Voluntary Benefits

Shares of MetLife Inc. surged on Friday after the nation's largest life insurer reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations.

The debtpocalypse is nigh. But, hey, at least we're going to have NFL football.

Shares of Aflac Inc. rose more than 6 percent Thursday after the disability and supplemental insurance provider beat Wall Street expectations and showed continued progress in de-risking its investment portfolio.

In a study of life insurance policy owners, LIMRA finds 1 in 2 people have visited their life insurer's website. Of those who did, 70 percent used services found on the site.

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.

Takeover sales now account for almost 41 percent of new voluntary sales premium reported in 2010, according to the most recent U.S. Worksite Sales Report from Eastbridge Consulting Group.