In the third quarter, whole life insurance sales improved 6 percent and increased by 15 percent in the first nine months of 2010, finds LIMRA's U.S. Individual Life Insurance Sales survey.
"Whole life sales growth has slowed compared with the 15 and 23 percent increases seen in the first few quarters of the year," says Ashley Durham, senior analyst, LIMRA product research. "However, it's important to remember that third quarter 2010 is being compared with the time when the double-digit increases began. As of the end of September, whole life represented 30 percent of overall annualized premium sales."
According to the survey, with a 10 percent growth in the first quarter and a 7 percent growth in the second quarter, total new individual life annualized premium was flat in the third quarter, and during the first nine months of 2010, sales grew 6 percent.
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Universal life also increased in the third quarter, the survey states, as the premium went up 8 percent, compared to 2009′s third quarter. UL premium is up 11 percent, and indexed UL sales are stimulating overall UL sales, which has grown almost 45 percent over the quarter and year to date.
Guaranteed UL products, which account for approximately half of all UL sales, fell 9 percent for the quarter and 1 percent during the first nine months of the year, the survey reports. The total UL market share is up to 41 percent again, only a percentage point below its 2007 high. Some growth is also because of the new term and UL products, especially regarding face and policy sales.
After a few positive quarters, Variable UL premium sales fell 6 percent in the third quarter, compared to the prior year. Still, year to date, VUL sales are up 2 percent because of a solid first half of the year.
Term sales still fell in the third quarter, and premium and policies decreased by 16 percent. Seventy-five percent of the term writers faced lower sales in the third quarter, the new premium is 10 percent less than the first nine months of 2009, and policy count is down 11 percent year to date.
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