Life insurance sales up 2% in the first quarter, Wink finds

Image shows the words, "Life Sales UP" — Life insurance sales were up in the first quarter, Wink reports.

By Staff Reports

Life insurance sales rose more than 2% in the first quarter, Wink Inc. found in its Sales & Market Report.

Life sales topped $2.7 billion in Q1, down 13.7% quarter-over-quarter and up 2.1% compared to the same period last year. All life sales include fixed universal life, indexed UL, variable UL, whole life and term life product sales.

Noteworthy highlights in the first quarter included Pacific Life Companies ranking as No. 1 in overall sales for all life sales, with a market share of 5.5%. 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, in the quarter.

All universal life sales for the first quarter were over $1.1 billion, down 15.5% compared to the previous quarter and up 8.5% compared to the same period last year. All universal life sales include fixed UL, indexed UL and variable UL product sales.

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

Nonvariable universal life sales for the first quarter were $848.1 million, down 11.1% compared to the previous quarter and up 9.7% compared to the same period last year. Nonvariable universal life sales include both indexed UL and fixed 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 nonvariable universal life sales, with a market share of 15%. Transamerica Life’s Financial Foundation IUL II, an indexed universal life product, was the No. 1 selling product for nonvariable universal life sales for all channels combined, for the quarter.

Fixed universal life sales for the first quarter were $80 million, down 10% compared to the previous quarter and down 14.4% compared to the same period last year.

Items of interest in the fixed UL market included Nationwide retaining the No. 1 ranking in fixed universal life sales, with a 18.6% market share; Pacific Life Companies, Prudential, John Hancock and Protective 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 pricing objective of the no-lapse guarantee captured 37.7% of sales. The average fixed UL target premium for the quarter was $6,637, an increase of more than 1% from the prior quarter.

Indexed life sales for the first quarter were $770 million, down 11.3% compared with the previous quarter, and up 13% 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 the No. 1 ranking in indexed life sales, with a 16.4% market share; Transamerica, Pacific Life Companies, John Hancock and Nationwide rounded 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 quarter. The top primary pricing objective for sales the quarter was cash accumulation, capturing 71% of sales. The average indexed life target premium for the quarter was $11,913, a decline of more than 10% from the prior quarter.

“Every one of the top 10 players in indexed life had a sales increase over last year," said Sheryl J. Moore, CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink Inc. “Half of them had double-digit gains in sales. It’s a good time to be selling indexed life.”

Variable universal life sales for the first quarter were $274.6 million, down 26.7% compared with the previous quarter and up 4.9% 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 26.7% market share; Pacific Life Companies, John Hancock, RiverSource Life and Nationwide completed the top five, respectively.

Pruco Life’s VUL Protector was the No. 1 selling variable universal life product, for all channels combined for the fifth consecutive quarter. The top primary pricing objective for sales this quarter was cash accumulation, capturing 56.8% of sales. The average variable universal life target premium for the quarter was $24,359, a decline of less than 1% from the prior quarter.

"If you thought VUL sales were good this quarter, you should see the second quarter," Moore said. "There is no doubt that sales will increase, given the uptick in the market."

Whole life first-quarter sales were $1 billion, down 16.5% compared with the previous quarter, and down less than 1% compared to the same period last year. Items of interest in the whole life market included the top primary pricing objective of final expense capturing 75.9% of sales. The average premium per whole life policy for the quarter was $4,737, an increase of 20% from the prior quarter.

Term life first-quarter sales were $577.9 million, down 4.3% when compared with the previous quarter and down 5% compared to the same period last year.

Items of interest in the term life market included Prudential ranking as No. 1 in term life sales, with a 5.4% market share. Pacific Life Companies, Protective Life Companies, Corebridge Financial and Massachusetts Mutual Life Companies completed the top five, respectively.

Pruco Life’s EssentialTerm Plus 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 $2,133, a decline of more than 9% from the previous quarter.