The annuities marketplace is banking on continued investment from private equity to keep up with product demand, as US annuity sales increased 8 percent year-over-year to a record $119.2 billion in the second quarter, according to LIMRA.
LIMRA’s data also shows total US annuity sales nearly doubled from $219 billion in 2020 to $434 billion in 2024, and reached a record $223 billion in the first half of 2025. The trade association hosted a webinar in September, titled, “What Will It Take to Double Annuity Sales Over the Next 5 Years?” hosted by LIMRA’s SVP and head of research Bryan Hodgens.
“Over the last several years, there’s been a lot of capital in the market,” Hodgens tells InvestmentNews. “A lot of private equity money that’s come into the insurance industry − the use of reinsurance to be able to offload some of the liabilities of these products and free up more capital for deployment for the insurer − that’s got to continue, that availability of capital in order for us to continue to grow.”
Some main financial backers of the annuities industry share growing ownership ties with American’s biggest sports franchises. For example, Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter, who purchased the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers for a league record $10 billion, also owns annuity product providers Delaware Life and Gainbridge via his Group 1001 insurance holding company.