Top 10 annuity providers: Q2 2016

During a record-breaking quarter for fixed indexed annuity sales, the top annuity carriers remained fairly stable when compared with the first quarter of this year, according to individual annuities sales data collected by LIMRA’s Secure Retirement Institute.

No new companies broke into the top 10 during the quarter, and most of the companies held the same position within the top 10 as they did during the first quarter. However, more change is evident when comparing this year’s second-quarter ranking with last year’s second-quarter ranking. The top 10 companies accounted for 53.4 percent of all individual annuity sales during the quarter, or $62.7 billion of the total $117.3 billion sales.

In general, companies focused on fixed indexed products tended to move up in the second-quarter 2016 ranking, while those focused on variable annuities were more likely to fall a notch or two. This reflects an overall annuity industry trend favoring fixed and fixed indexed products while variable annuities have struggled. Variable annuity sales were down 25 percent during the quarter, while fixed indexed annuity sales were up 30 percent.

LIMRA noted many of the top 10 carriers have put an emphasis on income annuity sales, with seven of the top 10 writers experience growth of 25 percent or more in that category. Deferred income annuties represented another bright spot in the industry, with sales increasing 43 percent to $870 million. Nine of the top 10 writers experienced growth of 25 percent or more in this category, LIMRA said.

Scroll through our slideshow above to find out who the top 10 individual annuity sales are and how they ranked in terms of variable, fixed and fixed index sales.