Strong sales growth for Individual life policies

It was a good fourth quarter for advisors as one product in particular drove growth.

It was a good fourth quarter for advisors.

Universal life (UL) new annualized premium rose 18 per cent in the fourth quarter but remained down one per cent for the year. UL market share was 38 per cent of total sales in 2014.

“Indexed universal life (IUL) continued to drive growth in the fourth quarter 2014,” said Ashley Durham, senior research analyst, LIMRA Insurance Research.  “Market conditions and increased carrier and product options have led to a decade of positive growth for IUL.”  

Individual life insurance new annualized premium grew 11 per cent in the fourth quarter 2014; resulting in a two per cent increase for the year, according to LIMRA’s Retail Individual Life Insurance Survey.

Policy count for every product line improved in the fourth quarter, resulting in an increase of two per cent overall for the quarter.  For the year, policy count fell two per cent.  Policy count has declined six out of the last 10 years.

IUL premium grew 36 per cent in the fourth quarter and 23 per cent in 2014.  IUL experienced the strongest growth in absolute dollars for both the quarter and the year.  IUL now represents the majority of all UL premium at 52 per cent and represents 20 per cent of all individual life premium.  

Despite the growth in IUL, universal life sales were dampened by the continued sales decline of lifetime guarantee universal life (LTG UL) products in 2014. LTG UL fell six per cent in the quarter, and dropped 26 per cent for the year.

For the ninth consecutive quarter, variable universal life (VUL) premium recorded positive growth.  VUL new annualized premium jumped 28 per cent in the fourth quarter, ending the year 27 per cent higher than in 2013. In 2014, 65 per cent of the writers — including eight of the top ten — reported growth. VUL represents eight per cent of total life sales.

Whole life (WL) premium reflected positive growth in the fourth quarter, improving five per cent.  Marking a three per cent increase in 2014, WL has experience nine consecutive years of positive growth in new annualized premium. WL represents 33 per cent of the total life market, matching the market share it held in 1998.

Term life insurance premium grew for the first time this year in the fourth quarter, improving 1 per cent in the quarter. In 2014, term premium fell one per cent compared with 2013.  Term’s market share remained steady at 21 per cent.

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