Hancock sets sales record

As annuities continue to fight image problems and their perception faces a shaping battle between the insurance industry, the media and regulators, a piece of good news emerged from the variable side of the industry. John Hancock Financial Services set a variable annuity sales record in 2006.

The company’s variable annuity sales reached $9.1 billion in 2006, breaking the previous record of $7.9 billion, set in 2005. That marks a 15 percent jump from 2006. Hancock attributes the increased sales to several factors, among them the expansion of its portfolio of optional withdrawal benefits and several new distribution partnerships.