(Westwood, Mass. � July 18, 2005) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance declined -3.1% in June, year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Index. It was the Index�s fifth consecutive monthly drop this year. Year-to-date, June application activity was off -3.3% for North America; off -3.4% and -2.7% for the U.S. and Canada, respectively. Second quarter applications (Apr.-Jun) U.S. and Canada combined were off -4.0% versus Q2 2004. By comparison, Q2 2004 activity was less than -1.0% below that of Q2 2003.
The U.S. MIB Life Indexsm declined -3.0% in June, year-over-year, for all ages combined. Year-over-year, declines were seen across all three age groups: -4.1%, -1.4% and -0.4% for age groups 0-44, 45-59 and 60+, respectively. Year-to-date, the 60+ age group is running +1.5% ahead of 2004 levels. Despite reasonably consistent monthly growth, the 60+ age group remains -7.7% off from its June 2003 peak. For the second quarter, U.S. application volumes were -4.4% behind that of Q2 2004.
Canadian application activity declined -3.9% in June, year-over-year, for all ages combined. Like the U.S., year-over-year declines were seen across all three age groups: -3.9%, -4.3% and -2.2% for age groups 0-44, 45-59, and 60+, respectively. For the second quarter, Canadian application volumes were -1.6% behind that of Q2 2004.
| Monthly Percent Change vs. 2004 | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| June 2005 | -3.0% | -3.9% | -3.1% |
| May 2005 | -4.2% | -1.5% | -3.9% |
| Q2 2005 | -4.4% | -1.6% | -4.0% |
| YTD 2005 | -3.4% | -2.7% | -3.3% |
| Monthly Percent Change vs Previous Month | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| June 2005 | +1.1% | -7.7% | -0.1% |
About the MIB Life Index
The MIB Life Index is the life insurance industry’s timeliest measure of application activity across the U.S. Released to the media each month, the Index is based on the number of searches 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.
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 management decisions. MIB, Inc. and MIB Solutions, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the MIB Group, Inc. Visit www.mib.com.
