Annuities

For the second straight year, MetLife leads life insurers in annuity considerations through the first three quarters, ended Sept. 30, 2011. Prudential Financial and Jackson National Life Group round out the top three in the rankings released by SNL.

In 2012, the U.S. life and annuity insurance industry will be challenged to find ways to manage both capital and risk in an economically and politically uncertain year, while continuing to lay the groundwork for future growth, according to Ernst & Young's new Global Insurance Center U.S. Outlook report.

Fixed annuity sales fell 7% in the third quarter to $19 billion, according to Beacon Research’s Fixed Annuity Premium Study. For the year to date, sales fell slightly less than 1% to $58.3 billion.

Wealth accumulation is taking a back seat to another important investor goal: having guaranteed retirement income.

Eight in 10 advisors who sell annuities report that they are having more client discussions about retirement income planning than they did five years ago. And those discussions are becoming more emotional, according to a new report, “The Evolution of the Annuity Industry," released by the Insured Retirement Institute and Cogent Research.

Eight in 10 advisors who sell annuities report that they are having more client discussions about retirement income planning than they did five years ago. And nearly two-thirds of advisors currently selling annuities indicate that guaranteed income options are expected to increase in importance over the next five years -- more so than any other factor.

The Insured Retirement Institute said third-quarter annuity sales rose to $57 billion in the third quarter, up 5% from the year-ago period. Sales year-to-date were $175.4 billion, up from $163.1 billion in 2010.

The ongoing decline of both public and private pension plans has afforded life insurers space to offer products that guarantee a person an income stream for life.

The mere mention of variable annuities is enough to set off a heated discussion among financial advisors. Below are excerpts from our discussion boards about our coverage of a report from the Insured Retirement Institute.

Independent and insurance brokers/dealers are the strongest sales channels for variable annuities, according to a report from the Insured Retirement Institute.

As banks and insurers compete in the lucrative retirement market, new numbers show a marked uptick in the sale of annuities at bank holding companies in the first half of 2011.

Financial advisors are in huge demand among insurance companies that create the broad array of insured retirement income products. But if product creators want to succeed with that group, they need to get a few ground rules clear, a panel of financial advisors said during the Insured Retirement Institute’s annual conference on Tuesday.

Financial advisors are going play a bigger role in how the annuity industry gets it products to customers, according to industry officials presenting at the Insured Retirement Institute's 2011 annual conference. But consumers will be leading the charge.

Among current retirees, annuities account for only an average of 4% of household income. That’s the finding of a new study of annuity use among retirees and near retirees just released by LIMRA, the Connecticut-based financial industry research organization.

Annuities sold at a brisk pace in the second quarter, setting the stage for a record year of sales, according to the Insured Retirement Institute.

In an effort to expand its annuity business, The Hartford is expanding into the structured settlement annuity market, providing tax-free payouts to people who receive settlements related to a workers’ compensation or personal injury claim.

Variable annuities continued to surge in the second quarter of this year, with total sales reaching $40.9 billion, an increase of 16% over the same period last year, according to LIMRA, the Windsor, CT-based financial services research firm.

The fact that both fixed and variable annuities posted sales increases in June wasn’t quite as rare as summer snow, but it was enough to raise eyebrows among industry watchers.

Annuity fee income at bank holding companies (BHCs) shot up 28.4% in the first quarter to more than $748 million, according to the Michael White-ABIA Bank Annuity Fee Income Report.

DTCC Insurance & Retirement Services has launched a new analytic reporting service for insurance carriers and broker-dealers that sell annuities.