LIMRA predicts strong life and annuity sales for the rest of 2026

Life insurance and annuity sales hit records in 2025 and there’s every indication that those products will continue to see strong growth through the end of this year.

LIMRA researchers gave their predictions for life insurance and annuity sales during a recent LinkedIn Live event.

New annualized life insurance premium growth is expected in every product line except for fixed universal life, said Karen Terry, LIMRA corporate vice president and director of insurance research.

Indexed universal life saw a bit of a slowdown in growth in second quarter, although sales are still up, she said. IUL saw strong sales in second and third quarters of 2025, she said, and she predicted sales growth of between 8% and 12% by the end of 2026. IUL premium softened over the past two months – it’s not yet a trend yet but worth watching.

The final expense boom is still going strong, Terry said, with final expense driving the majority of whole life growth in the first quarter.

Growth in variable universal life premium is still being moved by private placement, but growth is showing up outside private placement as well, she said.

“Whole life and term are more attractive in times like these, but we’re seeing strength in IUL and products where people are seeking higher returns,” she said. “I think it’s great the consumers are still investing in our products during times of volatility.”

In addition to premium growth, policy count continues to rise, Terry said. “We went through decades with no policy growth, but since 2022, we are seeing an increase in policy growth every quarter.”

The annuity industry ‘humming along’

The annuity industry “is humming along,” with 10 straight quarters of sales topping $100 billion, said Keith Golembiewski, LIMRA assistant vice president and director of annuity research.

Preliminary figures show that annuity sales will see another record quarter in Q2, with record-setting sales expected for registered index-linked annuities.

“We do well in times of volatility and uncertainty because annuities can provide some certainty for our clients,” he said.

Looking back at the first quarter of 2026, Golembiewski said annuity sales are coming off of strong tailwinds. Of the last 25 quarters, 17 was positive performance of the S&P 500.

Looking at the rest of 2026

IUL sales trends will be a focus of predictions for the remainder of 2026, Terry said.
“We’re going to look at IUL to see if the second quarter slowdown continues but we don’t think it will,” she said.

Continued strong growth in the final expense and accumulation markets also will be a focus in the second half of the year, she said.

Researchers will pay attention to interest rates and the overall economy to see what impacts they will have on life insurance sales, Terry said.

“It’s like trying to predict the weather; there’s a lot of volatility out there.”

On the annuity side, Golembiewski said, “We're confident we’re going to get to the $450 billion range in sales.”

“There are a lot of variables out there. But we have a cushion from an annuity standpoint. Historically, our rates today are higher than a decade ago. So even if rates come down, we have some cushion there.”

Even if equity markets are more bearish in the second half of 2026, “our products deliver downside protection,” Golembiewski said. “We have the ability to sell these products and offer that protection.”

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].