Voluntary/worksite sales declined 2.85 percent in 2010, according to new analysis from Eastbridge Consulting Group. It's the first time the voluntary industry has seen sales slow since 1997, when the advisory firm began tracking the market.
"In the last report (2009), we saw an increase despite the recession so we were hopeful that the industry would once again be resilient enough to weather the recession," says Lowerre. But it was just not to be.
"Interestingly among the top 15 companies in the market, we saw a mixture of results," says Bonnie Brazzell, vice president. "As a group, the top 15 had a sales decrease of 2.6 percent. But six of the top 15 had increases—four double-digit increases," adds Brazzell. Six more of the top 15 had decreases and three were flat as compared to 2009. "The number one carrier (with a 26 percent market share) saw a decrease of almost five percent and that's very hard to overcome," says Lowerre.
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Inforce premiums were also down slightly (-0.3 percent). The report estimates the 2010 inforce worksite premium to be between $18.7 and $24.6 billion.
The U.S. Worksite Sales Report estimates sales for the entire voluntary industry with detailed data on the performance of 64 voluntary carriers, both group (voluntary) and individual (worksite) carriers/products. Eastbridge estimates that these companies account for over 90 percent of the total worksite sales volume for 2010—and represent the largest number of carriers included in any sales report for the industry.
Parties interested in participating in next year's study are advised to e-mail Eastbridge at [email protected]. All participants receive a free copy of the complete findings, including company-specific results.
Update:
According to Eastbridge Vice President and Controller Jennifer Davis, the U.S. Worksite Sales Report is only available to parties that participated in the study.
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