Sheryl J Moore

Published 8/16/2010 

The second quarter was another good quarter for U.S. sellers of indexed annuities.

AnnuitySpecs.com, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, is reporting that indexed annuity sales totaled $8.3 billion during the second quarter, down just 0.1% from the total for the second quarter of 2009.

AnnuitySpecs.com has based those figures on results from a survey of 43 indexed annuity issuers that account for 99% of U.S. indexed annuity production.

Indexed annuity soared to an all-time high in the second quarter of 2009, and 2010 sales have been strong, according to AnnuitySpecs.com President Sheryl Moore.

Indexed annuities are doing well because bank certificates of deposit are paying just 1% interest, and traditional fixed annuities are offering crediting rates of only 3.65%, Moore says.

An AnnuitySpecs.com affiliate conducts a survey of 33 issuers of indexed life insurance.

Indexed life sales reached about $166 million in the second quarter, up 25% from the total for the second quarter of 2009.

-ab

Originally Posted at National Underwriter on August 16, 2010 by NU ONLINE NEWS SERVICE.