Reported U.S. sales of fixed annuities increased to about $19 billion in the first quarter, up 35% from the total for the first quarter of 2007, according to Beacon Research Inc.
Researchers at Beacon, Evanston, Ill., have published those figures in a summary of results from a quarterly survey of 49 insurance companies.
The sales figures include only sales by the participating companies, and the overall totals may be somehow higher for the market as a whole, Beacon says.
Participating companies' first-quarter sales of indexed annuities amounted to $5.7 billion, down 0.8% from the total for the first quarter of 2007.
The companies' sales of market-value-adjusted annuities jumped 43%, to about $2.3 billion; and sales of immediate annuities rose 32%, to $1.8 billion, Beacon reports.
Book value annuity sales soared 74%, to $9 billion, Beacon says.
The strong performance of book value annuities helped increase sales of individual fixed annuities through U.S. banks 70%, to $5.2 billion, Beacon reports.
Sales of indexed annuities at participating banks fell 18%, to $205 million.
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CORRECTION: The change in bank indexed annuity sales was reported incorrectly in an earlier version of this article.
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