Variable-annuity sales in the U.S. rose for the fourth straight quarter amid gains by the two biggest U.S. life insurers, MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc., as stock markets advanced.
Sales climbed to $38.5 billion in the fourth quarter from $33 billion a year earlier, trade group Limra International said yesterday in data posted on its website. Prudential said on Feb. 9 that gross individual annuities sales rose to $6.1 billion in the fourth quarter from $4.8 billion a year earlier. New York-based MetLife, the largest U.S. life insurer, posted a 38 percent increase in variable annuity sales to $5.1 billion.
