Allstate Financial displaced the long-reigning American International Group Inc. as the top seller of fixed annuities through banks in the second quarter, according to a report by the Princeton, N.J., research firm Kehrer-Limra. Hartford Financial Services, the perennial variable annuity leader, took the No. 1 spot overall.
It was the first time since 1996 that AIG or its predecessor companies have not led in fixed annuity sales, said Kenneth Kehrer, the founder of the firm renamed Kehrer-Limra after a recent deal.
Allstate sold $1.16 billion of fixed annuities through banks in the second quarter, double its first-quarter volume of $581 million. And AIG posted $1.06 billion of second-quarter sales, down 24% from the $1.39 billion in the first quarter.
Hartford, meanwhile, took No. 1 on the strength of a 7% rise in variable annuity sales, to $1.3 billion, and a 185% increase in fixed sales, to $68 million. It was up 10% overall, to $1.37 billion, while AIG fell 19% overall, to $1.33 billion. AIG had been $400 million ahead of Hartford in overall first-quarter sales.
