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Total bank annuity sales rose 4.9% in July over the previous month, spurred by an 11% increase in variable annuity sales, according to the Kenneth Kehrer-Jackson National monthly bank annuity sales survey. Total bank annuity sales were more than $4.4 billion in July, 44% higher than a year ago, the study finds. Total sales reached about $4.2 billion the previous month.
VA sales in banks were up for the third straight month and for the fourth time in the past five months, notes Brad Powell, president of Jackson National Life Insurance Companys institutional marketing group, sponsor of the survey. Those sales were up 20% over year-ago levels, he adds.
Despite shaky equity markets, people who invest where they bank are being drawn to new VAs that cut the risks of investing by using a pool of securities that are similar to mutual funds, Powell explains. At the same time, insurers are selling VAs with modular designs that let the investor choose only the features they want.
"Products like these seem to be attracting the most assets in this environment because they allow customers to custom-build an annuity to meet their particular investment needs," says Powell.
