Among the top 15 companies in terms of voluntary/worksitesales, the average growth rate was 4.1%, which is slightly belowthe industry rate of 4.5%. (Photo: Shutterstock)

According to our annual U.S. Voluntary/Worksite Sales Report,new business annualized premium (voluntary sales) increased againlast year. Total sales for 2019 were $8.832 billion, up 4.5% over2018 sales. The top graph below shows the industry's sales since1997.

Erin Marino and Nick Rockwell,Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc.

Related: Employers are getting more savvy with theirvoluntary benefit offerings

The growth rate was slightly higher compared to what we saw in2018 (4.5% compared to 3.8%). The bottom graph shows the growthcurve between 2004 and 2019.

In terms of market share, four of the top five carriers for 2019were the same as in 2018. Guardian replaced Allstate Benefits inthe top five list for 2019. The carriers include:

• Aflac (18%)
• MetLife (13%)
• Unum (6%)
• Colonial Life (6%)
• Guardian (4%)

The top 15 companies accounted for approximately 75% of totalvoluntary/worksite sales in 2019, down somewhat from 77% percent in2018. Among the top 15 companies, the average growth rate was 4.1%,which is slightly below the industry rate of 4.5%. Six carriersamong the top 15 had decreases, with two of them havingdouble-digit decreases, while the rest had increases, with fivehaving double-digit increases.

Takeover business (i.e., business that moves from one voluntarycarrier to another with a similar product) continued to showstabilization in 2019. The estimated percentage of sales that weretakeovers (on an aggregated basis) was 56.4%, just slightly above55.7% in 2018. In-force premium increased by 4.4% in 2019 to anestimated $47.1 billion. The following table shows the in-forcesales numbers for the last five years.

Look for our next column on voluntary sales results by productline and product platform.

The annual U.S. Voluntary/Worksite Sales Report is theindustry's most comprehensive and reliable source of data onvoluntary/worksite sales and in-force premium. This year's studyincludes data from 1997 through 2019 and detailed results for 70carriers. The report is available only to carriers participating inthe survey. For more information about participating in next year'ssurvey, contact us at [email protected].

Read more: 

• Voluntary benefits: 2020 andbeyond
• Younger workers plan to enroll in voluntarybenefits, though they don't understand them
• Voluntary benefits: Control theconversation