Three midsize life insurers seem to have taken a different approach to the derivatives market than MetLife Inc. did in the fourth quarter.
Lincoln National Corp., Ameriprise Financial Inc. and Fidelity & Guaranty Life all reported positive net income for the quarter.
Last week, MetLife posted a $2.1 billion net loss. The company blamed the loss on the effects of the interest rate rebound, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and stock market volatility on its derivatives-based hedging operations.
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Radnor, Pennsylvania-based Lincoln National, which is better known as Lincoln Financial Group, is reporting $190 million in net income for the latest quarter on $3.3 billion in revenue, compared with $283 million in net income on $3.2 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015.
Minneapolis-based Ameriprise is reporting $400 million in net income for the latest quarter on $3.1 billion in revenue, compared with $380 million in net income on $3.1 billion in revenue for the year-earlier quarter.
Des Moines, Iowa-based Fidelity & Guaranty is reporting $108 million in net income for the latest quarter on $340 million in revenue, up from $48 million in net income on $329 million in revenue.
At Lincoln, sales of most individual life insurance and group protection products other than variable universal life increased significantly. Sales of the company's MoneyGuard product, which can be used as an alternative to traditional long-term care insurance, increased 19 percent, to $64 million.
Lincoln's sales of fixed annuities fell 37 percent, to $411 million, and sales of variable annuities fell 41 percent, to $1.4 billion.
At Ameriprise, sales of universal life and variable universal life fell 3 percent, to $88 million. Fixed annuity deposits fell to $34 million, from $63 million, and variable annuity deposits fell to $1.1 billion, from $1.3 billion.
