Sales of U.S. individual annuities continued to increase in the third quarter, in spite of the effects of a major surge in COVID-19 cases.
Total sales rose 12% between the third quarter of 2020 and the latest quarter, to $62 billion, according to the Secure Retirement Institute's latest issuer survey data.
Sales of individual fixed annuities fell 0.9%, to $31.5 billion, and sales of individual variable annuities grew 29%, to about $31 billion.
Todd Giesing, head of annuity research at the Secure Retirement Institute, predicted in a comment on the results, included along with the new data release, that concerns about inflation could help sales of non-variable indexed annuities, by leading investors to seek products that combine principal protection along with a higher level of investment growth.
