North American Life Insurance Activity Declines 2.9% in October

(Westwood, Mass. – November 22, 2005) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance declined – 2.9% in October, year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indexsm. This marks the Index�s ninth consecutive
year-over-year decline in the last ten months. Year-to-date (YTD), North American activity has remained relatively stable for the past half year, -3.2% at month’s end. October�s volume has increased +1.8% compared to September�s North American activity, the third consecutive period of month-to-month growth.

Overall U.S. application activity was off -3.2% October 2005/2004 for all ages combined. October�s volume by age group increased slightly in the 0-44 and 45-59, up +1.8% and +0.7%, respectively year-over-year; age 60+ declined slightly at -3.0%. YTD, U.S. activity is -3.3% behind that of 2004 through the last 10 months.

Canadian application activity was flat, off -0.2% in October 2005/2004 for all ages combined. October�s volume by age group was off -2.0% age 0-44; age 45-59 and 60+ increased +2.8% and +4.4%, respectively versus same period last year. YTD, Canadian activity is -2.3% behind that of 2004 through the last 10 months.

  Monthly Percent Change vs. 2004
US Canada Total
October 2005 -3.2% -0.2% -2.9%
September 2005 -2.8% -2.2% -2.8%
YTD 2005 -3.3% -2.3% -3.2%


  Monthly Percent Change vs Previous Month
US Canada Total
October 2005 +1.0% +7.8% +1.8%

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.