Fixed annuities again surpass VAs in sales

Fixed annuities continued to outsell their variable counterparts in the first quarter, according to data from LIMRA International Inc. of Windsor, Conn. For a second consecutive quarter, fixed annuities beat variable annuities, raking in $35.6 billion in sales during the first quarter, a 74% gain from the year-earlier period. By comparison, variable annuities made $30.7 billion in sales, down 27% from the first quarter of 2008. Most varieties of fixed annuities experienced a leap in demand, particularly the market-value-adjusted contracts. They experienced a 200% year-over-year gain, to $6.6 billion. Sales of book-value annuities climbed 102%, to $18.6 billion. Book-value annuities pay a declared rate of interest for a given period, while market-value-adjusted annuities allow clients to choose and fix the time period and interest rate over which the annuity will grow. Total annuity sales for the first quarter grew by 6% year-over-year, hitting $66.3 billion. Additionally, MetLife Inc., the New York-based carrier, was able to move the most annuities overall in the first quarter, totaling $7.59 billion —$3.85 billion in fixed-annuity sales and $3.74 billion in variable annuities. It also was the lead seller in each of those categories. New York Life Insurance Co. came in second for total annuity sales ($3.82 billion) and fixed annuities alone ($3.61 billion). TIAA-CREF of New York was second in variable-annuity sales, with $3.48 billion.