Without question, the COVID-19 pandemic effected many facets of the voluntary business in 2020, and sales were no exception. According to our annual U.S. Voluntary/Worksite Sales Report, new business annualized premium (voluntary sales) decreased by 15.5% with 2020 sales totaling $7.463 billion. This is only the second instance of a decrease in voluntary sales over the 24 years Eastbridge has been tracking this data. The following graph shows the industry's sales since 1997.

In terms of market share, the top five carriers for 2020 were the same as in 2019. The carriers include:

• Aflac (15%)
• MetLife (13%)
• Unum (6%)
• Colonial Life (6%)
• Guardian (5%)

The top 15 companies accounted for approximately 72% of total voluntary/worksite sales in 2020, down somewhat from 75% percent in 2019. Among the top 15 companies, the average growth rate was -15.3%, which is slightly better than the industry rate of -15.5%. However, not all top 15 companies experienced decreases. While ten carriers had decreases, with seven of them having double-digit decreases, five companies had increases, with three having double-digit increases.

Takeover business (i.e., business that moves from one voluntary carrier to another with a similar product) continued to show stabilization in 2020. The estimated percentage of sales that were takeovers (on an aggregated basis) was 56.1%, virtually the same as last year's 56.4%.