WINDSOR, Conn. — U.S. individual life insurance new annualized premium increased 8% in the third quarter 2015 – the fifth consecutive quarter of positive growth, according to LIMRA’s Third Quarter 2015 U.S. Retail Individual Life Insurance Sales Survey, released on Dec. 9.
“In the first nine months of 2015, strong whole life and indexed universal life sales resulted in a 7% increase for overall individual life insurance premium,” said Ashley Durham, assistant research director, LIMRA Insurance Research. “Every major product line recorded positive premium growth for the quarter.”
Total policy count rose 4% in the third quarter and 5% year to date.
Total universal life (UL) new annualized premium improved 11% in the third quarter, resulting in a 10% increase in the first nine months of 2015.
In the third quarter, indexed UL (IUL) new annualized premium – a subset of total UL sales – drove overall UL sales growth. IUL premium rose 20% in the third quarter and 19% year to date. IUL now represents 54% of UL and 21% of all individual life premium sold during the first three quarters of the year.
Total UL premium represents 38% of all life sales in the first nine months of 2015.
Variable universal life (VUL) new annualized premium grew 2% in the third quarter and is up 1% year to date. VUL’s market share was 7% of total sales so far this year.
Whole life (WL) new annualized premium increased 9% in the third quarter and 10% year to date. Nine of the top 10 WL writers reported positive growth. WL now represents 34% of the total life market.
Term life new annualized premium increased 2% in the third quarter, representing the fourth consecutive quarter of positive growth. Term premium rose 1% year to date.
Term’s market share was 21% in the first nine months of 2015.
LIMRA, a worldwide research, learning and development organization, is the trusted source of industry knowledge, helping more than 850 insurance and financial services companies in 64 countries. Visit LIMRA at www.limra.com.
• See also: Top products, carriers named in 3Q annuity and indexed product sales data
