“We’re really working our way down the risk curve on this product,” Kandarian said at the conference. “It’s still a good business if we get the risk profile correct.”
AIG, Lincoln
American International Group Inc. boosted variable annuity sales last year. Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., bet on liabilities tied to the savings products in a reinsurance deal with Cigna Corp. last month.
“It’s very encouraging to see smart money coming back into the variable-annuity space.” Dennis Glass, CEO of Lincoln National Corp., said on a conference call with analysts last month, after Buffett’s deal. Radnor, Pennsylvania-based Lincoln ranked fifth in variable annuity sales in the first nine months of 2012, the same as in the year-earlier period.