The Rise and Fall of Volatility Control Indexes
March 12, 2026 by Cyril Tuohy
In the third quarter of 2021, sales allocated to bespoke “hybrid” indexes, or indexes engineered to control for market volatility, reached an apex when 60% of $17.3 billion in fixed-indexed annuity sales was allocated to such indexes, according to Wink‘s Sales & Market report.
But that allocation has dwindled to 26% of the $32.4 billion in FIAs sold in the third quarter of last year, Wink reported.
One reason, according to Wink CEO Sheryl Moore, is that when markets are going up, avoiding volatility can feel a lot more like missing out on upside.
“I mean, a ton of these annuity purchasers earned 0% on their hybrid indexes, while the market was up nearly 25%,” said Moore. “That’s a hard pill to swallow.”
About 200 hybrid indexes are available with fixed-indexed annuities, according to Wink. Fewer volatility control indexes are also available with registered index-linked annuities and indexed universal life products.
Read the full story at Life Annuity Specialist
