US individual life insurance new annualized premium increased 8% in Q3 2015 – the fifth consecutive quarter of positive growth – according to LIMRA’s Q3 2015 US Retail Individual Life Insurance Sales Survey.
LIMRA said total universal life new annualized premium improved 11% in Q3 resulting in a 10% increase in the first nine months of 2015.
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In Q3, indexed UL (IUL) new annualized premium – a subset of total UL sales – drove overall UL sales growth. IUL premium rose 20% in Q3 and 19% year-to-date.
According to LIMRA, 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, said LIMRA.
Variable universal life (VUL) new annualized premium growth grew 2% in Q3 and 1% year-to-date. VUL’s market share was 7 percent of total sales year-to-date.
LIMRA said whole life (WL) new annualized premium increased 9% in Q3 and 10 year-to-date. Nine of the top ten WL writers reported positive growth. WL now represents 34% of the total life market.
Term 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.
Ashley Durham, assistant research director, LIMRA Insurance Research, said: "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. Every major product line recorded positive premium growth for the quarter."
