Life Insurance Sales Show Resilience in Q1
Life insurance sales demonstrated a modest increase in the first quarter, rising 2.1% compared to the same period last year, according to Wink Inc.’s Sales & Market Report. The total sales reached $2.7 billion, although this represented a 13.7% decline from the previous quarter.
Key Highlights from Q1 Life Insurance Sales
- Pacific Life Companies led overall life sales with a 5.5% market share.
- Transamerica Life’s Financial Foundation IUL II was the top-selling life insurance product across all channels.
- All universal life sales totaled over $1.1 billion, down 15.5% quarter-over-quarter but up 8.5% year-over-year.
Product-Specific Trends
Fixed Universal Life Sales
- Totaled $80 million, down 10% from Q4 and 14.4% from Q1 last year.
- Nationwide led the market with an 18.6% share.
- Nationwide CareMatters II was the top-selling product for the second consecutive quarter.
Indexed Life Sales
- Reached $770 million, down 11.3% quarter-over-quarter but up 13% year-over-year.
- National Life Group maintained the top ranking with a 16.4% market share.
- Transamerica Life’s Financial Foundation IUL II led product sales.
- Cash accumulation was the primary pricing objective for 71% of sales.
Variable Universal Life Sales
- Totaled $274.6 million, down 26.7% from Q4 but up 4.9% from Q1 last year.
- Prudential led with a 26.7% market share.
- Pruco Life’s VUL Protector was the top-selling product for the fifth consecutive quarter.
Whole Life Sales
- Reached $1 billion, down 16.5% quarter-over-quarter and less than 1% year-over-year.
- Final expense was the primary pricing objective for 75.9% of sales.
Term Life Sales
- Totaled $577.9 million, down 4.3% from Q4 and 5% from Q1 last year.
- Prudential led the market with a 5.4% share.
- Pruco Life’s EssentialTerm Plus 20 was the top-selling term life product.
Industry Insights
Sheryl J. Moore, CEO of Moore Market Intelligence and Wink Inc., noted that all top 10 indexed life players saw sales increases over the previous year, with half experiencing double-digit gains. She also predicted an increase in variable universal life sales for the second quarter due to market upticks.
The report highlights the diverse performance across different life insurance product categories and companies in Q1, setting the stage for potential growth in certain segments in the coming quarters.
