Demand for individual annuities is still strong, Corebridge Financial's CEO told securities analysts Tuesday during a conference call.
Corebridge is one of the biggest individual annuity issuers.
Marc Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management — the owner of another big annuity issuer, Athene — said Friday that some rivals have been selling annuities for rates that are too low to last.
Hogan said he thinks the aging of the U.S. population and a supportive advisor community are helping demand sync up with supply.
"The way I define rationality of pricing and competition is whether or not we're able to meet our margins on new business," Hogan said. "We continue to see attractive new-business margins."
The investment markets may be volatile, but the rates companies like Corebridge can get on their own investments are still high enough to help them offer annuity buyers attractive crediting rates, Hogan added.
"The belly of the yield curve remains supportive," he said. "And, based on our own experience, market uncertainty actually further increases the demand for our products. Overall, the conditions are very attractive."
At Corebridge, the net flow of cash into the contracts the company most wants to sell, fixed indexed annuities and registered index-linked annuities, increased to $1.1 billion in the first quarter, from $925 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Hogan said he sees Corebridge efforts to appeal to advisors and brokers who serve the participants in 401(k) plans and other employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans as a strong source of future individual annuity sales growth.
"Our advisor force is growing," Hogan said, noting that Corebridge advisory and brokerage assets increased 5% between the first quarter of 2024 and the latest quarter, in spite of the recent stock market volatility.
About 1.6 million of the 1.9 million customers served by the advisory and brokerage business still have their assets in employer-sponsored retirement plans, Hogan said.
"Our advisors are building relationships with them in order to prepare for that important moment of household asset consolidation," Hogan said.
Corebridge CEO Kevin Hogan. Courtesy photo
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