enables VidaCaixa to value thousands of policies with speed and accuracy, generate complex ESG-driven scenarios, calibrate hybrid models to manage embedded options, and reuse the infrastructure for future annuity and investment products.

Delivering measurable results

The impact was immediate and tangible. VidaCaixa became the first insurer in Spain to bring a domestically designed variable annuity product to market, securing a first-mover advantage. The product has since attracted more than €4 billion in assets under management, validating both the market demand and the robustness of the underlying framework.

Beyond commercial success, the project delivered enhanced risk transparency, more precise pricing, and streamlined workflows that saved significant time and resources. Perhaps most importantly, VidaCaixa now has a future-proof foundation embedded in its IT infrastructure—one that supports ongoing innovation.

Looking ahead

VidaCaixa continues to evolve its processes for greater efficiency and scalability, with Numerix remaining a strategic partner. With CrossAsset and the Python SDK at the core of its pricing and risk environment, the firm is well positioned to expand its product set and maintain its leadership in the Spanish insurance market.

For insurers facing similar pressures—to innovate faster, meet regulatory demands, and build scalable analytics frameworks—VidaCaixa’s journey offers a powerful example of what is possible when technology, expertise, and collaboration converge. 

To learn more about how VidaCaixa achieved this market-first innovation, download the full case study.