It Is An Exciting Time to Have Indexed Life in Your Arsenal

October 16, 2011 by Sheryl J. Moore

For nearly 15 years I have been singing the praises of Indexed Life. For much of that time, people ignored my preaching about this product rich in guarantees, which also gave the ability to earn interest based on the market’s performance.

WELL NOT ANYMORE!

At the close of 2010, Indexed Life sale eclipsed VUL sales for the first time, with a record-breaking $695.9 million in sales. Based on my estimates, we are going to hit close to $800 million in sales for 2011. Add to that all of the new companies that have been entering the market, and it makes for one heck of an exciting time to be offering Indexed Life to your clients.

In less than a 60 day period beginning August 8th of this year, FIVE new companies have entered the Indexed UL market:

1. 08/08/11: Zurich Life introduces their Zurich Index UL

2. 09/05/11: RiverSource Life introduces their RiverSource Indexed Universal Life

3. 09/19/11: American General Life & Accident introduces their AGLAchoice Index Plus

4. 09/28/11: Reliastar Life introduces their ING Indexed Universal Life- Guaranteed Death Benefit NY

5. 10/03/11: John Hancock introduces their Indexed UL

PLUS, I am still anticipating two more companies entering the IUL market before the close of 2011. Add to that all of the companies that are already in the market and rolling out new products, and it is the busiest this market has ever been since its inception in 1997!

Having more companies offering these products results in several positives. First, IUL earns more legitimacy in the marketplace. Many have long made inaccurate assumptions about IUL because of it’s Indexed Annuity cousin. Despite the negative and inaccurate media that has plagued the Indexed Annuity market, the relatively few market conduct problems in that segment have not drifted over to the Indexed Life side of the business. Just because the name says ‘indexed’ does not mean it isn’t worth taking a look at!

Second, more insurance companies offering this product translates to greater product competitiveness. Indexed Life is largely distributed by independent agents who can sell the products of whatever insurance company they’d like, based on their client’s needs. How better to get the attention of an agent who can sell to their client’s needs, than to provide an ultra-competitive product?

Third, more insurance companies in this market means more agents selling the product and eventually more people in the general public who are familiar with it, or asking about it. When I started this business in 2005, it was my mission to ensure that every American know about Indexed Life and Indexed Annuities; even if they chose not to purchase them.

Now, it looks like I may have a shot at reaching that goal.

Heck, we might even start seeing consumer advertising that talks about Indexed Life insurance! In the interim, keep up the product development, happy selling, and count on more record sales of this invaluable cash value life insurance. sjm