Annuity inflows were up just over 1% in May, despite the fact that overall annuity activity has gone down in the past year. This information comes from Financial Planning’s “Annuity Inflows Increase, Overall Activity Declines,” by Ann Marsh. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation released this data based on the transactions that it processes, which the DTCC says is close to 100% of all industry transactions. While they may not be well known, the DTCC handles all of the back office work for the insurance and annuities markets. Annuity inflows were $7.5 billion in May, an increase from $7.4 billion in April. May’s outflows were $6.4 billion, a 4% increase from $6.2 billion in April.
Net flows in May went down by 12%, from $1.2 billion in April to $1 billion in May. The inflow gap between qualified and non-qualified annuities continued its pattern of getting smaller. Qualified annuities accounted for 58% of inflows, while non-qualified annuities accounted for 41%. The DTCC started working with the Retirement Income Industry Association last year to collect data on the cash flows brought about by different channels and categories of products. They use six categories of distribution channels for their records and their May figures are as follows. Independent broker/dealers accounted for 27% of inflows, wirehouses had 17%, regional broker/dealers were just behind that with 16% of May’s inflows, bank broker/dealers had 13%, insurance broker/dealers accounted for 9%, and 18% of inflows are categorized as ‘other’.
Written by Rachel Summit
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