"We're always looking at our product design, looking at it from the standpoint of being competitive in the business and responsible as far as the risk," he said.
Annual Sales
Industrywide, sales for the full year climbed to $141 billion from about $128 billion a year earlier, according to Limra. MetLife and Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential have boosted sales in the U.S. since 2008.
Prudential, which declined a bailout in 2009, jumped to No. 1 among sellers of variable annuities in the U.S. that year. MetLife was the No. 2 seller through the first nine months of 2010, according to Limra data. The trade group hasn't published market-share rankings for the fourth quarter.
"The big guys are getting bigger," said Schwartz. "Some of the small guys have left."
Genworth Financial Inc. said last month that it was ending sales of new retail and group variable annuities and would take a $12 million charge in the first quarter associated with the action. The Richmond, Va.-based mortgage guarantor and life insurer wasn't among the top 20 sellers of variable annuities in the U.S. in the first nine months of 2010, according to Limra.