LIMRA: Single premium pension risk transfer sales jump 132% in Q4 of 2025

New premium for single-premium products — both buy-out and buy-in contracts — surged 132% in the fourth quarter to $28 billion, according to LIMRA’s U.S. Group Annuity Risk Transfer Sales Survey.

Fourth-quarter buy-out sales totaled $15.3 billion, representing a 32% year-over-year increase; buy-in sales reached a record-breaking $12.7 billion, significantly higher than the $12.1 billion reported in the fourth quarter of 2024. In terms of contracts, there were 252 buy-out contracts, a 1% drop from the fourth quarter of 2024, and seven buy-in contracts, representing a 600% increase from the prior year.

“Buy-ins played an outsized role this year as many plan sponsors navigated elevated market and balance sheet volatility. In an environment of economic uncertainty, buy ins offered a more flexible, lower commitment path to de risking: they allowed sponsors to transfer asset and longevity risk to an insurer while maintaining plan administration and keeping liabilities on the balance sheet,” said Keith Golembiewski, assistant vice president and head of LIMRA Annuity Research. “In 2025, we saw more plan sponsors seek buy-in contracts to lock in rates and start the multiyear process of plan termination. This trend reflects both the maturity of the PRT market and the evolving ways sponsors are managing risk in today’s environment.”

For the year, new single-premium buy-out sales fell to $31.3 billion, 35% below 2024 sales. There were 683 buy-out contracts sold in 2025, 13% lower than in 2024.

In 2025, new buy-in premium totaled $17.5 billion, up 372% from 2024 sales. U.S. carriers reported 17 buy-in contracts in 2025, representing a 70% increase from the previous year.

More than 740,000 defined benefit plan participants were covered by a PRT transaction during the year.

Single premium buy-out assets reached $326 billion in 2025, 10% higher than in 2024. Single premium buy-in assets were $16.1 billion for the year, up 120% year over year. Combined, total single-premium PRT assets were $342.1 billion, representing a 13% increase over 2024 results.

“Increasingly, smaller and mid-sized plan sponsors are looking to mitigate their pension liability risk and turning to pension risk transfer solutions,” noted Golembiewski. “2025 marks the third strongest year in U.S. PRT history and nearly two-thirds (63%) of these sales came from contracts less than $1 billion.”

A group annuity risk transfer product, such as a pension buy-out product, allows an employer to transfer all or a portion of its pension liability to an insurer. In doing so, an employer can remove the liability from its balance sheet and reduce the volatility of the funded status.

This survey represents 100% of the U.S. pension risk transfer market. Breakouts of pension buy-out sales by quarter and pension buy-in sales by quarter since 2020 are available in the LIMRA Fact Tank.