Reported U.S. sales of fixed annuities increased to about $27 billion in the third quarter, up 54% from the total for the third quarter of 2007.
Researchers at Beacon Research Publications Inc., Evanston, Ill., have published those figures in a summary of results from a quarterly survey of 51 insurance companies.
Participating companies' first-quarter sales of indexed annuities amounted to $6.9 billion, up 9% from the total for the third quarter of 2007.
The companies' sales of market-value-adjusted annuities jumped 53%, to about $4.2 billion; and sales of immediate annuities rose 43%, to $2.4 billion, Beacon reports.
Book value annuity sales rose to more than $13 billion, from $6.6 billion, Beacon says.
At U.S. banks, total sales of individual fixed annuities increased 80%, to $9.2 billion, Beacon reports.
A widening of the yield curve spread helped give fixed annuities an advantage over bank certificates of deposit, according to Beacon Chief Executive Jeremy Alexander.
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