having been a stellar year for it, AXA Equitable Life (AEL), a US
unit of French insurer AXA, leapfrogged its competitors to move
from third into first position in the US variable annuity market.
AEL ended 2007 with total net variable annuity (VA) sales of $15.5
billion, up 20.2 percent compared with 2006 and well ahead of a 15
percent increase in total VA sales to $184.2 billion reported by
insurance industry association LIMRA International.
“To put this achievement and our momentum in perspective, the
company’s $15.5 billion in variable annuity sales in 2007 was three
times what it was in 2001, representing a 20 percent compounded
annual growth rate over six years,” said James Shepherdson,
executive vice president of AEL and president of AXA Distributors,
AEL’s wholesale distribution unit. “This 2007 achievement was
driven by the entire AXA Equitable organisation’s sharp and
continuous focus on the financial intermediary,” he added.
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Based on data from AEL and LIMRA, AEL held an 8.4 percent market
share in 2007, up from 5 percent in 2001.
During 2007 AEL’s distribution channels put in strong showings,
though it was the third-party channel comprising broker-dealers,
banks and independent financial planners (IFP) that led the way
with VA sales increasing by 26.3 percent to $9.5 billion. Notably,
IFPs put in the strongest showing, recording a 31.8 percent
increase in sales. They were followed by banks, which recorded a
29.7 percent sales increase.
In the retail distribution channel, AXA Advisors, AEL’s retail
distribution unit comprised of full-time agents, recorded a 10.8
percent increase in sales to $6.3 billion. All channel sales are
before certain personal tax deductions reflected in AEL’s net sales
figure.
AEL reported total assets under management of $888.6 billion as at
31 December 2007. This represented 47.5 percent of the $1.87
trillion total assets under management by the AXA group
worldwide.
