Annuity Sales

LIMRA reports that total individual annuity sales declined by 11 percent in 2009. Sales of all types of individual annuity products in the United States totaled $234.9 billion in 2009. Variable annuity sales totaled $127 billion, a decrease of 18 percent for the year. Indexed annuity sales totaled $29.4 billion, an increase of 9 percent relative to 2008.

Variable annuity net asset values have recovered to pre-financial crisis levels. Buoyant capital markets over the past several months have resulted in the first increase in variable annuity net asset values in fifteen months. Gross variable annuity sales in the third quarter of 2009 were $31 billion. Qualified sales were $20.8 billion while non-qualified sales were $10.2 billion. Net sales of variable annuities in the third quarter were only $2.8 billion, which begs the question of why there...

Sales of individual annuities in the United States decreased for the third straight quarter. Total individual annuity sales for the first nine months of 2009 were $181.6 billion. Fixed annuity sales continued to decline at a rate of 19% compared to the same period the previous year. Variable annuity sales were hurt by a significant downturn in Section 1035 exchanges as carriers have been scaling-back on product features while increasing prices. Source: Wall Street Journal Full Story

The House Financial Services Committee passed the Investor Protection Act of 2009. This legislation would have a meaningful impact on the sales of annuities and mutual funds as the current suitability standard would be replaced by a much higher fiduciary standard. The net effect would be a big win for financial services consumers. Currently, suitability standards require that financial advisors determine whether a product is appropriate for a given client profile, with risk tolerance as one of...

The Bank Insurance and Securities Association compiles and index of securities brokerage and annuity -related revenue of 20 U.S. banks. The BISA-Singer Bank Brokerage Index shows that 61% of the second quarter 2009 revenue of participating banks came from annuity sales. Annuity-related revenue was $95.3 million for the second quarter, a decline of 15% from the previous period. Source: Financial Planning Full Story