BRAINTREE, Mass., May 1, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was off slightly in March, down -0.7% year-over-year, according to the HUMIB Life Index(SM). At the close of the first quarter, U.S. and Canadian application activity was off -1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. March application activity was up +1.5% over the prior February.

U.S. application activity was off -0.8% in March year-over-year, all ages combined. The 0-44 age group was off -3.0%, while ages 45-59 were flat (+0.1%) and ages 60+ jumped +9.8% over prior March. The age 60+ group has shown steady growth for the last twelve months consecutively. At the close of the first quarter, U.S. application activity was off -2.1% for all ages combined.

After exhibiting near double digit growth over the past three months, Canadian application activity in March was flat (+0.2%) year-over-year, all ages combined. The 0-44 age group was up a modest +1.3%, while ages 45-59 and ages 60+ were off by -0.4% and -5.0%, respectively year-over-year. March results broke an eleven month growth trend for application activity ages 45-59, and a three month double digit jump in activity ages 0-44. At the close of the first quarter, Canadian application activity was up +5.9%, all ages combined.

Monthly Percent Change vs. 2007*

	U.S.	Canada	Total
March 2008	-0.8%	+0.2%	-0.7%
February 2008	-4.8%	+9.5%	-3.2%
Q1 - 2008	-2.1%	+5.9%	-1.2%

Monthly Percent Change vs. Previous Month*

	U.S.	Canada	Total
March 2008	+2.0%	-2.6%	+1.5%

* February, March and YTD (Q1) 2008 percentages have been adjusted to reflect a Canadian reporting anomaly for the period January-June 2007.

About the MIB Life Index
The MIB Life Index is the life insurance industry's timeliest measure of application activity across the U.S. and Canada. Released to the media each month, the Index is based on the number of searches life member company underwriters perform on the MIB Checking Service database. Since the vast majority of individually underwritten life premium dollars in North America include an MIB search as a routine underwriting requirement, the MIB Life Index provides a reasonable means to estimate new business activity. For past releases and email subscription visit http://www.mib.com/lifeindex.

About MIB Group, Inc.

MIB Group, Inc. is the premier provider of Internet-based information and knowledge services to the risk management market in North America and is a leading facilitator of electronic insurance commerce. MIB Group, Inc. companies include MIB, Inc. and MIB Solutions, Inc. (http://www.mib.com).

Contact:
David O. Aronson
MIB Group, Inc.
781-751-6330
aronson@mib.com

SOURCE MIB Group, Inc.

URL: http://www.mib.com

http://www.mib.com/lifeindex

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