Third-quarter annuity sales across most categories of the industry were down from year-ago levels, according to Wink’s Sales & Market Report, an annuity market intelligence source based in Des Moines. Total third quarter sales for all deferred annuities were $59.8 billion, a decrease of 7.1% when compared to the second quarter, and an increase of 10.4% when compared to the same period last year. Total deferred annuities include the variable annuity, structured annuity, indexed annuity, traditional fixed annuity and multi-year guarantee annuity (MYGA) product lines. Looked at individually, each of those market subsectors’ year-over-year sales declined, with the exception of indexed annuity sales. At $17.3 billion, indexed annuities were up 4.0% when compared to the previous quarter, and 25.6% higher when compared with the same period last year. Among indexed annuity carriers, Allianz Life was the No. 1 seller of indexed annuities, with a market share of 13.3% in the quarter. Athene USA maintained the second-ranked position, while AIG, Fidelity & Guaranty Life and Sammons Financial Cos. rounded out the top five carriers in the market, respectively.