Is $100 billion the new normal for quarterly annuity sales?

Ten consecutive quarters of $100 billion-plus sales.

That all-but-confirmed milestone, achieved quietly at the start of 2026, speaks to how Americans are thinking about retirement – and how their advisors are responding.

Total US annuity sales reached $104.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to preliminary results from LIMRA's U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey. While it's a 2% dip from the same period a year earlier, it's still the tenth straight quarter the market has cleared the $100 billion mark.

The data, which represent approximately 87% of the total U.S. annuity market, suggests that demand for protected income has become structural rather than driven by any single interest rate environment.

"Although first quarter sales were slightly below prior year's results, the threshold for annuity sales appears to be stabilized above $100 billion, highlighting the continued interest in principal protection and guaranteed income," said Bryan Hodgens, senior vice president and head of LIMRA research.

"At a time when consumers registered significant economic concerns and market volatility was at its highest in a year, demand for registered indexed-linked and income annuities grew as investors sought greater protected growth opportunity and the ability to lock in guaranteed retirement income."

RILAs race ahead

The standout performer was the registered index-linked annuity, which posted its second-best sales quarter on record. RILA sales jumped 21% year over year to $21.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, extending a streak of year-over-year growth that now spans 30 consecutive quarters.

"This product has tremendous tailwinds," said Keith Golembiewski, assistant vice president and head of LIMRA Annuity Research, pointing to continuing developments in RILA products and riders, as well as the continued expansion in carriers and distribution channels. "As more pre-retirees need to create future guaranteed income in retirement, RILAs are an attractive solution."

Read more: Survey reveals generation gaps in retirement, with a reality check for pre-retirees

The RILA's continued ascent – with LIMRA forecasting full-year sales this year to exceed the record set in 2025 – appears to be cannibalizing the fixed index annuities business. FIA sales slipped 4% year over year to $26.6 billion in the first quarter, according to the data from LIMRA.

Golembiewski attributed the decline directly to the shift in carrier and distributor interest toward RILAs, noting that while both products offer principal protection and growth potential, RILAs carry higher upside participation, which matters in a stock market that's spent much of the past year scaling new heights.

Income annuities hold firm

At the other end of the spectrum, income annuities continued to benefit from the relatively stable interest rate environment that has persisted amid repeated holds by the Federal Reserve. Single premium immediate annuity sales jumped 22% to $3.7 billion in the first quarter, while deferred income annuity sales rose 6% year over year to $1 billion.

The income annuity numbers reflect a client conversation that financial advisors across the country are navigating – one that goes beyond rates and products to the fundamental question of what clients actually want when they ask for income. In the spring 2026 pulse survey by InspereX, 59% of financial professionals said clients seeking income are primarily prioritizing stable, predictable cash flow. Just 13% cited principal preservation and 12% the highest yield possible.

That preference for certainty is showing up in advisor behavior. In the InspereX survey, 54% of advisors said they expect to moderately or significantly increase their use of protection-oriented strategies in client portfolios for the remainder of the year. Only 19% said they planned no changes.

Structured products and annuities converge

The InspereX data offers a window into how the annuity trend intersects with the broader shift toward protection-focused investing. The survey found that 88% of respondents are already incorporating structured products into their practices, with structured products ranking as the top asset class advisors plan to add for income generation in the remainder of the year, followed by dividend-paying stocks and indexed annuities.

Advisors cited multiple reasons for using protection strategies: 71% said they do so to provide peace of mind, 67% to reduce or eliminate client risk exposure, and 64% to deliver growth alongside protection. When those strategies are introduced during volatile markets, the most common outcome – reported by 39% of advisors – is that assets that would have moved to cash instead remain invested.

Read more: Understanding the behavioral benefits of annuities

Across much of the advisor industry, keeping clients invested through turbulence is an article of faith, and the tools to do that are expanding in ways that are reshaping practice management.

"Market volatility once fueled anxiety between advisors and clients," said Chris Mee, managing director and head of WMS Wholesaled Distribution at InspereX. "Today's expanded toolkit helps advisors position portfolios to endure uncertainty – keeping clients more confident and calmer."

Fixed-rate products lose ground

Not all corners of the annuity market benefited from the current environment. Total fixed-rate deferred annuity sales fell 16% to $34 billion in the first quarter, as clients pivoted toward products with more equity-linked upside. FRDs still represented roughly a third of the total annuity market, maintaining their position as the single largest product category by volume.

Traditional variable annuities bucked the trend, rising 9% year over year to $16.1 billion – the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth – despite market volatility that might have been expected to weigh on the category. Those gains suggest that some clients remain willing to accept market exposure in full as long as they see enough of a potential upside.