Table of Contents CITIZENS, INC. financial performance. Our international business may also be affected by our ongoing strategic review of our business model and by economic or other events in foreign countries in which our policies are marketed. The following table sets forth our direct premiums by state from our domestic business for the periods indicated. We discontinued new sales of domestic ordinary whole life and endowment life insurance products within our Life Insurance segment in 2017 while we evaluate our domestic life strategy; therefore, the majority of the premium recorded in 2017, 2018 and 2019 is related to renewal business. The increase in premiums in Texas from 2019 to 2018 is due to increased accident and health sales. Net Investment Income. Net investment income increased 12.0% in 2019 compared to 2018 due to continued growth in average invested assets, improvements in cash management, and a strategic focus on increasing portfolio yields in a prudent manner. Despite facing a difficult investment environment in 2019, our strong focus on the execution of our investment strategy to increase yield drove an increase in portfolio yield of 24 basis points in this segment compared to 2018. Both net investment income and portfolio yield were negatively impacted in 2018 by the need to maintain sufficient cash balances to fund our Bermuda novation, as noted previously. See the  Investments  section below for more detailed information on our investments. Years ended December 31, (In thousands, except for %) 2019 2018 2017 State Texas $ 1,994 32.4% $ 1,753 27.8% $ 2,096 30.3% Indiana 1,008 16.4 1,150 18.2 1,198 17.3 Florida 768 12.5 834 13.2 802 11.6 Missouri 395 6.4 414 6.6 444 6.4 Louisiana 270 4.4 272 4.3 260 3.8 Other States 1,719 27.9 1,879 29.9 2,109 30.6 Total premiums $ 6,154 100.0% $ 6,302 100.0% $ 6,909 100.0% Years ended December 31, (In thousands, except for %) 2019 2018 2017 Net investment income $ 44,779 39,985 38,578 Average invested assets, at amortized cost 1,016,055 958,135 890,705 Annualized yield on average invested assets 4.41% 4.17% 4.33% December 31, 2019 | 10-K 40