A Record-breaking Year for Annuity Sales Via Banks and BDs
In 2025, favorable economic conditions, along with aging demographics and more advisors selling annuities, led to record-breaking individual annuity sales in 2025. Banks and broker-dealers did especially well, a new survey finds.
Higher interest rates allowed insurance companies to offer attractive crediting rates on accumulation products and payout rates on guaranteed income products, a major factor in sales.
According to Saltzman Associates’ inaugural annuity market year in review, which looked at institutional distribution, nearly all product lines experienced growth, with registered index-linked annuities seeing the largest growth rate in 2025 at 17%.
LIMRA’s Retail Annuity Sales Survey, which represents 92% of the U.S. market, shows total U.S. annuity sales marked a new record in 2025 – increasing 6% to $461.3 billion. LIMRA data reveals that RILA sales also set new annual sales records in 2025, increasing 20% year over year to $79.6 billion.
The Salzman report is based on data from 32 banks and broker-dealers, representing nearly $90 billion in annuity premium in 2025. This review focuses on annuity distribution channels across banks, independent broker-dealers, regional and national broker-dealers, as well as wirehouses.