MIB Life Index Reports U.S. Life Insurance Activity up 1.6% in October
Braintree, MA. – U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance increased +1.6% in October year-over-year, all ages combined, according to the MIB Life Index?. October’s rise took place in a month with one fewer business day than its October 2010 counterpart. In what can best be characterized as a zigzag year—monthly gains offsetting losses by a margin of 6 to 4—the MIB Life Index remains close to parity entering the last quarter of 2011 at -0.4% YTD. October’s application activity was +8.3% higher than that of September. “At a time when the U.S. economy is struggling to define direction, the pipeline for new life insurance business appears to be holding its own,” states Lee Oliphant, MIB’s CEO.
The MIB Life Index by age group for October shows, ages 0-44 off -1.1%, ages 45-59 up +2.0%, and ages 60+ up +10.9% year-over-year. For the ten months ending October 2011, ages 0-44 are off -2.9%, ages 45-59 are flat at -0.3%, and ages 60+ are up +8.4% YTD. Application activity ages 45-59 continues to hold true to levels seen in 2009 after experiencing consecutive annual losses greater than 2% in the 2004-2008 timeframe.
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About the MIB Life Index
The MIB Life Index is the life insurance industry's timeliest measure of application activity in the United States. Released to the media each month, the Index is based on the number of searches MIB life member company underwriters perform on the MIB Checking Service database. Since the vast majority of individually underwritten life premium dollars in North America include an MIB search as a routine underwriting requirement, the MIB Life Index provides a reasonable means to estimate new business activity. For past releases, methodology or to subscribe visit www.mib.com/lifeindex.
About MIB
MIB is the life and health insurance industry’s most trusted resource for risk information and analytical services. Owned by the industry it has served for more than a century, MIB is uniquely positioned to aggregate industry insights in order to develop products and services for our members that improve their risk assessment. MIB, Inc. and MIB Solutions, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the MIB Group, Inc. (www.mib.com and www.mibsolutions.com).
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