Sales of all individual deferred annuities did well in the United States in the second quarter, and sales of variable annuities soared, according to new issuer survey data from Wink Inc.
Total U.S. sales of individual deferred products increased 40% between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021, to $64 billion, the Des Moines, Iowa-based firm says.
Sales of non-variable products rose 22%, to $32 billion, and sales of variable products climbed 64%, to $33 billion.
Sales of variable annuities with crediting rates tied to investment indexes — which Wink calls structured annuities — rocketed up 118%, to $9.9 billion.
Sheryl Moore, the CEO of Wink, said in a comment on the latest results that the structured annuity is the darling of the deferred annuity market.
“If a company isn’t selling it today, they’re doing R&D on it,” Moore said.
Wink based the new annuity sales figures on reports from 14 structured annuity issuers, 48 variable annuity issuers, 57 fixed annuity issuers and 79 multi-year guaranteed annuity MYGA) issuers.
Here’s a look at how sales of some of the types of annuities Wink tracks changed between the second quarters of 2020 and 2021:
- Structured Annuities: $9.9 billion (up 118%)
- Variable Annuities, Other Than Structured Annuities: $23 billion (up 48%)
- Indexed Annuities Filed as Non-Variable Contracts: $17 billion (up 30%)
- Multi-year Guaranteed Annuity Contracts: $14 billion (up 15%)
- Traditional Fixed Annuities: $462 million (up 8.5%)
Sheryl Moore (Photo: Wink)