Sales of annuities through banks in August returned to June levels, after falling slightly in July, according to the Kehrer-Jackson Monthly Bank Annuity Sales Survey, produced in part by Connecticut-based insurance consultancy Kehrer-LIMRA.

Financial institutions sold $2.9 billion of fixed and variable annuities in August, the report found – up 8 percent over July, but 14 percent short of sales levels reached in August, 2009, when total annuity sales were $3.4 billion.

Bank-sold fixed annuities made a small comeback in August, inching 4 percent over July to $1.6 billion, and 43 percent from the $1.1 billion sold in January. But August sales were still 31 percent below the sales levels of August 2009.

August variable annuity sales of $1.3 billion were up 14 percent over July and 22 percent higher than in August of last year, when variables sales at banks flatlined at $1.1 billion for most of the year, the report concluded.

"Ever since this spring we’ve seen indications that consumers are coming off the sidelines as they grow tired of waiting for annuity rates to rise," said Scott Stathis, Kehrer-LIMRA’s managing director.

Poor rates persisted in August. The report found the spread between the yield on five-year CDs and the average effective yield offered by fixed annuities guaranteed for five years declined to the point of inversion. The difference between the two products fell from 65 basis points in August 2009 to negative 16 points in August 2010 – meaning the yield on fixed annuities over a five-year period was 16 basis points lower than a CD over a comparable term.