US annuity sales see sixth straight $100B+ quarter

The market for lifetime income products is continuing to boom, as growth in key categories drove yet another blockbuster quarter to begin 2025, according to LIMRA’s latest individual annuity sales survey.

The data release, which reflects results from carriers accounting for 85% of the domestic annuity market, showed total US annuity sales reaching $106.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025, holding steady with the record high set in the same period last year,

Limra also published its first quarter sales rankings for individual annuity sales, which featured the usual suspects. Athene, which just announced a shakeup in its leadership, led the way with $9.5 billion in sales for the first three months of 2025, followed by New York Life's $8.7 billion haul. Corebridge Financial was a distant third, with a reported $5.8 billion in annuity sales.

With the most recent turnout, collective sales across the annuity spectrum have topped $100 billion for a sixth straight quarter, noted Bryan Hodgens, senior vice president and head of LIMRA research.

"[That demonstrates] the growing interest in principal protection and guaranteed income,” Hodgens said in the LIMRA release Tuesday. “That said, too many consumers and advisors don’t know enough about annuities and how they can help Americans achieve financial security in retirement.”

LIMRA recently unveiled plans to combine the nonprofit Alliance for Lifetime Income into its operations. That integration, expected to close by the end of August, aims to boost education and awareness around the value of protected income.

“The integration strengthens LIMRA and LOMA’s role in shaping the retirement security conversation and influencing consumer perceptions and industry strategies,” Hodgens said.

Among the product categories, fixed-rate deferred annuities (FRDs) continued to play a pivotal role in the fourth quarter, generating $39.7 billion in sales. That figure was up 36% from the prior quarter but down 8% compared with the first quarter of 2024. FRDs comprised nearly 38% of the total market.

“Market volatility in the later part of the quarter caused FRD sales to spike in March,” said Keith Golembiewski, LIMRA’s annuity research director. “The average crediting rate for a three-year FRD product remained nearly 200 basis points above the average CD rate.”

Registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) posted $17.4 billion in sales, a 20% increase year over year. RILAs, together with fixed indexed annuities (FIAs), represented 42% of all annuity sales in the first quarter. A decade ago, those products made up less than 30%, according to Golembiewski.

“Today’s investors have to balance the concerns of economic uncertainty with the need for greater upside investment growth potential,” he said. “RILAs and FIA offer that balanced value proposition.”

Meanwhile, traditional variable annuity (VA) products extended their rebound for a fifth straight quarter, rising 12% to $15.3 billion. LIMRA noted that 90% of the top 20 VA carriers and two-thirds of all VA providers reported gains. Fee-based VA sales rose 21% from a year earlier, in part due to increased adoption within the RIA channel.

Fixed indexed annuities experienced a modest decline of 3%, with quarterly sales of $27.8 billion. However, more than half of the top 20 carriers in that segment still posted growth.

Income annuities saw sharper drops, with single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs) falling 16% to $3 billion, and deferred income annuities (DIAs) sliding 22% to $900 million.

Despite strong overall activity, LIMRA’s research suggests that many pre-retirees remain uncertain about their income outlook in retirement.

“Our research shows just among pre-retirees who don’t own an annuity, only 44% expect to have enough income from lifetime guaranteed income sources… to cover basic living expenses,” the organization noted. “Our industry needs to do a better job of explaining how annuities can provide that guaranteed income and offer financial peace of mind.”