Banks Annuity Sales Slump Continued In November
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Bank sales of annuities continued to falter in November after setting a record pace earlier in the year, according to the latest survey by Kenneth Kehrer Associates, Princeton, N.J.
Annuity sales fell 11% in banks to $3.5 billion in November as fixed annuity sales declined from $2.8 billion to $2.7 billion, and variable annuity sales fell below the billion-dollar mark, slumping to an estimated $825 million, from $1.1 billion in October and $1.7 billion in September.
"Banking industry annuity sales are now about 10% below the level of a year ago," observes Brad Powell, president of Jackson National Life Insurance Companys institutional marketing group, which sponsors the monthly survey.
Bank annuity sales reached an all-time high of $4.4 billion in May, then set another new record of $4.5 billion in July before falling, Powell notes.
VA sales were down 25% from the previous month and 53% from September levels but were still only 4% below year-earlier figures, according to Powell.
Kenneth Kehrer, whose firm conducts the survey, notes that bank sales of fixed annuities were further behind last years level than VAs.
