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December 12, 2010 at 07:00 PM
The total amount of life premiums collected by banks was 41% higher in the third quarter than in the third quarter of 2009, but October sales of annuities through banks were 29% lower than in October 2009.
Kehrer-LIMRA, Windsor, Conn., has reported those results in two separate survey reports.
U.S. bank life sales have been strong all year, but results could be weaker this quarter, according to Scott Stathis, a Kehrer-LIMRA managing director.
A few life carriers recently dropped out of the bank channel because it accounted for only a small piece of their overall sales, Stathis says.
Bank sales of single-premium policies accounted for about 95% of the bank life sales, Kehrer-LIMRA says.
“By making the single-premium sale more transactional in nature, the carriers have more effectively accommodated the bank culture,” Stathis says. “In addition, the low-interest-rate environment that has stifled annuity sales has benefitted life sales, since it is an alternative investment that is not rate sensitive.”
