Life insurance sales rise across all product lines in Q2, Wink reports

Life insurance sales topped $3.1 billion in the first quarter, Wink, Inc. reported, up 6.5% compared to the previous quarter and up 6.4% compared to the same period last year.

All life sales include fixed universal life (UL), indexed UL, variable UL, indexed whole life, whole life, and term life product sales.

Noteworthy highlights for total life insurance sales of all products in the first quarter included Transamerica ranking as No. 1 in overall sales for all life insurance sales, with a market share of 7%. Transamerica Life’s Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL II, an indexed universal life (IUL) product, was the No. 1 selling product for all life insurance sales, for all channels combined, for the quarter.

All universal life sales for the first quarter were $1.2 billion, up 5.8% compared to the previous quarter and up 4.3% compared to the same period last year. All universal life (UL) sales include fixed UL, indexed UL, and variable UL product sales.

Noteworthy highlights for all universal life sales in the first quarter included Prudential ranking as No. 1 in overall sales for all universal life products, with a market share of 10.9%. Transamerica Life’s Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL II, an IUL product, was the No. 1 selling product for all universal life sales, for all channels combined, for the quarter.

Non-variable universal life sales for the first quarter were $872.7 million, up 2.4% compared to the previous quarter and down 2.2% compared to the same period last year. Non-variable universal life (UL) sales include both fixed UL and indexed UL product sales.

Noteworthy highlights for total non-variable universal life sales in the first quarter included National Life Group retaining the No. 1 overall sales ranking for non-variable universal life sales, with a market share of 14.8%. Transamerica Life’s Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL II, an IUL product, was the No. 1 selling product for non-variable universal life sales across all channels in the quarter.

Fixed universal life sales for the first quarter were $65.2 million, up less than 1% from the previous quarter and down 6% from the same period last year.

Items of interest in the fixed UL market included Nationwide retaining its No. 1 ranking in fixed universal life sales, with a 22.5% market share; Pacific Life Companies, Protective Life Companies, John Hancock, and Massachusetts Mutual Life Companies completed the top five, respectively.

Nationwide’s Nationwide CareMatters II was the No. 1 selling fixed universal life insurance product, for all channels combined, for the second consecutive quarter. The top
primary product objective of No Lapse Guarantee captured 36.5% of sales. The average fixed UL target premium for the quarter was $7,207, an increase of nearly 6% from the prior quarter.

Indexed life sales for the first quarter were $811 million, up 2.7% compared with the previous quarter, and down 1.7% 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 retaining its No. 1 ranking in indexed life sales, with a 15.7% market share; Transamerica, Pacific Life Companies, John Hancock, and Nationwide rounded out the top five, respectively.

Transamerica Life’s Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL II was the No. 1 selling indexed life insurance product across all channels for the quarter. The top primary product objective for sales in the quarter was Cash Accumulation, capturing 72.1% of sales. The average indexed life target premium for the quarter was $12,174, a decline of nearly 6% from the prior quarter.

“It appears that multi-level marketing (MLM) firms are advancing indexed life sales,” said Sheryl J. Moore, CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink. “It will be interesting to see if the companies underwriting products for these firms improve the retention issues that are associated with this distribution method.”

Variable universal life sales for the first quarter were $363.9 million, up 15.1% compared with the previous quarter and up 24.5% compared to the same period last year.

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

Pruco Life’s PruLife Custom Premier II was the No. 1 selling variable universal life product, for all channels combined for the second consecutive quarter. The top primary product objective for sales this quarter was Cash Accumulation, capturing 68.2% of sales. The average variable universal life target premium for the quarter was $20,424, a decline of nearly 12%

Whole life first quarter sales were over $1.3 billion, up 7.4% compared with the previous quarter, and up 18.2% compared to the same period last year. Items of interest in the whole life market included the top primary product objective of final expense, capturing 69.5% of sales. The average premium per whole life policy for the quarter was $4,109, an increase of more than 6% from the prior quarter.

"The market share for whole life insurance is impressive," Moore said. "The next-nearest product line, indexed life, is trailing whole life’s share by a nearly 17% lead."

Term life first quarter sales were $553.2 million, up 6% when compared with the previous quarter and down more than 11% compared to the same period last year.

Items of interest in the term life market include Prudential ranking No. 1 in term life sales, with a 6.8% market share. Pacific Life Companies, Protective Life Companies, Corebridge Financial, and National Life Group completed the top five, respectively.

Protective Life Classic Choice Term 20 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 $2,008, an increase of more than 5% from the previous quarter.

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

This report compiled by InsuranceNewsNet staff.