Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity Sales Get Back on the Rocket
Sales of deferred income annuities climbed even faster, according to industry research for 2023.
U.S. life insurers refilled their tanks of multi-year guaranteed annuity capital in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Life insurers let sales of the products rocket up to $53 billion in the quarter, up 48% from the total recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022, after increasing just 13% in the third quarter of 2023, according to a new issuer survey compiled by Wink.
MYGA sales growth was especially strong in 2022, thanks to rising interest rates. Complaints about the amount of capital needed to support the products began to bubble up in 2023.
Wink survey participants said their total fourth-quarter individual deferred annuity sales increased 33%, year over year, to $105 billion.
LIMRA, which conducts a separate survey that includes a wider range of products, says the issuers in its sample increased total U.S. individual annuity sales by 29%, to $115 billion.
What it means: Clients are still putting money in annuities, even though crediting rates have come down a bit.
Wink’s numbers: Here are the Wink survey results by product type, reflecting changes between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2023:
- MYGA contracts: $53 billion (Up 48%)
- Registered index-linked annuities (RILAs): $12 billion (Up 33%)
- Non-variable Indexed annuities: $28 billion (Up 29%)
- Traditional fixed annuities: $731 million (Up 27%)
- Traditional variable annuities: $12 billion (Down 3.7%)
LIMRA’s numbers: Sales of products in LIMRA’s fixed-rate deferred category, which includes MYGAs, climbed 52%.
Changes in the tax rules helped increase sales of what has been a niche product, the deferred income annuity, grow even faster.
Here’s what LIMRA found:
- Deferred income annuities: $1.3 billion (Up 81%)
- Fixed-rate deferred annuities: $59 billion (Up 52%)
- RILAs: $13 billion (Up 29%)
- Non-variable indexed annuities: $25 billion (Up 10%)
- Fixed immediate annuities: $3.5 billion (Up 9%)
- Structured settlements: $2.1 billion (Up 5%)
- Variable annuities (other than indexed): $12 billion (Down 3%)
Credit: NASA