Braintree, MA. � (October 12, 2011) After three consecutive months of expansion, U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance fell by-3.4% in September, year-over-year, all ages combined according to the MIB Life Indexsm.. The drop marked this year’s largest percent decline and all but erased June through August gains which were unseasonal for this summer period. Year-to-date (YTD), the Index is off -0.6%, back to pre-June levels, compared to the same nine months last year. September’s application activity was +5.2% higher than that of August, though well off the +9-10% pace typically seen for this time period. Third quarter performance (Q3 2011/2010) was relatively flat, off -0.3%, but much improved when compared to Q3’s 2010/2009 -2.6% decline. “This summer’s retrench puts the industry on track to finish the year off less than 1% year-over-year; a relatively good performance in light of a moribund economy,” said Lee B. Oliphant, MIB’s President and CEO. “With heightened volatility, we will clearly be riding this rollercoaster for some time to come.”
September’s Life Index by age group showed: ages 0-44 off sharply at -7.1%; ages 45-59 off -1.7%; and ages 60+ up +6.9%, year-over-year. At September YTD 2011/2010, ages 0-44 was off -3.1%, ages 45-59 was off slightly at -0.5%, and ages 60+ was up +8.2%. At this time last year (Sep. YTD 2010/2009) ages 0-44 was off -4.5%, ages 45-59 was up +0.4%, and ages 60+ was up +10.8%.
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| Sep. 2011 | -3.4% |
| Aug. 2011 | +0.7% |
| YTD 2011 | -0.6% |
| Q3 � 2011 | -0.3% |
| Q2 – 2011 | -0.5% |
| Q1 � 2011 | -1.0% |
| Sep. ’11 | Aug. ’11 | Jul. ’11 | |
| 0 – 44 | -7.1% | -1.2% | +0.2% |
| 45- 59 | -1.7% | +0.4% | +1.4% |
| 60 + | +6.9% | +7.7% | +9.3% |
| Sept. 2011 | +5.2% |
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.
