Investors' fears of volatility and the new, higher interest rate environment are continuing to push sales of multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGAs) higher.
Sales of individual MYGA contracts climbed 173% between the first quarter of 2022 and the latest quarter, to $40 billion, after rising 217% in the previous quarter, according to new issuer survey data from Wink.
The MYGA boom helped produce a 42% overall increase in total sales of the kinds of individual deferred annuities that Wink tracks, in spite of a 22% decrease in sales of variable annuities.
A MYGA contract is an annuity that guarantees payment of a fixed interest rate for a period longer than one year.
What It Means
First-quarter annuity sales figures show that economic turmoil and new benefits obligation accounting rules have not caused a noticeable drop in insurers' ability to offer your clients annuities with attractive rate guarantees.
Wink
Wink is a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that has been publishing quarterly annuity sales data since 1997.
The latest report includes data from 104 insurers.
