Total third-quarter 2011 sales of individual life insurance in the United States, measured by new annualized premium, rose 6% from the same period ago, once again driven by whole life, according to LIMRA.
Life insurance execs had expected flat sales in 2011 so the third quarter results were welcome news.
Premium for whole life jumped 10% in the quarter and year-to-date "It's the only product to produce positive growth in each of the past five years, and, so far in 2011,nearly three-quarters of the writers were able to grow their sales; more than half managed double-digit increases," said Ashley Durham, senior research analyst, product research for LIMRA, in a statement asreported by Insurance News Net.
Mutual companies, which represent a quarter of the companies that sell whole life, reported more than half the new premium but stock companies boosted sales by 11%, LIMRA said.
This jump in sales is in contrast to results in the second quarter, when universal life sales rose just 1% and part of the slowdown reflected a few companies moving away from universal life policies with a lifetime death benefit guarantee.
In the third quarter, UL premium improved 3% and was up 6% year-to-date, driven by sales of indexed UL, which influenced overall sales of this product, LIMRA said.
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