Western-Southern annuities on record-setting pace - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Western & Southern sold $1.25 billion in annuities durinf the first four months of the it saidlast week. That puts it on pace to beat last year’a total fixed and variable annuity salesof $2.9y7 billion by 26 The company’s 2008 annuity sales soared 59 percent from the prior “Our strong annuity sales are a direcyt result of the ongoing flightr to quality,” CEO John Barrett said in a news Western & Southern carries a AA+ ratinvg from Standard & Poor’s, making it one of the world’a nine strongest life insurance groups. Sales through banks have been a big partof downtown-base d Western & Southern’s growth.
Those saleas generated $523 million so far this or about 40 percent ofthe company’s totall annuity sales. Bank-related sales more than doublexdlast year. Western & Southern’sd sales place it among the nation’s largest providerd of individualannuity products, according to , an association of life insurers and financiapl firms.