(Westwood, Mass. — April 16, 2003) Applications for life insurance in North America dropped 2.9% in March, marking the Index’s sixth consecutive month year-over-year decline. U.S. activity was off 3.8% contrasted with a 5.6% increase in Canadian application activity when compared to March 2002 levels. Strength in the Canadian market continues with application growth observed in eight of the last twelve months. North American, first quarter 2003 results trailed first quarter 2002 by 5.5%; off 6.2% in the U.S. Similarly, first quarter results lagged that of 2001 by 1.1% overall; off 2.5% in the U.S. indicative of overall trends.
According to The MIB Life IndexSM for March 2003, activity in the 60+ age group remained the strongest of all age demographics showing a 2.3% increase in North America for the first quarter 2003 versus prior year. The U.S. experienced a 1.9% increase in this age demographic in the same quarterly time period comparison.
“March applications in North America were up 9.1% when compared with February levels. While still slightly below historic levels, this activity may suggest the extended period of weak underwriting activity and moribund growth could be behind us,” says Stacy J. Gill, Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer at the MIB Group’s e-Services Corporation
The MIB Life Index
The MIB Life Index is released in summary form to the media each month, providing the earliest snapshot of the industry free of charge. 2002 year-end results are published in MIB’s Life Index Annual Report. Based on the MIB Life Index, an MIB Trend Tracker report can, within days of month-end close, evaluate a company’s own life insurance application production benchmarked against a custom competitive peer group and the life industry as a whole.
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| Monthly Percent Change vs 2002 | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| March 2003 | -3.8% | 5.6% | -2.9% |
| February 2003 | -7.0% | -1.8% | -6.1% |
| YTD 2003 vs YTD 2002 Q1 2003 vs Q1 2002 |
-6.2% | 1.1% | -5.5% |
| Monthly Percent Change vs Previous Month | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| March 2003 | 9.8% | 3.5% | 9.1% |
About MIB Group, Inc.
MIB Group, Inc., headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts, is the leading provider of database and information management tools to the global risk management community, and is a leading facilitator of electronic insurance commerce via dedicated networks and Internet-based systems. MIB member companies underwrite more than 95 percent of the premium dollars of individual life insurance written in the United States and Canada. More information about MIB Group, Inc. is available at www.mib.com
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