U.S. life insurers were busy writing new individual coverage in the first quarter, according to new insurer survey results from LIMRA.
The total number of policies sold increased 11% between the first quarter of 2020 and the latest quarter, and the total amount of annualized premiums associated with the policies rose 15%.
Partly because of life insurers' new emphasis on selling products that are resistant to the effects of low interest rates, sales of variable universal life (VUL) insurance policies were especially strong.
VUL policies account for only about 10% of all U.S. individual life premiums, but annualized premiums from new VUL policy sales were 31% higher in the latest quarter than in the first quarter of 2020.
