Indexed life sales hit big despite lawsuits, market headwinds, Wink finds

Despite several high-profile lawsuits and continued market turbulence, indexed life insurance remains the preferred product for consumers.

Indexed life sales for the fourth quarter were $918.9 million, up 20% compared with the previous quarter, and up 6.2% compared to the record set in Q4 2025, Wink Inc. reported in its Sales & Market Report. Total 2025 indexed life sales were $3.2 billion.

Indexed life sales set both a quarter and yearly record, Wink found. Transamerica Life’s Financial Foundation IUL II, an indexed universal life product, was the No. 1 selling product for all life sales, for all channels combined, for the third consecutive quarter, Wink said.

“Indexed life sales have been setting records since a lull in 2020,” said Sheryl J. Moore, CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink Inc. “I am intrigued on how recent litigation will impact sales, going forward.”

IUL sellers are currently facing a wave of legal challenges centered on allegations of misleading marketing and unrealistic performance illustrations. In February, Pacific Life agreed to a $58.3 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit claiming it used deceptive illustrations to sell policies, shortly followed by a private settlement with NASCAR champion Kyle Busch, who alleged losses of over $8.5 million.

Meanwhile, National Life Group is defending a renewed lawsuit in Vermont where plaintiffs label its proprietary indices a "fraudulent sham" for using back-tested data that fails to match real-world 0% returns.

All life insurance sales for the fourth quarter were over $3.2 billion, up 14.9% compared to the previous quarter and up 3.2% compared to the same period last year. Total 2025 sales of all life insurance were $11.7 billion. All life sales include fixed universal life, indexed UL, variable UL, indexed whole life, whole life and term life product sales.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Companies ranked as No. 1 in overall for all life sales, with a market share of 6.8%, Wink reported.

Wink's full life insurance breakdown for Q4 and the full year, by product category:

All universal life sales for the fourth quarter were over $1.3 billion, up 20.9% compared to the previous quarter and up 5.2% compared to the same period last year. Total 2025 sales of all universal life products were $4.8 billion. All universal life sales include fixed UL, indexed UL, and variable UL product sales.

Noteworthy highlights for all universal life sales in the fourth quarter included Pacific Life Companies ranking as No. 1 in overall sales for all universal life sales, with a market share of 12.5%.

Non-variable universal life sales for the fourth quarter were $1 billion, up 20.3% when compared to the previous quarter and up 5.6% compared to the same period last year. Total 2025 non-variable UL sales were $3.5 billion. Non-variable universal life sales include both fixed UL and indexed UL product sales.

Noteworthy highlights for total non-variable universal life sales in the fourth quarter included National Life Group retaining the No. 1 overall sales ranking for non-variable universal life sales, with a market share of 14%.

Fixed universal life sales for the fourth quarter were $88 million, up 21.2% compared to the previous quarter and down 0.6% compared to the same period last year. Total 2025 fixed UL sales were $309.8 million.

Items of interest in the fixed UL market included Nationwide retaining its No. 1 ranking in fixed universal life sales, with a 18.4% market share; Prudential, Pacific Life Companies, John Hancock, and Thrivent Financial completed the top five, respectively.

Pacific Life’s PL Promise GUL was the No. 1 selling fixed universal life insurance product, for all channels combined, for the quarter. The top primary pricing objective, with a no-lapse guarantee, captured 34.1% of sales. The average fixed UL target premium for the quarter was $8,765, an increase of more than 19% from the prior quarter.

Indexed life sales for the fourth quarter were $918.9 million, while total 2025 indexed life sales were $3.2 billion. The record-setting year for indexed life sales topped the prior 2024 record by 8.1%. Indexed life sales include both indexed UL and indexed whole life.

Items of interest in the indexed life market included National Life Group retaining its No. 1 ranking in indexed life sales, with a 15.3% market share; Pacific Life Companies, Transamerica, John Hancock and Nationwide rounded out the top five, respectively.

Transamerica Life’s Financial Foundation IUL II was the No. 1 selling indexed life insurance product, for all channels combined, for the fifth consecutive quarter. The top primary pricing objective for sales in the quarter was cash accumulation, capturing 73.8% of sales. The average indexed life target premium for the quarter was $13,293, an increase of nearly 7% from the prior quarter.

Variable universal life sales for the fourth quarter were $391 million, up 22.4% compared with the previous quarter and up 4.3% compared to the same period last year. Since Wink began tracking sales of these products in 2024, it was a record-setting quarter for variable universal life sales, topping the prior 4th quarter, 2024 record by 4.3%.

Total 2025 variable UL sales were $1.2 billion. It was also a record-setting year for variable universal life sales, topping the prior 2024 record by 5.3%.

Items of interest in the variable universal life market included Prudential retaining the No. 1 ranking in variable universal life sales, with a 28.1% market share; John Hancock, Pacific Life Companies, Nationwide and Lincoln National Life completed the top five, respectively.

Pruco Life’s Prudential FlexGuard Life IVUL was the No. 1 selling variable universal life product, for all channels combined for the quarter. The top primary pricing objective for sales this quarter was cash accumulation, capturing 76.6% of sales. The average variable universal life target premium for the quarter was $25,659, an increase of nearly 14% from the prior quarter.

"No doubt that variable UL sales will be down in 2026," explained Moore. "Volatility in the markets usually translates to declining sales of both variable annuities and variable UL."

Whole life fourth quarter sales were over $1.2 billion, up 17.4% compared with the previous quarter, and up 6.1% compared to the same period last year. Total 2025 whole life sales were $4.5 billion. Items of interest in the whole life market included the top primary pricing objective of final expense, capturing 70.2% of sales. The average premium per whole life policy for the quarter was $4,786, an increase of more than 20% from the prior quarter.

Term life fourth quarter sales were $565.2 million, down 1.6% compared with the previous quarter and down 6.4% compared to the same period last year. Total 2025 term life sales were $2.3 billion.

Items of interest in the term life market include Pacific Life Companies ranking as No. 1 in term life sales, with a 5.5% market share. Prudential, Corebridge Financial, Protective Life Companies and National Life Group completed the top five, respectively.

Pacific Life’s Promise Term 20 was the No. 1 selling term life insurance product, for all channels combined, for the quarter. The average annual term life premium per policy reported for the quarter was $2,678, an increase of more than 20% from the previous quarter.

Wink now reports sales on all annuity lines of business, as well as all life insurance product lines.

This report compiled by InsuranceNewsNet staff.