Amid Plethora of Indexes, Annuity Buyers Return to the Familiar
February 22, 2023 by Cyril Tuohy
In the third quarter of 2022, for every $100,000 sunk into a fixed-indexed annuity, $44,000, or 44%, went to the S&P 500 Index, according to Wink’s Sales & Market Report. That was up from 32.8% in the third quarter of the previous year.
Hybrid indexes, which include volatility-controlled indexes, scooped up 41.4% of premiums, down from 60.1% a year earlier.
“I am expecting sales of indexed annuities, allocated to hybrid indices, to be down,” said Sheryl Moore, CEO of Wink, publisher of Wink’s Sales & Market Report.
Click HERE to read the full story via Life Annuity Specialist
Wink’s Note: You may not know, but I helped Money-Media start Life Annuity Specialist by providing them with an overview of the news market in life insurance and annuities, as well as providing competitive intelligence, insights and actionable strategy.
In light of that, I get annoyed because they don’t even show the first couple of sentences of their articles, in order to entice potential subscribers.
No, you cannot see what is behind their paywall.
To boot, they feature me in their articles frequently. Cyril Tuohy I truly appreciate your quality reporting, but please share this irritant with your editors.
That said, this article discusses the fact that consumers are increasingly choosing the S&P 500, over hybrid indices, on indexed annuities. There is data backing that up, by Wink, Inc.‘s “Wink’s Sales & Market Report.”
What I found was especially interesting was Charlie Gipple, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®‘s quote:
“Agents are saying ‘That’s what I’m going to go with [S&P 500],’ and staying away from hard-to-understand volatility indexes.” I always appreciate having insight into the minds of those selling these products. My, how attitudes have changed about these indexes!
Still, I do not suspect that the 150+ different hybrid indices are going anywhere soon. Insurance companies receive less expensive options in these arrangements, and the illustrations…OH, the illustrations! -sjm