Athene COO Sees Non-Variable Annuity Sales Boom Continuing
January 18, 2023 by Allison Bell
Rising interest rates are continuing to push consumers to buy annuities, a top annuity issuer executive said Thursday.
Mike Downing, the chief operating officer of Athene Holding, reported that sales conditions were much better than expected in 2022 and continue to be strong now.
Click HERE to read the full story via ThinkAdvisor
Wink’s Note: Allison Bell with ThinkAdvisor has some zingers every now and then!
“Whether you are an agent who already sells annuities or an advisor who has been trained to swat them with a rolled-up newspaper, many clients will want to hear what you think about annuities.”
Indeed.
Per this article, I have to agree with Mike Downing of Athene.
“Because insurers tend to increase annuity rate guarantees more quickly than banks increase interest rates on certificates of deposit, the new interest rate environment continues to encourage clients to move cash away from CDs and into annuities, he said.”
I also agree with him, when it comes to fee-based annuities.
“…that sector could use a lot more penetration.”
The numbers back him up. Only 2.00% of the $72.4 billion in annuity sales for 3Q2022 was placed into fee-based products. – sjm
