Despite the recovery felt since March 9, the flight to safety continues in certain sectors. Fixed indexed annuities saw a modest increase in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to research from the Insured Retirement Institute and Beacon Research. Fourth quarter sales were over $7 billion, an increase of 3.2 percent over the previous quarter. Total sales for the year topped $30 billion, a year-to-year increase of $3.5 billion.
Fixed annuity sales were down slightly, but only 2 percent less than the record high in 2008, according to the research. Sales fell 8 percent to $20.4 billion. Total sales for the year fell 1.5 percent to just over $105 billion in 2009.
