Annuity FYI Blog

According to Karen Mracek’s article in the Des Moines Register, “Aviva’s sales (were) down in ’09; but business is picking up.”  Aviva USA is headquartered in Des Moines and their parent company Aviva is based in London.  While the company showed an overall sales decline of 17% in 2009, their sales in the fourth quarter were up 14%, showing that they are indeed on the rise.

Aviva planned to reduce it’s annuity business after many companies were hit hard with losses in variable annuities during the most recent economic downturn.  However, the demand for their annuities was much greater than they had anticipated so they worked on updating their company goals.  While Aviva’s annuity sales declined 27% for the year, they showed a 44% increase in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company believes that its customers have faith in Aviva as one of the stronger forces in the market and that is why they chose to do their annuity business with Aviva.  Aviva’s life insurance sales increased both for the year and dramatically in the fourth quarter.  They remain focused on profitably growing their business in annuities and other insurance products throughout 2010.

Fixed annuity sales in the United States were $27.8 billion in the second quarter of 2009, according to a press release from Beacon Research.  While the sales were a 20% decrease from the first quarter, they were 10% higher than the second quarter in 2008.  From the highest sales to the lowest, the annuity products sold were book value, indexed, market value adjusted, and fixed income.  All but one type were an increase from the second quarter in 2008.  Indexed and income annuities were up from the previous quarter, while the other two types fell.  Fixed annuities can be purchased with a 401k annuity transfer or an upfront one time purchase.

New York Life took over the top sales spot last quarter from MetLife.  The rest of the top ten was as follows: Aviva USA, Allianz Life, AEGON/Transamerica, American Equity Investment, RiverSource Life, MetLife, Lincoln Financial Group, Jackson National Life, and Western National Life.  New York Life maintained the top sales in both the book value and fixed income annuity products.  The leading indexed annuity seller remained Aviva.  The only change in leaders of the individual products was American National taking over the top sales spot of market value adjusted annuities.  Beacon uses the sales results of 53 insurance companies which represent 86% of annuity sales to determine their findings.

According to a press release by Beacon Research, fixed annuity sales estimates in the U.S. for the first quarter of this year were $34.9 billion.  The Fixed Annuity Premium Study comprised of data from 53 insurance companies, which account for about 86% of this market.  This sales number was not only the highest since 2003 when the study was first completed, but was also 78% higher than the same quarter last year.

The four types of annuities assessed ranked in sales high to low starting with book value annuities, indexed, market-value adjusted, and immediate.  All 4 showed increases from last year’s 1st quarter, while only book value annuities increased from the prior quarter.

The top ten sales leaders were MetLife, New York Life, Aviva USA, RiverSource Life, AEGON/Transamerica Companies, AIG, Allianz Life, Jackson National Life, Principal Financial Group, and USAA Life.  You can check out more of the study information in Beacon Research’s press release.  Contact one of our experts with any questions about fixed annuties from the top ten companies and more.

The Beacon Research Fixed Annuity Premium Study recently released its results, announcing the best selling fixed annuities of 2008′s fourth quarter.

Top-Selling Fixed Annuity Products of Q4 2008:

1. MetLife Investors’ Fixed Annuity FA
2. MetLife Target Annuity
3. Aviva-American Investors Life Select Bonus Annuity

The top two are market value adjusted annuities, while third place goes to an indexed annuity.

The Beacon Financial Fixed Annuity Value Survey has released its calculations of the top fixed annuity companies during the fourth quarter of 2008, reports Darla Mercado in Investment News. Results were calculated based on insurers’ sales of fixed annuities.

Top-Selling Fixed Annuity Providers in Q4 2008:

1. Metlife ($4.1 billion)
2. New York Life ($2.6 billion, down from first place)
3. Aviva USA ($2.3 billion)