MetLife top seller of annuities in 2009

MetLife Inc. continued its reign as the No. 1 overall seller of annuities last year, with $22.4 billion in sales. Prudential Financial Inc ranked second, with $17.3 billion, followed by TIAA-CREF with $13.9 billion. With $16.1 billion in sales, Prudential did edge out MetLife as the top seller of individual variable annuities, according to data from LIMRA. The company phased out its Highest Daily 7 Plus variable annuity in August, replacing it with the Highest Daily 6 annuity. But $1 billion in spillover sales of the more generous Daily 7 version continued into the early part of the fourth quarter, Prudential vice chairman Mark Grier said during the insurer's fourth quarter conference call. MetLife, which was the sales leader in variable annuities at the end of the third quarter of the year, fell to second place at the end of the year, with annual sales of $15.4 billion. New York Life Insurance Co. again cruised to first place as the top seller of fixed annuities, with $10.3 billion in sales during 2009. American International Group Inc., whose rebranding as Western National Life Insurance Co. helped it sell in the bank channel, sold $7.76 billion in fixed annuities last year. That put it second on the list, surpassing MetLife, which registered $6.97 billion in fixed-annuity sales.