Index Product Sales Surge In 2014

By Linda Koco
InsuranceNewsNet

Sales of fixed index insurance products surged in 2014 with annual production reaching into the double-digits, according to figures just out from Wink Inc. Fixed index annuity (FIA) sales galloped ahead by nearly 21 percent over the previous year, and index life insurance sales rose by more than 15 percent over 2013.

Both product lines hit new records too, according to the index product research firm.

For FIAs, the 2014 sales totaled nearly $46.9 billion, surpassing the 2013 record of more than $38.6 billion, making for the sixth consecutive quarterly record for FIA sales, the researcher said. In addition, FIA production in fourth quarter 2014 rose to more than $11.9 billion.

The fourth quarter FIA production represents a 4 percent increase over third quarter’s sales of nearly $11.5 billion, and an increase of nearly 4 percent over fourth quarter 2013, the researcher said.

In index life sales, the quarterly performance topped the previous record, which the industry set two years earlier, by nearly 12.9 percent, Wink said. The sales total for 2014 came to more than $1.5 billion in index life production.

On a quarterly basis, index life sales came close to totaling $500 million in the fourth quarter 2014. That represents an increase of nearly 34 percent over third quarter and of 24 percent from fourth quarter 2013, Wink said.

Wink’s Sales & Market Report 4th Quarter 2014 shows data from 52 FIA providers and 50 index life insurers. The top three FIA carriers represented nearly 43 percent of fourth quarter sales, and the top three index life carriers represented nearly 37 percent of index life sales for the same quarter.

InsuranceNewsNet Editor-at-Large Linda Koco, MBA, specializes in life insurance, annuities and income planning. Linda can be reached at linda.koco@innfeedback.com.

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Linda Koco, MBA, is a contributing editor to InsuranceNewsNet, specializing in life insurance, annuities and income planning. Linda can be reached at linda.koco@innfeedback.com.