Total U.S. annuity sales were $106.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025, level with the record set in first quarter 2024, according to results from LIMRA’s U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey. This quarterly survey represents 85% of the total U.S. annuity market.
“Total annuity sales topped $100 billion for the sixth straight quarter, demonstrating the growing interest in principal protection and guaranteed income continues,” said Bryan Hodgens, senior vice president and head of LIMRA research. “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 and LOMA’s recent announcement to bring the Alliance for Lifetime Income under its umbrella is furthering our commitment to drive awareness about the value of annuities and protected income solutions across the entire value chain, including consumers, financial advisors, and other external audiences. The integration strengthens LIMRA and LOMA’s role in shaping the retirement security conversation and influencing consumer perceptions and industry strategies.”
Hodgens told InsuranceNewsNet that first quarter was “a tale of two months within a quarter.”
“In January, the annuity market started out rather slow,” he said. “Last year, we started to see rates coming down on some of the fixed products, the fixed rate deferred and the fixed indexed annuities, and it was starting to reflect in some of the sales.”
Annuity sales rebounded in February, he said. Then came March – and wild fluctuations in the equity markets. “It was a story of equity volatility and flight to protection and locking in some of these rates that were still there, that still are very attractive, particularly in the fixed products,” he said of annuity sales roaring back in March.
The question going forward is whether annuities will maintain their momentum in the rest of the year.
“I think we’ll continue to see volatility in the equity markets,” Hodgens said. “Interest rates have not come down. We haven’t seen any interest rate cuts this year. Will we see some in the second half of the year? We don’t know. But if we continue to stay in the in the pattern that we’re in today, I think people will continue to look at positioning some of their assets into a protection type product that can give them some growth, participate in the market, get some of these rates locked in. I think we will continue to see some, some good growth this year, because of the volatility in the equity markets and this flight to protection that we’re seeing.”