Overall sales of individual annuities fell slightly in the first quarter, but sales of products with returns linked to the performance of the stock market increased, according to LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute.
Insurers reported $51.8 billion in total U.S. individual annuity sales during the latest quarter, down from $52 billion for the first quarter of 2017.
But sales of variable annuity separate accounts increased 3%, to $19.7 billion, and sales of indexed annuities jumped 11%, to $14.5 billion.
(Related: Annuity Sales Stabilize: LIMRA)
Sales of variable annuity fixed accounts, and of fixed annuities without crediting rate components linked to the performance of investment markets fell.
Sales of variable annuity fixed accounts fell 16%, for example, to $4.9 billion. Sales of traditional fixed-rate deferred annuities fell to $8.7 billion, from $19.1 billion.
Here are some other first-quarter LIMRA results:
- Nine insurers reported $1 billion or more in total variable annuity sales for the latest quarter, up from seven in the year-earlier quarter.
- The number of insurers with $1 billion or more in fixed annuity sales fell to nine, from 10.
— Related, on ThinkAdvisor:
- Annuity Owners Are Different: LIMRA
- Something Unusual Happened to Q4 Annuity Sales: IRI
- Should Young Retirement Investors Really Go All-In on Risk?