Eastbridge’s annual U.S. Worksite Sales Report for 2010 was recently released and, according to the findings, sales for the year were down compared to 2009. This is the first time since we have been tracking voluntary/worksite sales that we have seen a decrease from the prior year’s results.

In this column, we will share some details on the overall sales results for 2010. Future columns will provide details by product line and by distribution channel. According to surveys completed by carriers, new voluntary sales (U.S.) totaled an estimated $5.243 billion, down from $5.397 billion in 2009.

This represents a decrease of 2.85 percent. As you can see on the graph, this is the first decrease in voluntary sales year over year since we’ve been tracking sales. Undoubtedly, the economy and unemployment were major causes of the lower results. Interestingly, despite the overall decrease, more companies experienced increases than decreases in 2010.

The No. 1 carrier (with a 26 percent market share) saw a decrease of almost five percent, which made achieving an overall industry increase difficult. Among the top 15 companies, six had increases—four of them double-digit increases ranging from 11 percent to 28 percent. Six more of the top 15 had decreases and three were flat as compared to 2009.

Inforce premiums were also down slightly (-0.3 percent). The report estimates the 2010 inforce worksite premium to be between $18.7 and $24.6 billion. In our next column, we will review the results by product line and product platform.

Gil Lowerre can be reached at (860) 676-9633 or glowerre@eastbridge.com.

Bonnie Brazzell can be reached at (803) 738-1236 or bbrazzell@eastbridge.com.

Instant Insights /

Blame the economy for lower voluntary sales

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