[ANNUITYWIRES] Quarterly Sales Figures Continue to Seesaw
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Are they up or are they down? It depends on 2012 Q2 how you look at the most recent quarterly an- 2013 Q1 VS VS nuity sales figures. Industry-wide annuity sales for second quar- 2013 Q2 2013 Q2 ter 2013 rose 9.9 percent to nearly $54.5 billion from $49.6 billion in the previous quarter, but were down 1.4 percent from $55.3 billion in the second quarter of 2012. Leading the pack were sales of fixed annuities, which rose to their highest quarterly level since fourth quarter 2011. Sales totaled $17.14 billion, up 14.6 percent from just under $15 billion in the first quarter and up 0.2 percent from $17.10 billion in the second quarter of 2012, according to Beacon Research. Meanwhile, variable annuity total sales topped $37.3 billion in the second quarter of 2013, according to Morningstar. This is a 7.8 percent increase from $34.6 billion in the first quarter, but a 2.2 percent drop from nearly $38.2 billion in the second quarter of 2012. Deferred income annuity sales were up nearly 40 percent from the previous quarter. Variable annuity sales were up slightly, but saw their seventh straight quarter of growth. WHY ARE THE REPOR “Rising interest rates, along with the steepest yield curve in TS nearly two years, helped drive second quarter’s fixed annuity sales DIFFERENT? FIND OUT IN INFR ONT! growth,” Beacon Research President Jeremy Alexander said. page 8
NEW PRODUCTS HIT THE MARKET
Allianz Life has launched two improved indexed allocations offering additional
choices for retirement accumulation. Allianz says the indexed allocations are available through the Allianz Preferred platform. They include the Barclays US Dynamic Balance Index, which appeals to customers responding to lowcap environment by offering uncapped strategy with an annual spread, and the Russell 2000 Index, which measures performance of small-cap companies to meet needs of customers seeking to diversify accumulation strategies, offered as a stand-alone option. The improved version is launching in 44 states. The improvements are being added to the three exclusive Preferred Fixed Indexed Annuities: Allianz 222, Allianz 360 and Allianz 365i. Lincoln Financial has launched its first-ever deferred income annuity, Lin-
coln Deferred Income Solutions. Lincoln said the new DIA enhances a 40
client’s ability to plan for future income needs by allowing them to select when they begin receiving income payments following a specified deferral period. The exact amount of those payments is determined at the outset, and does not change over the life of the contract. Depending on the payout option chosen, Lincoln Deferred Income Solutions also offers death benefit protection during the deferral and income phases, providing a legacy for heirs.
LINCOLN CHIEF PREDICTS BULL MARKET FOR ANNUITIES
The financial stars are aligning to create a boom time for annuities, said Dennis R. Glass, Lincoln Financial Group president and chief executive officer. Glass told analysts recently that this is, or is about to be, the best of times for the industry. In the wake of the financial crisis,
investors have made a “dramatic move” to have a portion of their portfolio invested “in something that has more certainty.” Even with pressure from banks and asset managers, guaranteed income products
InsuranceNewsNet Magazine » October 2013
provide a fundamental need for many Americans that other companies don’t offer: protection from adverse events, for example. For those reasons, annuities are going to continue to be “very popular over the next decade,” Glass said.
SPOUSES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PLANNING
There’s an old joke that defines retirement as “twice as much husband on half as much income.” Now a University of Missouri study shows that spouses tend to have similar levels of planning for retirement. This planning can lead to more success and less stress when they leave the workforce. “The transition into retirement, in some ways, is like the transition into parenthood,” said Angela Curl, an assistant professor in the university’s School of Social Work. “When couples prepare to become parents, they do a lot of planning for the future. They spend time thinking, ‘How might our relationship change? How will our lives be different, and what do we need to do to accommodate this life change?’ It’s the same way with retirement.” Curl analyzed data from the study, which included information from married couples who were 45 years of age and older and worked full or part time. Curl found that, when one spouse planned, the other spouse also planned. Even though husbands planned more often than wives, the spouses influenced each other. Seems as if this is one more opportunity to sit both spouses down and begin a discussion on funding retirement with annuities.
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More American Workers Remain Unretired The percentage of workers ages 65 and older who are still in the nation’s labor force has been rising, particularly over the last decade. bitly.com/qrunretired
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