Indexed Life Sales Down A Notch In 3Q

Des Moines, Iowa- Total third quarter non-variable universal life sales were over $1,012.1 million, according to  Wink’s Sales & Market Report. 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 Pacific Life Companies ranking as the #1 company overall for non-variable universal life sales, with a market share of 7.2%. Pacific Life’s Pacific Discovery Xelerator IUL was the #1 selling product for non-variable universal life sales, for all channels combined, in the second quarter.

Indexed life third quarter sales were $479.5 million; a figure that was down slightly over 1.0% when compared with the prior quarter, and up nearly 6.0% as compared to the same period last year. “Although sales are down, indexed life sales were greater than any other third quarter in the history of this product line!” exclaimed Sheryl J. Moore, President and CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc. She added, “Product repricing due to 2017 CSO resulted in a big drop in sales for more than one company, but I wouldn’t say that an overall market decline of 1% is a ‘big deal’.”

Items of interest in the indexed life market included Pacific Life Companies gaining the #1 ranking in indexed life sales, with a 14.9% market share. National Life Group, Transamerica, Minnesota Life-Securian, and Zurich (sales estimated), tallied-up the top five sellers, respectively.

Pacific Life’s Pacific Discovery Xelerator IUL was the #1 selling indexed life insurance product, for all channels combined, for the quarter. The top pricing objective for sales this quarter was Cash Accumulation, capturing 80.9% of sales. The average indexed life target premium reported for the quarter was $8,062; an increase of nearly 7.0% from the prior quarter.

Fixed UL third quarter sales were $533.6 million. Noteworthy highlights for fixed universal life in the third quarter include the top pricing objective of No Lapse Guarantee, capturing 52.8% of sales. The average UL target premium reported for the quarter was $7,676; a reduction of 2.0% from the prior quarter.

Whole life third quarter sales were $1,042.7 million. Items of interest in the whole life market include the top pricing objective of Cash Accumulation capturing 54.1% of sales. The average annual premium per whole life policy reported for the quarter was $2,989; a decline of more than 18.0% from the prior quarter.

While Wink has recently added new product lines to their quarterly sales survey, the firm is focusing on increasing participation with their current product lines of indexed universal life, traditional universal life, indexed whole life, and traditional whole life product sales. Additional product lines, such as term life insurance, will be added to Wink’s Sales & Market Report in upcoming quarters.