by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC
Fixed annuity sales declined in the second quarter of 2017. Sales were down 7 percent to $29.2 billion. All fixed product lines sales, except structured settlements, experienced declines. In the first half of 2017, fixed sales fell 11 percent to $56.7 billion.
401(k) specialist attributes the drop to Fiduciary Rule fallout. First half sales haven’t been this low since 2001, LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute reports in its Second Quarter 2017 U.S. Retail Annuity Sales Survey. Second quarter results for total annuity sales were $53.9 billion, a slight uptick from the first quarter, but an 8 percent decline from this quarter last year. This is the fifth consecutive quarter of decline in overall annuity sales. It is also the sixth straight quarter fixed sales have outperformed VA sales, which hasn’t happened in almost 25 years.
It' s not surprising that structured settlements have not declined when compared to other business segments, because the main reasons why people do structured settlements include:
and, and , and, and…
- Preventing a premature dissipation of funds
- Safe, secure stream of payments (i.e. " the job you can never be fired from)
- Customizable to the needs of the payee
- Minimize concerns and costs of managing money