MetLife, which was recently designated a SIFI, has made measured gains in the annuity marketplace in the past year. In the first quarter of 2014, it was a different story, however, as the company experienced a 42 percent decline in annuity sales (compared to Q1 2013) and placed 7th on this list.
The story now is different. MetLife has made big gains for the second quarter of 2014, according to SNL Financial, with $7.08 billion in sales, a 21.33 percent increase from the same quarter last year. SNL notes that the company has "shown a particular preference for group annuities of late, with considerations of $5.23 billion in the second quarter of 2014, compared to only $1.86 billion for ordinary individual annutieis."
Other notable players in annuity sales include Allianz Group, which experienced an impressive 101.85 percent growth in sales over Q2 2013, and AIG, which had $4.93 billion in annuity sales in Q2 2014.
And, of course, there were those companies that saw sluggish sales in the annuity space this most recent quarter, including Prudential and Voya Financial.
(Check out Revenge of the Variable Annuity on ThinkAdvisor)
Continue reading for a complete list of rankings.
No. 1: MetLife
Ranking in 2013: 2
Annuities written, Q2 2014: $7.08 billion
Annuities written, Q2 2013: $5.84 billion
Percent change: 21.33%
Market share: 8.58%
No. 2: Jackson National Life
Ranking in 2013: 1
Annuities written, Q2 2014: $6.77 billion
Annuities written, Q2 2013: $6.39 billion
Percent change: 5.86%
Market share: 8.20% 
No. 3: AIG
Ranking in 2013: 6
Annuities written, Q2 2014: $4.93 billion
Annuities written, Q2 2013: $4.06 billion
Percent change: 21.42%
Market share: 5.97% 
No. 4: AEGON NV
Ranking in 2013: 5
Annuities written, Q2 2014: $4.85 billion
Annuities written, Q2 2013: $4.80 billion
Percent change: 1.19%
Market share: 5.88%
