Booming sales, big challenges bolsters attendance at LIMRA annual

LIMRA members are gathered outside Dallas this week for the association’s annual meeting, with attendance expected to reach its highest level since 1966.

This reflects both the industry's strength and opportunities, as well as the significant challenges it faces.

Life insurance and annuity sales are both at or near record highs, while sales of workplace benefits’ products are nearly setting records as well, noted David Levenson, president and CEO of LIMRA and LOMA, in a pre-conference interview with InsuranceNewsNet.

"The backdrop of the industry is very strong in terms of reaching more and more consumers, which is really good to see," he added. "People are getting more and more comfortable [with artificial intelligence], which drives efficiency and new and innovative ways to reach consumers that didn't really exist five years ago."

With his annual state of the industry talk to kick off the conference, Levenson compared the United States of 1976 with the country in 2026 to illustrate how dramatically the potential customer base has changed over the past 50 years.

Challenges abound

Business is good, but the demographic changes driving that opportunity also should force insurers and advisers to rethink how they develop products, market to consumers and reach an increasingly diverse population, Levenson said.

The combination of higher interest rates, expanding use of artificial intelligence, the approaching peak of the intergenerational wealth transfer, abundant industry capital and favorable demographics gives the industry a historically healthy environment.

The challenge is making sure the industry takes advantage of the opportunity, the LIMRA CEO said.

About 4,800 Americans turned 65 each day in 1976. Today, that figure is about 11,400, Levenson said. The number of Americans eligible for Medicare also has nearly tripled, from about 23 million in 1976 to roughly 66 million today.

Life expectancy at age 65 has increased significantly as well. For men, it rose from 13.8 years in 1976 to 18.4 years in 2026, an increase of more than 40%.

Those changes have direct implications for an industry built around mortality protection, retirement income and employee benefits.

“Over the next 20 years, we'll see close to $100 trillion dollars move from one generation to another generation,” Levenson said. “That will fuel demand for products within the financial services arena.”

What can life insurers do?

Levenson challenged industry leaders to think beyond the immediate sales cycle and consider what the demographic changes mean for products, marketing and consumer outreach.

“Because the environment has changed, because the demographics have changed, what can and should our industry be doing to improve our products, to improve our marketing, to improve our reach?” he said.

Levenson also highlighted the changing racial and ethnic composition of the country.

In 1976, about 84% of the U.S. population was white and 4% was Hispanic, he noted. In 2026, the comparable figures are about 56% and 20%, respectively. The Asian population has grown from less than 1% to more than 6%.

Insurers and advisors cannot rely indefinitely on assumptions about what their customers, advisers or successful marketing strategies looked like decades ago.

“If you had views of what success looked like 10, 20, 30 years ago, my point is, just continue to freshen that up,” Levenson said.

For an industry experiencing record or near-record sales, Levenson's message is straightforward: Take advantage of the current environment.

The combination of demographics and economic conditions is creating opportunities to reach consumers who need retirement income, life insurance and workplace benefits.

The number of Americans reaching age 65 remains elevated even after the demographic peak in 2025. More than 11,400 Americans turned 65 on the peak day in 2025, with the daily figure dipping slightly in 2026, Levenson said.

That demographic wave is expected to sustain demand for protected retirement income and annuities.

Higher interest rates also have improved the backdrop for insurers, while the industry's growing pool of capital provides additional resources for investment and product development.

Artificial intelligence adds another potential source of efficiency, allowing companies to explore ways of reaching consumers and operating their businesses that were not widely available five years ago.

Taken together, those forces create what Levenson sees as a rare combination of favorable conditions.

“There are different ways to reach different audiences, and you've got to understand how audiences are changing,” Levenson concluded.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.