Between 2013 and 2018, compound annual growth rate in life insurance premium growth has been 1.7%, the EY report said. Gross written premium grew from $661 billion in 2013 to $718 billion in 2018.

Closed blocks of business can be a thorn in the side of life insurers. Whether a result of discontinued products or included in a merger or acquisition, these policies remain active and must be serviced, but over the long haul, they may have become very unprofitable.

LIMRA is now offering My Products, a dashboard that filters data from its Life Compass tool, to allow companies to “compare individual life insurance products with similar competitors’ products, boosting their ability to track their own performance and adapt to evolving market conditions.”

On Jan. 1, the 2017 Principle-Based Reserving and Commissioners Standard Ordinary Table both took effect. Insurers had three years to meet the new standards, but some were certainly more prepared than others, one actuarial expert said.

Insurers must figure out how to appeal to Generation Z without alienating consumers of older generations. Members of Gen Z want to buy what they want, when they want and how they want. This group is totally online, mostly mobile.

Regulatory concerns about the marketing and long-term viability of indexed universal life insurance policies made plenty of news in 2019. Those topics were among the most-read stories we published during the year.

Total U.S. individual life insurance new annualized premium increased 2% in the third quarter, compared with 3Q 2018, according to LIMRA. Indexed Universal Life sales climbed 7% for the quarter and the year so far, with half of the companies reporting increases, LIMRA said.

Foresters Financial is changing its underwriting guidelines across its non-medical life insurance product portfolio so more Americans who use cannabis can qualify for coverage. “We made the decision to modernize our products to stay in step with this evolving trend,” said Matt Berman, chief distribution officer, Foresters.