Institutional Distributor Annuity Market Summary Q1 2026

The first quarter of Institutional Distributor annuity sales experienced a shift away from

 the fixed annuity segment to the registered annuity segment. Despite the geopolitical uncertainty and declines in the equity markets in Q1, investors seemed to be unphased and strong growth in both traditional VA products and registered index-linked (RILA) products drove the Composite Group annuity market sales up.

This becomes more interesting as we see interest rates that were on the rise in March. With the Federal Open Market Committee deciding to hold interest rates in March, we saw the three-, five-, and ten-year treasury rates increase between 25 and 42 basis points during the month, creating continued favorable economic conditions for annuity products.

First quarter Composite Group annuity sales increased 5 percent driven on the strong sales results for RILA, Traditional VA and Fixed Indexed annuities. This begs the question: Is this the start of the shift in annuity sales?

Given the strong fixed-rate deferred annuity sales in the past 5 years, we have seen the patterns of seasonality shifts. Typically, January & February tend to be slower months as investors focus more on their holiday time with their families than making investment decisions. While this pattern of seasonality has broken in the past few years given the significant amount of money flowing into the annuity market, it appears we may be back to a more normal pattern of seasonality in annuity sales in 2026.

The shift may be starting for fixed-rate deferred annuities. While fixed-rate deferred sales remain strong, they have declined 7 percent from Q1 2025. Competitive rates for fixed-rate deferred products continued to be north of 5 percent yet given the fact that the Composite Group market share of fixed-rate deferred annuity sales has declined by 5 percentage points is a clear indicator that investors and advisors are looking to take on more risk for more upside potential.

RILA sales continued to shine in the first quarter. Interest rates and market volatility are providing strong economic conditions for attractive pricing, and investors are taking advantage. RILA sales now account for nearly a quarter of all annuity sales within our Composite Group, and all channels saw growth of 20 percent or more. For the first quarter, RILA sales are up a strong 22 percent.

Traditional VA sales also experienced strong growth, with sales increasing 16 percent for the first quarter, again signaling that investors are seeking higher potential returns. All distribution channels experienced traditional VA sales growth in the first quarter.

Fixed indexed annuity products sit in the fulcrum point of annuity products, providing principal protection and growth potential. FIA sales increased 10 percent in Q1, a sign that a subset of investors is seeking the balance of growth potential and principal protection. FIA sales are up significantly in the banks, a sign that investors who may have been in fixed-rate deferred annuities are looking for more growth potential.

Finally, there has been no significant change in the path of income annuities in our Composite Group. Sales continued to decline as the flexibility of guaranteed living benefits in other annuity product lines continues to win out vs. maximum income potential. 

About the Data

The data used for this summary comes from the Saltzman Associates Institutional Distributor Annuity Sales Report.

Our Institutional Distributor Annuity Sales Report is a benchmarking tool that allows subscribers to quickly follow changes and trends in the sales mix of annuities across individual firms within participating Wirehouses, National and Regional Broker Dealers, Independent Broker Dealers, Bank and Credit Union Broker Dealers, and Third- Party investment programs serving smaller financial institutions.

The Composite Group in our annuity benchmarking program covers a subset of 32 bank and broker-dealer (BD) firms within the institutional distribution channel.  These firms contribute their sales data across product and compensation types and receive a consolidated sales benchmarking report each month.

Each report allows the subscriber to see changes and trends across a variety of views, including:

• Written commentary summarizing the high-level trends across the Composite Group's results for the period and year-to-date.

• Monthly, quarterly, and year-to-date annuity sales growth at the product type, channel and firm level.

• Various metrics, including product mix, growth rates, and annuity compensation type (advisory or brokerage).

• Fifteen-month sales history by product class and type for the Composite Group, channels and individual firms.

• Users can sort and filter results by firm, channel, product type, and compensation type to tailor the data presented.

To learn more about our Institutional Distributor Annuity Sales Report, please visit https://www.saltzmanassociates.com/research.

About Us

About Saltzman Associates

Saltzman Associates is a strategic marketing consultancy providing consulting services and

solutions to institutional distributors and underwriters of investment and insurance

products.

We work with banks, credit unions, broker-dealers, RIAs, investment banks, insurance

companies and related financial services companies to provide services including market

intelligence, business development, marketing, and product development. Whether the

need is information-based consulting, due diligence, or identifying new opportunities, we

can help you identify the most profitable strategies, resources, and programs.

https://www.saltzmanassociates.com

About Todd Giesing

As Vice President at Saltzman Associates, Giesing focuses on business development,

partnerships, and strategic growth initiatives for the firm. Giesing also serves as a co-moderator and content creator for the very popular series of Saltzman Associates

Roundtables. Todd will provide consulting services, oversee the firm’s annuity

benchmarking studies, and lead various research projects.

As a respected thought leader in the industry, Todd has overseen U.S. and Canadian annuity

benchmarking programs, U.S. and Canadian annuity forecasting programs, and numerous

annuity-related research projects. Todd has also been a frequent speaker at industry

events. An accounting graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, Giesing has also

served as a financial advisor and annuity wholesaler.

About the Institutional Distributor Annuity Sales Report

The Saltzman Associates Institutional Distributor Annuity Sales Report is a benchmarking

tool that allows subscribers to quickly follow changes and trends in sales mix of annuities

across individual firms within participating Wirehouses, National and Regional Broker

Dealers, Independent Broker Dealers, Bank and Credit Union Broker Dealers, and Third-

Party investment programs serving smaller financial institutions.

Learn More at https://www.saltzmanassociates.com/research.

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