Standard & Poor’s gives Western & Southern Financial an AA+ rating, putting it in the top 10 life insurance companies, according to The Business Courier of Cincinnati, Ohio. Western-Southern is on track to set a record for their increasing annuity sales this year. If their first quarter fixed and variable annuity sales keep stride, they will have an increase of 26% from 2008. And 2008’s sales were up 59% from 2007, so another large increase is fantastic. Their CEO John Barrett said “our strong annuity sales are a direct result of the ongoing flight to quality.” LIMRA International, an association of life insurance and financial firms, says that Western-Southern is one of the top suppliers of individual annuities.