New York Life Insurance, the largest mutual life insurer in the United States, announced Wednesday strong second quarter gains in sales of life insurance, income annuities and mutual funds, as well as a solid increase in field force new hires in the first half of 2011.
Individual life insurance sales increased 13 percent through June compared with the first six months of 2010. That growth is being driven by agents, the company says, as sales through the company's national field force is up 15 percent from 2010.
The company's custom whole life product, a form of whole life that allows consumers to choose how long they pay premiums, continues as the most popular whole life product with a sales increase of 21 percent over the same period last year.
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"Our growth during the continued economic unsteadiness is a sign of the importance of knowledgeable advice from educated, professional agents," says Mark Pfaff, executive vice president in charge of U.S. Life and Agency. "Our sales numbers reflect the company's 166-year history of providing financial security to families in good times and bad, and continues in earnest this year with more than $2.4 billion paid to beneficiaries through mid-August."
New York Life is the only life insurer with a double-digit market share, the company says.
The company is also the market share leader in fixed immediate annuities, reaching over $1 billion in sales in the first six months of 2011. This represents an increase of 26 percent over the same period last year, led by strong sales through New York Life agents and third-party distribution channels.
Sales of New York Life's affiliated mutual funds (The MainStay Funds) are up 62 percent, totaling more than $9 billion in the first six months of the year, with strong performances from third-party channels accounting for more than $5 billion of the total. In Barron's ranking of mutual fund families, MainStay Funds ranked third out of 46 fund families for the 10-year period ending Dec. 31, 2010.
New York Life also reported a high hiring rate. Recruitment of the company's field force is up 8 percent for the first six months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. In addition, New York Life has dominated the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) in the United States for the 57th consecutive year, with 2,066 qualifying New York Life agents. MDRT granted membership to 10,252 agents in the United States making membership in this organization a distinguishing life insurance career milestone.
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