Annuities sold in financial institutions climbed 22 percent to $10 billion in the first quarter thanks to a spike in fixed production, according to a recent survey from Kehrer-LIMRA.

Fixed annuities rose 18 percent in the first quarter compared to the same time last year and 45 percent over the fourth quarter 2010.

"January is usually a difficult month to sell annuities so when we saw that fixed sales in January were actually higher than December, we knew we were headed for some solid increases in the first quarter," said Janet Cappelletti, associate research director at Kehrer-LIMRA. "Once IRA season hits, people start putting assets into products that offer tax deferral. And with more bank CDs maturing in the spring, the first quarter is a prime time for annuity sales."

Bank-sold variable annuity (VA) sales rose 31 percent from the first quarter 2010 and were about even with the prior quarter. First quarter sales of $4.7 billion represented a two-year high.

"What’s impressive is that March of 2011 was the strongest month we’ve seen for VA sales in almost four years. What’s more impressive is that we have not seen fixed and variable annuity sales move up this strongly in tandem since March of 2006," said Scott Stathis, managing director of Kehrer-LIMRA.

In the first quarter, mutual fund sales were at their lowest level since the third quarter of 2009. Banks sold $13.6 billion in mutual funds, which was a 7 percent decrease from the previous quarter.