Smaller issuers of registered index-linked annuities are eating a bigger share of the RILA pie.
That's the lesson that emerges from Wink's recently released annuity sales data for the second quarter.
Total RILA sales increased 16% between the second quarter of 2024 and the latest quarter, to $18.2 billion.
But the five biggest issuers increased their total sales just 4%, to $11.6 billion.
The other issuers included in the Wink data increased their combined RILA sales 47%, to $6.6 billion.
Wink bases its reports, which are copyrighted, on responses to voluntary issuer surveys.
For a look at the five issuers that reported making the most RILA sales in the second quarter, see the gallery accompanying this article.
What it means: Robin Raju, the chief financial officer of Equitable, the company that created the modern RILA market, said in New York at the recent KBW Insurance Conference that the company thinks it will manage to keep a big share of a growing pie.
"You're always going to see new competitors come in with teaser rates," Raju said. "But it's hard to displace people that have innovated and that have been in the market for a while."
RILA basics: Issuers tie RILA crediting rates to the performance of investment market indexes.
Because the products are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, issuers can expose the holders to risk of loss of principal, and they can charge separately for any protection against investment losses that they offer.
Clients like getting some protection against losses along with a chance to increase their returns when markets rise.
Issuers like the ability to limit the amount of market risk that they assume and use straightforward derivatives contracts to pass market risk on to counterparties.
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