Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which started a Japanese operation less than four and a half years ago, said Friday that it has sold $17.3 billion of variable and fixed annuities there, or more than two trillion yen worth.
The Hartford's Japan subsidiary reached the milestone last Monday, which the company said shows the rapidly growing demand for annuities among Japanese planning for their retirement. Its Japan operation became the No. 1 seller of variable annuities in the country last July.
For the first time, its annual sales in Japan also surpassed one trillion yen during the country's fiscal year (April 2004 to March 2005). Variable annuities accounted for $8.9 billion of sales and fixed annuities $1.2 billion during the fiscal year. The Hartford only began selling fixed annuities in Japan last September.
