Justin Stephani

Rising interest rates, steep yield curve drive fixed annuity sales growth.

The strategies of insurers like UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint are under the microscope as data from four of the five largest U.S. states is collected by SNL Financial Group.

Year-over-year, however, that sales number is down 1.4% from $55.3 billion in the second quarter of 2012.

Ahead of Jan. 1, 2014, when all Americans will be required to have health insurance, insurers should be focusing on making their web presence as user-friendly and informative as possible.

A recent survey suggests that millennials are highly motivated to make retirement saving a priority, but they find DC plans overwhelming and complex.

A new survey of mostly insurance and IT executives also finds the C-suite looking for business cases to justify big data expenditures.

More than a quarter (26.3%) of Texans do not own health insurance, giving Texas the lowest rate of health insureds in the nation, according to 2010 data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau; Massachusetts, Hawaii and the District of Columbia represented the states with the highest rates of health insureds, respectively.

Online life insurance calculators fare poorly in consumer report.

Of the 14 life insurance firms monitored by Corporate Insight, Liberty Mutual and USAA were cited as having the strongest social media performances and were awarded top grades.

Insurance is labeled an early adopter of social media in a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), titled “2012 U.S. Social Media Trends by Vertical.” The banking industry was cited as being a late adopter.

While insurers have a couple more years to prepare for the individual mandate and health exchanges, according to a new Gallup poll, effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on 18- to-25-year-olds can already be seen.

Life insurance coverage calculators earned low marks in a recent analysis by the Customer Respect Group, which suggests that more can be done to help consumers determine adequate coverage levels.

To help employers forecast potential penalties resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as well as make proactive changes to their benefits lineup prior to 2014, the New Jersey Hospital Association has launched the Reform Insurance Penalty Estimator.

Over the last 20 years, the percentages of households that will not be ready for retirement at age 65 has nearly doubled to 50%, according to recent data from the National Retirement Risk Index.

While the number of overall insurers included in the Fortune 500 diminished slightly yet again—from 49 in 2010 to 47 last year to 46 this year—Nationwide provided insurers with one more top-100 slot by moving up 27 spots.

In a new report titled Opportunities in Reaching the Middle Market with Life Insurance: New Pathways to Growth, Conning estimates the middle- market life insurance protection gap to be $10.2 trillion - a 56% increase when compared to the firm's last study of the middle market in 2006. The total protection gap across all income brackets has more than doubled.

In a new report, titled “Opportunities in Reaching the Middle Market with Life Insurance,” Conning estimates the middle market life insurance protection gap to be $10.2 trillion — a 56% increase when compared to the firm’s last study of the middle market in 2006. The total protection gap across all income brackets has more than doubled.

Last year, staggering numbers revealed a massive life insurance sales gap. In a new report, called “The Elusive Life Insurance Purchaser,” Aite Group attempts to demystify the life industry’s enigmatic consumers.

Spurred by its $16.2 billion acquisition of American Life Insurance Co., MetLife Inc. moved into the top five while American International Group Inc. slid from third to fifth in A.M. Best’s rankings of the top 25 global insurers based on nonbanking assets.

In 2012, the U.S. life and annuity insurance industry will be challenged to find ways to manage both capital and risk in an economically and politically uncertain year, while continuing to lay the groundwork for future growth, according to Ernst & Young's new Global Insurance Center U.S. Outlook report.