MIB Life Index shows 4.2 percent increase in American life insurance activity this year

Life insurance market seeing a growth spurt.

Life InsuranceAccording to the data from the MIB Life Index, the American application activity, all ages combined, for the first quarter of 2012 in individually underwritten life insurance saw a 0.3 percent year-over-year increase.

Though April has been seeing a slow decrease in this activity, the first quarter as a whole saw a year-over-year rise by 4.2 percent. This is the best improvement that the industry has seen since 2007.

In February, the application activity was 4.5 percent higher than it was in March. The Index for March 2012 reflect one business day short of the comparative period in March 2011.

The application activity for American life insurance by age group reflected the monthly and first quarter composite results of the Life Index. The results in March indicated that individuals from 0 to 44 had a decrease of 2.1 percent. Those in the 45 to 59 group remained even. The 60 and older group saw an increase of 5.2 percent.

Equally, in terms of the first quarter as a whole, the 0 to 44 age group had its largest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2002, at 2.4 percent. The 45 to 59 age group saw its largest quarterly increase since the last quarter of 2009, at 3.5 percent. The 60 and older age group saw its largest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2012, at 11.5 percent.

To provide a basis for comparison, the composite MIB Life Index has stayed at a level about 20 percent lower than its 100 par value, which was initially set in January 2001.

The MIB Life Index is considered to be the timeliest American application activity measure in the life insurance industry. It provides data releases to the media on a monthly basis. It is based on the number of searches that are performed by MIB life member company underwriters through the MIB Checking Service database.

Since most of the North American premium dollars from individually underwritten life policies include a search through MIB as a basic element of the typical underwriting requirement, the MIB Life Index is able to offer a solid means for estimating activity from new business.

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