MIB Index: U.S. life insurance application activity on the rise

By Warren S. Hersch

July 13, 2015 at 08:40 AM

Share & Print

U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance edged up 2.1 percent in June compared to the year-ago period, according to new research.

MIB Solutions Inc. unveils this finding in its MIB Life Index, a measure of application activity in the U.S. Released monthly, the index is based on the number of searches MIB life member company underwriters perform on the MIB Checking Service database.

The index has shown growth in ten of the last 11 months trailing, marking 2.6 percent growth in the second quarter over Q2 2014. June's activity was up slightly (0.5 percent) from May, demonstrating consistent seasonality.

Life insurance applications for ages 0-44 outpaced all other age groups in the second quarter, up 4.7 percent when compared to ages 45-59. For the year, application activity for ages 0-44 kept pace with ages 60-plus, up 2.7 percent year-to-date.

"If this trend sustains, growth in younger age life insurance activity could surpass older age applicants in 2015 — a welcomed hand-off for the industry," the report states.

In June U.S. application activity for ages:

0-44 were up +3.7 percent;
45-59 were down slightly -0.4 percent;
60-plus were up +0.8 percent.

See the charts summarizing the report's results below.

*Monthly Percent Change (year-over-year)*
June, 2015	+ 2.0%
May, 2015	+ 2.7%
YTD 2015	+ 2.1%
Q1 – 2015	+ 1.5%
Q2 – 2015	+ 2.6%

*U.S. Monthly Percent Change By Age (year-over-year)*
	*June '15*	*May '15*	*Apr. '15*
0 – 44	+ 3.7%	+ 4.3%	+ 5.9%
45 – 59	- 0.4%	+ 0.5%	- 0.6%
60+	+ 0.8%	+ 1.6%	+ 0.6%