The newly published June MIB Life Index from MIB Group Inc. shows second quarter 2024 application activity was up 8.1 per cent, despite activity declining in June.
The company says life insurance application activity was up 6.5 per cent year-to-date at the end of June, despite declines of 3.2 per cent reported that month when compared to June 2023 application activity. They add that it is the first time monthly year-over-year activity has declined since May 2023. “When examining month-over-month activity, June was down 10.1 per cent compared to May,” they write.
In June alone, application activity by clients over age 61 grew in the double digits while all other age bands declined. During the full quarter, however, all age bands showed growth. “Year-to-date activity through the first half of 2024 saw growth for ages 0 to 30 and ages 51+, in the double digits for ages 61+ and flat activity for ages 31-50,” the monthly report states.
Universal life sees double-digit growth
Universal life policy applications would appear to be powering whatever gains were made during both periods. Where a product type was submitted to the company, universal life applications grew 30.2 per cent in June while whole life application activity declined 4.6 per cent and term life applications declined 12.1 per cent. “When comparing Q2-2024 to Q2-2023, universal life saw double-digit growth, whole life saw growth and term life saw declines,” the report adds without elaborating.
Missing product type information, however, has a significant impact on MIB’s Canadian analysis, with about 34 per cent of the total Life Index volume for Canada not including a product type. The company says it believes the vast majority are for life insurance applications and have included them as such in the composite analysis.
“When looking solely at submissions identified for life insurance products, we saw higher growth trends with activity flat at -0.5 per cent in June, year-over-year, up 11.7 per cent when comparing Q2-2024 to Q2-2023, and up 9.6 per cent mid-year, year-to-date,” they write.