Growth in the U.S. life insurance market has essentially leveled off as investors look to annuities and other wealth accumulation vehicles rather than insurance against premature death. To address diverging preferences, the industry is now providing new products, such as those including long-term care, or various guarantees to appeal to risk-averse customers. This report reviews issues in the industry and also looks to answer the following questions: Which consumers are most likely to want group or individual life products? Which ones are most willing to combine life insurance with financial planning? Which consumers are likely to want life insurance and financial investments bundled together?

Traditionally, life insurance has been sold through one-on-one transactions, but the agency distribution channel is decreasing in size. The agency force is also aging, and companies are restructuring their sales organizations to trim expenditures for agent recruitment and development. At the same time, a sizable number of agents are adapting their practices to offer financial planning and a broader range of investment products. An exclusive Mintel survey in this report looks at how agents see the industry and the issues they see as impacting their business, as well as what they see as most important in industry recruitment and retention efforts.

• Scope and Themes
• What you need to know
• Definitions
• Abbreviations and terms
• Abbreviations
• Terms
• Executive Summary
• Top issues and developments in the industry
• The marketplace
• Product development
• Distribution channels
• Agent performance, attributes and attitudes
• The Consumer
• Forecast
• Market Drivers
• Accumulation vs. risk focus
  • Figure 1: Net premiums and considerations of life insurers, 1994, 2003, 2004
• Demographic trends
• Life cycles
  • Figure 2: Population aged 65+: 2000-50
  • Figure 3: proportion of population aged 65+: 2000-50
• Minority markets.
  • Figure 4: Projected % of total U.S. population, 2000 to 2050
• Pandemics
• Technological and administrative issues
• Persistency
• Regulation
• Estate planning
• Securitization
• Mergers and acquisitions/international expansion
• Market Size and Trends
  • Figure 5: Value of individual life insurance premiums in the U.S., 1998-2004
  • Figure 6: Individual life insurance purchases in the U.S., 1995-2004
  • Figure 7: In-force policies in the U.S., 1995-2004
  • Figure 8: Life insurance premiums totals in the U.S., 1995-2004
• Market Segmentation
• Term and permanent insurance
  • Figure 9: Individual life insurance purchases by plan type, 2004
  • Figure 10: Value of individual life insurance purchases, permanent and term, 1998-2004
  • Figure 11: Volume of individual life insurance policy purchases, permanent and term, 1998-2004
• Variable/universal/variable universal life
  • Figure 12: Top ten variable life sales rankings (single premiums included at 10%; excludes COLI, BOLI, and group VUL), 2004 and 2005
• Insurance sales by state
  • Figure 13: Life insurance purchases and in-force for the five most populous U.S. states, 2004
• Competitive Landscape
  • Figure 14: Leading writers of U.S life/health insurance by revenues, 2005
  • Figure 15: Largest life insurers by total direct life insurance premiums, 2004
  • Figure 16: Largest life insurers by individual life insurance in force, 2004
  • Figure 17: U.S. term life in force, top life writers, 2005
  • Figure 18: U.S. term life issued, top life writers, 2005
  • Figure 19: U.S. ordinary life in force, top life writers, 2005
• Product development: rethinking the fundamentals
• Broad considerations: complexity versus simplicity
• Underwriting categories
• Combinations
• Flexibility
• Innovative product features
• No-lapse universal life
• Indexed universal life
  • Figure 20: Leading writers of U.S. index life insurance sales, 2005
• Return-of-premium term
• Corporate-owned life insurance (COLI)
• Life settlements
• Competitive responses to minority markets
• Distribution channels
• Agent distribution channels
• Brokerage general agents and independent marketing organizations
• New models for success
• Agent recruitment and retention
• Affinity groups/associations
• Banks
  • Figure 21: Leading providers of life insurance sold through banks (weighted premiums), 2004 and 2005
• Internet
• Internet consumer-education features
• Group life insurance
  • Figure 22: Value of group life insurance owned, by provider, January-July 2006
• Insurance Agents--what do they think?
• Agent characteristics
• Summary
• Percentage of business that is life insurance
  • Figure 23: percentage of agent' s business that is any type of life insurance, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 24: percentage of agent' s business that is any type of life insurance, by gender, September 2006
• Agent employment status and tenure
  • Figure 25: percentage of respondents who are independent agents or employees, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 26: Tenure as an insurance agent, by gender, September 2006
• Agent affiliation
  • Figure 27: Companies agents represent, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 28: Companies agent sell for, by age, September 2006
• Impact of industry developments
  • Figure 29: Impact of industry developments on agents' business--price competition, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 30: Impact of industry developments on agents' business--online quotes, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 31: Impact of industry developments on agents' business--automated underwriting, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 32: Impact of industry developments on agents' business--changes in compensation, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 33: Impact of industry developments on agents' business -- other changes in technology, by gender, September 2006
• Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents
  • Figure 34: Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents--compensation, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 35: Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents--clientele, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 36: Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents--complexity of insurance, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 37: Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents--work hours, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 38: Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents--sales techniques, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 39: Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents--fewer people buying insurance, by gender, September 2006
  • Figure 40: Obstacles to recruiting and retaining agents--agent image, by gender, September 2006
• Adequacy of support for agents
  • Figure 41: Adequacy of support for agents, September 2006
• Types of incentives offered
  • Figure 42: Incentives/support offered agent, by employment status, September 2006
  • Figure 43: Incentives/support offered agent, by length of employment, September 2006
• Advertising and Promotion
  • Figure 44: Insurance industry ad spend by company, 2005
• Fresh advertising themes
• Multicultural programs
• Direct mail
• The Consumer and What They Own
• Consumers' life insurance needs
• Composition of households owning life insurance
  • Figure 45: Life insurance ownership by number of children in household, January-July 2006
• Composition of high-income households owning life insurance
  • Figure 46: Type of life insurance owned by households with income of$100,000+, by gender, January-July 2006
  • Figure 47: Adults age 18+ whose household income is $100,000+ and currently own life insurance, by marital status, January-July 2006
  • Figure 48: Adults age 18+ whose household income is $100,000+ and currently own life insurance, by children in the household, January-July 2006
  • Figure 49: Type of life insurance owned by households with income of $100,000+, by race/ethnicity, January-July 2006
  • Figure 50: Type of life insurance owned by households with income of $100,000+, by geographic region, January-July 2006
  • Figure 51: Provider of life insurance for households with income of $100,000+, January-July 2006
• Face value of life insurance owned by insurance company
  • Figure 52: Adults age 18+ and currently own life insurance by face value of policies for selected major insurers, January-July 2006
  • Figure 53: Value of term life insurance owned, by provider, January--July 2006
  • Figure 54: Value of whole/universal/variable life insurance owned, by provider, January--July 2006
• Future Trends
• Industry seeks sales growth
• Companies may seek to halt declining numbers of life agents
• Further product and underwriting innovations
• Mortality tables
• Principles-based reserves and capital standards
• Market forecast
  • Figure 55: U.S. life insurance premiums, actual versus trended data, 1995 - 2004
• Life insurance premiums
  • Figure 56: Forecast of total U.S. life insurance premiums, at current and constant prices, 2006-11
• First-year life insurance premiums
  • Figure 57: Forecast of U.S. first-year life insurance premiums, at current and constant prices, 2006-11
• Single life insurance premiums
  • Figure 58: Forecast of U.S. single life insurance premiums, at current and constant prices, 2006-11
• Renewal life insurance premiums
  • Figure 59: Forecast of U.S. renewal life insurance premiums, at current and constant prices, 2006-11
• Appendix: Industry Associations
• Appendix: TV Advertising and Direct Mail
• Overview--television advertising
  • Figure 60: American Family Life Insurance television advertisement, 2006
  • Figure 61: Colonial Penn television advertisement , 2006
  • Figure 62: Gerber Life Growup plan television advertisement, 2006
  • Figure 63: Guaranteed Trust Life Lifetime Plan, television advertisement, 2006
  • Figure 64: Legacy group term life insurance television advertisement, 2006
  • Figure 65: Matrix Direct/American general term life insurance television advertisement, 2006
  • Figure 66: Mutual of Omaha life insurance television advertisement, 2006
  • Figure 67: Prudential financial life insurance television advertisement, 2006
  • Figure 68: Stonebridge life insurance television advertisement, 2006
• Overview -- direct mail advertising
  • Figure 69: Globe Life and Accident Insurance, 2006
  • Figure 70: Chase Insurance Direct, 2006
  • Figure 71: AARP/NYLife, 2006
  • Figure 72: Globe Life Young America Plan, 2006