Annuity Sales

Life insurance companies MetLife and Prudential Financial both reported quarterly earnings that exceeded analysts' estimates. MetLife reported record variable annuity sales and a sharp rise in its retirement product fees. Prudential also reported strength in its annuity business. While annuity sales were strong at both companies, higher hedging costs had an adverse impact on the reported earnings of MetLife and Prudential. Source: Reuters Full Story

A 2008 sigma study from Swiss Re suggests that U.S. variable annuity sales could reach $400 - $500 billion per year by 2018. These are gross sales projections that include exchanges of existing products. Annuity exchanges are typically a significant portion of overall or gross sales. This 2008 projection was based on compound annual growth projections of 7-9 percent. Also mentioned was the fact that variable annuity assets in Japan grew at an astounding rate between 2003 and 2008--increasing at...

Variable annuity sales in the United States increased 9.7 percent to total $34 billion during the third quarter of 2010. Variable annuity revenue figures continue to be concentrated among a handful of leading companies: Prudential Financial: $15.5 billion year to date. MetLife : $13.2 billion year to date. Jackson National Life: $10.47 billion year to date. TIAA-CREF : $10.42 billion year to date. Lincoln Financial : $6.6 billion. The total amount of variable annuity sales in the first 9 months...

New York Life Insurance Company reported record sales of fixed immediate annuity products for the third quarter of 2010. The nation's largest mutual life insurer reported $1.3 billion in fixed immediate annuity sales--an increase of 4 percent over the same period last year. According to EVP for Retirement Income Security Chris Blunt: “We’re on pace to achieve a seventh consecutive year of record sales of lifetime income annuities. Americans are more actively taking personal...