Delaware Life debuts fixed annuity

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. has made two executive moves:

• Senior executive director Nick Lane, previously head of Retirement Savings, has been named head of U.S. Life and Retirement, responsible for all aspects of manufacturing and distribution for AXA Equitable's life and annuity business lines. He also leads the AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC, an approximately $90.6 billion sub-advised fund collection that supports AXA Equitable's variable life and annuity insurance products.
• Sharon Ritchey has been named senior executive director and chief operating officer, pending board approval. As a member of the executive committee, Ritchey will oversee operations and technology, including customer service centers. She previously served as executive vice president of the Retirement Plans Group at The Hartford. Prior to The Hartford, Ritchey spent four years in senior marketing and Six Sigma quality leadership roles at GE Capital.

Through the second quarter, New York Life was the largest seller of income annuities. Citing statistics from LIMRA, the company stated it gained a 33 percent market share in fixed immediate annuities and 44 percent market share in the deferred income annuity segment. According to New York Life, its income annuity sales rose 13 percent in Q2 over the same period a year earlier.