Variable annuities at $1.5 trillion

Combined net assets for variable annuities hit $1.5 trillion during the second quarter, according to a report from NAVA. That’s up 15.3% from the second quarter of 2006, Reston, Va.-based NAVA said in a report. Variable annuity premium flows totaled to $43.7 billion, up13.3% from the same period last year. “It’s more than likely that this increase had to do with the better performance of the stock market during the first six months of the year,” said Kathleen Driscoll McKee, a spokeswoman for NAVA. “But we haven’t yet seen the kind of pickup [in assets] we expect just yet.” More money went into equity accounts during the second quarter, as 60.9% of variable annuity assets fit into this category. That’s only a slight gain from the year before, when 59.2% of the assets were in equities.