Some retirement savers will still tie their annuity returns to the performance of investment funds, if the market looks good and insurers will sell them variable annuities.
New annuity sales figures from Wink showed that sales of traditional variable annuities were stronger than for any other class of annuities that Wink tracks.
Sales of traditional variable annuities increased 53% between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the fourth quarter of 2024, to $18 billion.
Sales of registered index-linked annuities, or contracts with crediting rates linked to the performance of stock indexes, rather than investment funds, rose 38%, to $35 billion.
Fixed indexed annuities, which resemble RILA contracts but protect principal against losses related to the performance of the investment markets, increased 22%, to $32 billion, but sellers of multi-year guaranteed annuities, which promise to provide a guaranteed interest rate for a specified term, fell 45%, to $29 billion