Annuities

"The industry has been in an interesting transformation," said Catherine J. Weatherford, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute. "The financial crisis hit banks rapidly, but for the life insurance industry, it took a while for the issues from the crisis to develop."

Indexed annuity sales increased 8.3% and income annuities were up 6.1% in the second quarter, according to Beacon Research. It was the second-best quarter ever for those product types, Beacon said in a press release. Total fixed annuity sales were also up, but with a more muted 1% gain in the quarter. And they declined 17.2% from the year-ago period. …

Low interest rates, product complexity and (some say) incompetent advisors have converged to drive down annuity sales. Here's what you need to know.

Annuity sales in the second quarter of 2012 totaled $57 billion, down 8% from the year-ago quarter, according to LIMRA.

Lifelong income solutions for defined contribution plans are on the way. With defined benefit plans waning and life expectancy waxing, more retirees will need more guaranteed income than Social Security can provide.

More than three in four advisors expect to continue selling variable annuities and allocate 11% of their assets under management toward these products, according to Cogent Research.

In the first half of 2012, tons of cash flowed out of non-qualified annuities, according to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

Seventy-five percent of variable annuity buyers, 86% of indexed annuity buyers and 86% of traditional fixed annuity buyers reported being satisfied with their annuities.

Annuity income at banks overall increased; but an apples-to-apples comparison shows a clearer picture and tells a bleaker story.

Although overall activity in the annuity market has been down over the past 13 months, inflows in May increased by slightly more than 1% to $7.5 billion from $7.4 billion in April, according to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

Bank holding companies raked in $118.4 billion in wealth management income in 2011, up 1.35% from $116.9 billion in 2010. The increase comes despite a lackluster fourth quarter, the industry’s weakest since the beginning of 2009.

The Salt Lake City-based bank is ramping up its wealth management business with the support of third-party marketing firm PrimeVest Financial Services.

Mid-octogenarians could be getting a birthday gift from the IRS

New York Life says its Guaranteed Future Income Annuity product has garnered more than $500 million in premiums in less than a year.

As of March 31, U.S. retirement assets totaled $18.9 trillion, up 6.3% from $17.8 trillion in the previous quarter.

“The past few years of market volatility have demonstrated the importance of guaranteed income in retirement,” said Alison Salka, LIMRA corporate vice president and director of retirement research,

Advisors are more committed than ever to helping clients with their retirement income planning but they still face a host of challenges.

The new annuity products, which are being offered by wealth managers in the firm’s Advisor Asset Program, come in response to a growing demand among investors for a more guaranteed form of tax-deferred retirement income.

Income annuity sales in the first quarter climbed almost 23% to $2.16 billion from $1.75 billion a year ago. Indexed annuities, meanwhile, increased nearly 9% hitting $8.16 billion.

Insurance companies and broker-dealers sold $7.4 billion million in annuity products in April, down from $7.7 billion in March, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced.