Bank Annuity Sales Up In April

Bank sales of annuities increased to $3.5 billion in April, up 9% from the April 2006 total.

Bank sales of fixed annuities plateaued at $1.5 billion, but bank sales of variable annuities increased 18%, to $2 billion, according to Kehrer-LIMRA, a division of LIMRA International, Windsor, Conn.

Kehrer-LIMRA bases the figures on a monthly sampling of data from banks with more than $4 billion in assets.