VUL Sales Skyrocket in Q1, Signaling Major Market Shift
Variable universal life insurance is known for the flexibility it offers clients. According to first-quarter sales numbers from Wink, Inc., clients are embracing the product.
VUL sales were up 15.1% over Q1 2025, Wink reported in its latest Sales & Market Report. Sales began percolating during the fourth quarter, with VUL up 4.3% over the prior-year quarter and up 22.4% over Q3.
Sales are slowest during Q1 and strongest at the end of the year. Total VUL sales for the first quarter were $316.1 million, down 19.1% quarter-over-quarter.
"The market has been on the uptick since the beginning of April," said Sheryl Moore, CEO of Wink, Inc. and Moore Market Intelligence. "This translates to improved sales of variable UL."
VUL is a permanent life insurance policy that combines a death benefit with an investment component. Policies can be customized with specific riders to provide coverage for needs such as long-term care.
Items of interest in the VUL market included Prudential retaining the No. 1 ranking in sales, with a 36.2% market share; Pacific Life Companies, Nationwide, RiverSource Life and John Hancock completed the top five, respectively.
Overall life sales up 8%
All life insurance sales for the first quarter were more than $2.9 billion, down 9.7% compared to the previous quarter and up 8.1% compared to the same period last year. All life sales include fixed universal life, indexed UL, variable UL, indexed whole life, whole life and term life product sales.
Noteworthy highlights for total life insurance sales of all products in the first quarter included Prudential ranking as No. 1 in overall sales for all life insurance sales, with a market share of 5.6%. Americo’s Eagle Select, a whole life product, was the No. 1 selling product for all life insurance sales, for all channels combined, for the quarter.
All universal life sales for the first quarter were $1.1 billion, down 16% compared to the previous quarter and up 4.3% compared to the same period last year. All universal life sales include fixed UL, indexed UL and variable UL product sales.
Non-variable universal life sales for the first quarter were $851.9 million, down 15.2% when compared to the previous quarter and up less than 1% compared to the same period last year. Non-variable universal life sales include both fixed UL and indexed UL product sales.
Fixed universal life sales for the first quarter were $65.2 million, down 25.9% compared to the previous quarter and down 18% compared to the same period last year.
Indexed life sales for the first quarter were $789.5 million, down 14% compared with the previous quarter, and up 2.8% compared to the same period last year. Indexed life sales include both indexed UL and indexed whole life.
Whole life first quarter sales were over $1.2 billion, down 3.6% compared with the previous quarter, and up 22.6% compared to the same period last year.
Term life first-quarter sales were $521.8 million, down 7.6% when compared with the previous quarter and down 9.7% compared to the same period last year.