IMPACT: Life Insurance Bolsters State, Residents, Businesses: LICONY Commissions Report: Life Industry's Economic Contributions to New York State Booming.

The Life Insurance Council of New York received a report prepared by Ernst & Young titled "New York life insurance industry size, economic contributions and recent trends".

"The report we received today illustrates that New York's life insurance companies are an economic pillar of New York," said Mary A. Griffin, President and CEO of LICONY. "The state's life industry offers valuable protections, invests in infrastructure and is a major employer. Despite these contributions, some of the data shows a lack of growth in the industry in the last 15 years. We urge policymakers to work with New York's life industry to foster new growth and help us offer valuable life products in ways that appeal to the modern consumer."

JOB CREATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

The report shows that the life industry directly employs over 72,000 people in the state including over 32,000 at life insurance carriers and over 40,000 at life insurance agencies.

In 2016, the life insurance industry supported state and local tax payments of over $3.4 billion. The industry's direct contribution consisted of sales and excise, individual income, property, and other taxes paid by its employees, as well as several taxes and fees paid.

The New York life insurance industry is also a prominent source of investment for New York businesses, real estate, and other activities. In 2016, life insurance company investments in New York totaled $482 billion. The majority of this investment ($388 billion) was in stocks and bonds.

PROTECTING NEW YORK FAMILIES

The report also outlines the valuable protection life insurance companies offer New Yorkers. Data concludes that:

* 8.2 million New Yorkers have a life insurance policy in-force

* The face value of all life insurance policies in-force in the state was over $32 trillion (2017)

* New York life insurance beneficiaries received over $6.7 billion--averaging $26 million per business day--in 2017

WORRISOME TRENDS

Even with these significant protections for New York families and contributions to the state economy the report also revealed some worrisome trends. The report examined select data from 2000 - 2017 and found:

The total numbers of in-force policies owned by individuals is down 14 percent since 2003

Total life insurance industry employment (carriers plus agents) fell 11.5% between 2000 and 2016 - compared to 9.8% nationally.

"With defined benefit pension plans and personal savings on the decline, New Yorkers need life and annuity products now more than ever," said Mary Griffin. "Fostering growth in the life industry will help more New Yorkers prepare for retirement and get the coverage they need to financially protect themselves and their loved ones."

This report presents information on the size of the life insurance industry in New York, the industry's economic and tax contributions made to the state economy, and recent industry trends. Information is presented on industry employment, wages, number of insurers, and life insurance policies owned by New York residents. Industry employment, wages, and insurers in New York are compared to a set of ten states that include:

* California

* Connecticut

* Florida

* Illinois

* Iowa

* Massachusetts

* Ohio

* Pennsylvania

* Texas

* Virginia

These states include seven of the largest states in terms of premiums written for life insurance policies, plus three states with sizeable insurance industries as a share of private, non-government, industry employment (Connecticut, Iowa and Virginia).

The life insurance industry consists of two segments:

1. Life insurance carriers that are primarily engaged in underwriting (assuming risk and charging premiums) of policies.

2. Insurance agencies and individual agents that are primarily engaged in the selling of life insurance policies.

Key findings

Key findings from the analysis include:

Importance of the life insurance industry to New York State

* In 2017, 86 companies were domiciled in New York. Of the peer states, New York had the second highest number of domiciled life insurers (only Texas had more with 102).

* Total life insurance industry employment, including life insurance carrier employees and agents, was 72,847 in 2016 (most recent data available). See Table ES-1 on page ii.

** Based on US Census Bureau data, there were 32,298 employees at life insurance carriers in New York in 2016--more than any of the peer states. New York's share of US life insurance carrier employment was 8.8% in 2016. Life insurance carrier employment comprised 0.39% of all private employment in New York in 2016, which was above the US average of 0.29%.

** Employment at New York insurance agencies that sell life insurance was estimated to be 40,549 in 2016. This includes employees at insurance agencies as well as individual agents that sell life insurance.

* The analysis estimates that average compensation (wages plus benefits) for employees of the life insurance industry was $163,146 in 2016. See Table ES-1 on page ii.

** Average compensation of life insurance carrier employees was $192,870, which included $128,403 in salary and wages and $64,467 in benefits (or 33% of total...