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Sheryl Moore. Credit: Wink

Life Health > Annuities

Sales of a Hot Fixed Annuity Product Start to Cool

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What You Need to Know

  • Total annuity sales increased to $80 billion.
  • MYGA sales were higher than in the second quarter of 2022 but lower than in the first quarter of this year.
  • Non-variable indexed annuity sales were up versus both the previous quarter and the year-earlier quarter.

U.S. retail annuity sales continue to grow, but sales of one type of product that has been especially popular — the multi-year guaranteed annuity contract — are cooling.

Total individual annuity sales increased to $80 billion in the second quarter, up 9.6% from total for the second quarter of 2022, according to new annuity issuer sales survey data from Wink.

Overall growth was down from 42% in the first quarter, partly because the rate of growth for MYGA sales dropped to 16%, from 173%. MYGA sales dropped 24% between the first quarter and the second quarter, to $30 billion.

Some insurance company executives have expressed concerns about MYGA market rationality.

Sales of non-variable indexed annuities, which offer lower guaranteed rates but the potential for holders to earn higher rates, increased, both when compared the first quarter of this year and the second quarter of 2022.

Sheryl Moore, the CEO of Wink, contends that MYGA sales are still remarkably strong but said in an email interview that insurers’ views about pricing could be affecting the market. “I definitely believe there are some loss-leader products being marketed right now,” she said. “Competition is fierce.”

What It Means

Clients may be warming up to the idea of accepting more risk in exchange for the chance to earn higher rates.

Many life insurers, meanwhile, seem to want to avoid competing head-to-head with the insurers offering your clients the best MYGA deals.

Details

Wink based the second-quarter annuity sales figures on data from 124 annuity issuers.

Here’s a look at what happened to sales of the types of annuities Wink tracks between the second quarter of 2022 and the latest quarter:

  • Non-variable indexed annuities: $25 billion (up 28%)
  • Multi-year guaranteed annuity contracts: $30 billion (up 16%)
  • Registered index-linked annuities: $11 billion (up 2.8%)
  • Traditional fixed annuities: $503 million (up 3.8%)
  • Traditional variable annuities: $13 billion (down 20%)

Broker-dealers accounted for 33% of the annuity sales included in the data; career and independent agents, 42%; and banks, 23%.

RIAs’ clients accounted for 0.7% of the reported sales. Some other RIA sales may have been classified as coming in through other channels.

Annuity Product Basics

Life insurers that sell traditional fixed annuities use their own general account assets to guarantee stable interest rates, or crediting rates, for one year at a time.

A MYGA contract is a fixed annuity that provides a guaranteed fixed rate for more than one year.

A traditional variable annuity provides a crediting rate that can be based wholly or in part on the performance of investment funds that resemble mutual funds. Because a variable annuity is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a security, the issuer can expose a buyer to the risk of investment-related loss of principal.

Today, life insurers base the crediting rates of many annuities wholly or in part on the performance of investment indexes, rather than investment funds, so that they can use derivatives to power the investment option menus.

A non-variable indexed annuity is an indexed annuity that protects clients against losing principal due to index changes.

A registered index-linked annuity is similar but is filed with the SEC as a security and can expose the holder to index-related loss of principal.

Sheryl Moore (Photo: Wink)


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