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October 17, 2011 at 08:55 AM
Almost every economic indicator out there points to doom and gloom. Not to mention, we have the Occupy Wall Street folks swelling in number and in geography. But somebody forgot to tell the annuity industry.
According to a recent article on LifeHealthPro.com, transactional productivity for fixed and variable annuities as well as mutual funds hit its highest level since April of 2010. In a separate article, we found out that “bank holding company sales of annuities rose 25 percent in the first half of 2011 over the first half the previous year, hitting a record $1.53 billion in income earned.”
Just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming all this favorable news, I checked in with Jeremy Alexander, president and CEO of Evanston, Ill.-based Beacon Research, to see if he could shed a little light on the matter. It’s true, he says, that “even in light of the low-rate environment, carriers are pushing their annuity products out the door.”
So, what’s the deal? How’s it taking place? Frankly, it’s a good environment for fixed and indexed products, according to Alexander, compared to CDs and Treasuries. If the carriers can make 3 percent and offer 2 percent on a product, well, in this environment, they’ve got the banks beat. The carrier’s secret: “When pricing a fixed annuity, the carrier can go out longer than the rate guarantee,” Alexander says, “while the bank must buy three-year paper for three years.”
