Annuity Sales

A director of one of the U.K.'s larger annuity brokers suggests that inflation could result in poverty for many U.K. annuity owners. In a piece titled "The Great Annuity Scandal," Steve Hunt expresses his concerns about annuity owners who are unaware of the risks they may face over the next several years: Inflation may not be a problem now, and who knows when it will return, but return it will - that is a given. The vast majority of annuity sales are level (and a great many single life). At...

MetLife 's leading position in the U.S. annuity industry is only getting stronger. The company is benefitting from financial crisis-related flight to quality. In other words, financial advisors and customers who are concerned about credit risk are migrating to a handful of the strongest insurers. MetLife expects variable annuity sales to exceed $15 billion in 2009--exceeding pre-financial crisis revenue levels in 2007. The company has also seen an increase in fixed annuity business. Source:...

Sales of fixed annuities in the United States were $27.8 billion during the second quarter of 2009. This represented an increase of 10% from the same period a year earlier, but a decrease of 20% from the previous record setting quarter. New York Life was the sales leader with $2.85 billion in sales. Aviva , Allianz and MetLife also posted strong sales. Source: Investment News Full Story

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has proposed amendments to the regulatory framework that governs annuity sales. The NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation is the existing framework. The NAIC is proposing more stringent suitability guidelines for the sale of all types of annuities--including fixed annuities. The amendments would place insurance agents who sell fixed annuities under the same suitability guidelines that apply to financial advisors who...

Variable annuity sales in the United States decreased 24% for the three month period ending June 30. Total variable annuity sales for the second quarter were $31.9 billion, a 24% decrease from $42.2 billion during the same period in 2008. AIG and Hartford Financial Services Group were especially hard-hit with sales decreasing more than 50%. In contrast, sales at MetLife rose 27% to $4.5 billion, making the company the leading provider of variable annuities in the U.S. Source: Bloomberg Full...