Assets held by the nation's life and health insurers increased 6.7%, to $305 billion at March 31, from a year earlier, according to TheStreet.com Ratings, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com Inc.
The asset growth was driven by the sale of variable life and annuity products and the appreciation of the separate accounts in which those assets are held, the company said Tuesday. Separate account assets grew 13.8%, to $213.2 billion at March 31.
Separate accounts made up 36% of industry assets. General account investments in stocks, bonds, mortgages, and real estate made up 61%. These assets grew 3%, to $87.5 billion.
TheStreet.com Ratings upgraded 40 companies and downgraded four of the 2,735 life and health insurers it reviewed based on first-quarter 2007 data.
