MIB: Individual Life Insurance Applications Grew 4.6% in February
March 11, 2016 by Dennis Gorski, managing editor-online, BestWeek: Dennis.Gorski@ambest.com
BRAINTREE, Mass. – February 2016 was the 19th month out of the past 20 that individual life insurance application activity rose from the prior year, according to the newest research from MIB Group.
Last month’s rise was 4.6% over February 2015, which “outpaced that of the prior January by 4.1%, all ages combined, consistent with seasonal trends for this time period although slightly off pace,” MIB said in its monthly Life Index report.
Once again, the young cohort up to age 44 led the year-over-year growth. That metric grew by 5.8%, while ages 45 to 59 was up 2.9%, and ages 60 and older rose 3.8%, year-over-year, MIB said.
So far, the index is up 5.6% for the year. Only March of 2015 missed the months-long growth cycle; that month, both the young and middle-age cohorts grew less than in the previous year. The age 60-plus group grew 1.4% in March of 2015, according to the index.
Life insurance executives anticipate a year of modest growth in 2016 as companies look for resurgence despite low interest rates and a tepid economic recovery, according to a survey by LOMA, the international trade association for insurance and financial services (Best’s News Service, Jan. 14, 2016).
Another report, from life insurance researchers at LIMRA, showed new individual life insurance premium rose 8% in the third quarter of 2015, the fifth consecutive quarter of growth for the segment, and total policy count was up 4% in the third quarter and 5% year-to-date (Best’s News Service, Dec. 10, 2015)
The top five writers of life insurance in the United States, based on 2014 admitted assets are MetLife, with $608.3 billion; Prudential, $551.6 billion; John Hancock, with $272.1 billion; TIAA Group, at $272.0 billion; and AIG Life and Retirement, $268.3 billion, according to BestLink.
MIB Group, formerly known as the Medical Information Bureau Inc., was founded by the insurance industry in 1909. Its monthly index is based on the number of searches MIB life member-company underwriters perform on the MIB Checking Service database.
