Life insurance sales deliver strong rebound in second quarter, Wink finds

Second-quarter life sales improved significantly, Wink, Inc. reports.

By Staff Reports

Life insurance sales rebounded nicely during the second quarter, Wink, Inc. reported in its Sales and Market Report.

Universal life sales for the quarter exceeded $1.1 billion, up 11.9% compared to the previous quarter. All universal life sales include fixed UL, indexed UL, and variable UL products.

Noteworthy highlights in the second quarter included National Life Group ranking as No. 1 in overall universal life sales with a market share of 11.3%. Transamerica Life’s Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL was the No. 1 selling product for all channels combined for the second consecutive quarter.

Non-variable universal life sales for the second quarter were $847.4 million, up 12% compared to the previous quarter and up 2.3% compared to Q2 last year. Non-variable universal life sales include both indexed UL and fixed UL product sales.

Noteworthy highlights for total non-variable universal life sales in the second quarter included National Life Group retaining the No. 1 overall sales ranking for non-variable universal life sales, with a market share of 15.2%. Transamerica Life’s Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL was the No. 1 selling product for non-variable universal life sales, for all channels combined for the thirteenth consecutive quarter.

Fixed UL sales for the second quarter were $100.5 million, up 12.2% compared to the previous quarter and down 1% compared to the same period last year.

Items of interest in the fixed UL market included Nationwide as the No. 1 ranking in fixed universal life sales, with a 14.7% market share, John Hancock, Prudential, Protective Life Companies, and Pacific Life Companies completed the top five, respectively.

Nationwide’s Nationwide Care Matters II was the No. 1 selling fixed universal life insurance product, for all channels combined for the second consecutive quarter. The top primary pricing objective of the no-lapse guarantee captured 43.7% of sales. The average fixed UL target premium for the quarter was $6,892, an increase of more than 26% from the prior quarter.

“Had half of the participants not had sales declines, sales over this quarter last year would have fared better,” said Sheryl Moore, CEO of Wink, Inc.

Wink had reported slumping Q1 life sales.

Indexed life sales for the second quarter were $747.2 million, up 12% compared with the previous quarter, and up 2.8% compared to the same period last year. Indexed life sales include both indexed UL and indexed whole life.

Items of interest in the indexed life market included National Life Group keeping their No. 1 ranking in indexed life sales, with a 17.1% market share, Transamerica, Pacific Life Companies, Nationwide, and John Hancock rounded the top five, respectively.

Transamerica Life’s Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL was the No. 1 selling indexed life insurance product, for all channels combined, for the thirteenth consecutive quarter. The top primary pricing objective for sales this quarter was cash accumulation, capturing 73.1% of sales. The average indexed life target premium for the quarter was $10,783, a decline of nearly 11% from the prior quarter.

"It is worth noting that one of the top ten best sellers of indexed life made waves this quarter," Moore said. "They launched a brand-new instant decision underwriting product that buoyed their sales up triple digits."

Variable Universal Life sales for the second quarter were $291.6 million, up 11.4% compared with the previous quarter.

Items of interest in the variable universal life market included Prudential as the No. 1 ranking in variable universal life sales, with a 31.8% market share, Lincoln National Life, Pacific Life Companies, RiverSource Life, and John Hancock completed the top five, respectively.

Pruco Life’s VUL Protector was the No. 1 selling variable universal life insurance product, for all channels combined for the second consecutive quarter. The top primary pricing objective for sales this quarter was cash accumulation, capturing 53.7% of sales. The average variable universal life target premium for the quarter was $20,406, a decline of less than 1% from the prior quarter.

Term life second-quarter sales were $692.8 million, up 6.8% compared with the previous quarter.

Items of interest in the term life market included RiverSource Life as No. 1 ranking in term life sales, with a 6.2% market share, Prudential, Pacific Life Companies, Corebridge Financial, and Protective Life Companies rounded the top five, respectively.

RiverSource Life’s RiverSource 20-Year Term Life was the No. 1 selling term life insurance product, for all channels combined, for the second consecutive quarter. The average annual term life premium per policy reported for the quarter was $2,996, a decline of more than 10% from the previous quarter.