Life insurers may have gotten the U.S. individual annuity market breathing again in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Insurers generated $51 billion in in U.S. individual annuity sales during the quarter. Overall individual annuity sales for the quarter were just 0.4% lower than they were in the fourth quarter of 2016.
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Sales of individual variable annuities fell 2%, year-over-year, to about $25 billion.
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Sales of fixed annuities increased 2%, to $26 billion.
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Sales of indexed annuities rose 5%, to $15 billion.
LIMRA, a life insurance industry research consortium, has posted those figures in its latest annuity industry estimates table. Sixty-four companies participated in LIMRA's latest annuity issuer survey.
A copy of the latest survey results table is available here.
LIMRA had been reporting sharp year-over-year decreases in overall individual annuity sales every quarter since early 2016.
(Related: LIMRA Reports Drop in Q3 Annuity Sales)