U.S. annuity sales hit a record $464.1 billion in 2025, up 7% from the prior year, according to LIMRA’s U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey.
That growth is tied to what the industry calls Peak 65: roughly 4.1 million Americans turn 65 each year through the late 2020s, and many are entering retirement without a pension. Choosing a carrier matters as much as choosing a product, because an annuity guarantee is only as good as the insurer behind it.
This ranking compares the largest, highest-rated annuity providers on financial strength, product lineup, and sales volume, using AM Best, LIMRA, and Wink’s Sales & Market Report data through the end of 2025.
Key Takeaways
- New York Life and MassMutual are the only two major carriers holding AM Best’s top A++ rating, the highest financial strength grade available.
- Indexed annuities (fixed indexed and registered index-linked) made up 45% of total annuity sales in 2025, up from 24% a decade ago.
- The top 20 annuity companies account for roughly 74% of all fixed annuity sales, so most buyers realistically choose among 10 to 15 well-rated carriers.
How This Ranking Was Built
Financial strength ratings come first. AM Best assigns letter grades from A++ (Superior) down through B and below, based on an insurer’s ability to pay claims over the long term.
Every company on this list carries a rating of A- or better. Sales volume, drawn from LIMRA and Wink data, shows how much capital moves through a carrier and how competitive its pricing tends to be.
Product range and rider design round out the comparison, since a company built for multi-year guaranteed annuities is not automatically the best fit for a lifetime income rider shopper.
Top Annuity Companies at a Glance
| Company | AM Best Rating | Known For | Ownership Structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Life | A++ | Income annuities, dividends | Mutual |
| MassMutual | A++ | Conservative fixed products | Mutual |
| Athene | A+ | MYGA rates, sales volume | Public (Apollo-backed) |
| Allianz Life | A+ | Fixed index annuities | Subsidiary of Allianz SE |
| Pacific Life | A+ | Variable and index annuities | Mutual holding company |
| Nationwide | A+ | Income rider flexibility | Mutual |
| Global Atlantic | A+ | MYGA and FIA rates | Subsidiary of KKR |
| Fidelity & Guaranty Life | A- | Indexed annuity access | Public (F&G Annuities) |
Ratings reflect standard AM Best Financial Strength Ratings as of mid-2026 and can change; buyers should confirm current ratings directly with AM Best before purchasing.
New York Life
New York Life is the largest mutual life insurer in the United States and one of only two carriers on this list rated A++ by AM Best. It has been in business since 1845, and as a mutual company it has no outside shareholders, so profits return to policyholders as dividends.
That structure shows up most clearly in single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs) and deferred income annuities, where New York Life consistently ranks near the top for monthly payout amounts.
Its product menu is narrower than some competitors, and its indexed annuity lineup is smaller than Allianz’s or Athene’s. It suits buyers who want maximum claims-paying confidence while comparing income annuity quotes.
MassMutual
MassMutual shares the A++ rating with New York Life and operates under a similar mutual structure through MassMutual Ascend, its annuity-focused subsidiary. The company has been rated A++ or A+ by AM Best for more than three decades, a run few insurers can match.
MassMutual’s fixed and fixed indexed annuities tend to price conservatively rather than chase the highest headline rate, which fits buyers who weigh safety over yield. Surrender charge schedules and rider fees run plainer than some indexed annuity competitors, making contracts easier to read but offering less upside participation.
Athene
Athene, backed by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, is the largest seller of fixed annuities in the country by most recent counts, with $14.1 billion in fixed annuity sales through the third quarter of 2025 alone. It holds an A+ rating from AM Best.
Athene’s business model relies on spread management and private credit investment, which allows it to post some of the more competitive multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) rates in the market across 3, 5, and 7-year terms.
Buyers should know that Athene’s aggressive rate positioning is a function of scale and investment strategy rather than mutual-company dividend sharing, so it appeals most to shoppers focused purely on rate comparison shopping.
Allianz Life
Allianz Life is a subsidiary of the German insurer Allianz SE and holds an A+ rating from AM Best. It is the top seller of fixed indexed annuities in the U.S. by several measures, and its product design leans into income riders that let buyers capture equity index gains without direct market exposure.
The Allianz Benefit Control annuity, one of its flagship contracts, combines an income rider with multiple index crediting strategy choices.
Cap rates and participation rates on Allianz contracts have stayed competitive through 2025 and into 2026, though buyers comparing MYGA rates specifically may find better numbers at Athene or Global Atlantic.
Pacific Life
Pacific Life operates as a mutual holding company and carries an A+ rating from AM Best. It has a longer history in variable annuities than most carriers on this list, alongside a growing fixed indexed annuity business.
Pacific Life’s index annuity riders tend to run lower on fees than peers offering similar income guarantees, though distribution runs more through financial advisors than direct-to-consumer channels, which can make shopping its products slower.
Nationwide
Nationwide, rated A+ by AM Best, is known less for chasing the top rate on any single product and more for the breadth of its income rider menu.
Buyers can typically choose from several lifetime income rider structures on the same base contract, which suits people still deciding how to structure withdrawals.
Nationwide’s fixed indexed annuity caps and participation rates tend to sit in the middle of the pack, a tradeoff for the added flexibility.
Global Atlantic
Global Atlantic, owned by KKR since 2021, holds an A+ AM Best rating and has become one of the more aggressive MYGA and FIA rate setters in the market.
Its scale has grown quickly since the KKR acquisition, and it now competes directly with Athene for rate-focused shoppers. Because its market presence is more recent than New York Life’s or MassMutual’s, buyers weighing very long time horizons may want to look at its ratings trend over the past five years rather than a single snapshot.
Fidelity & Guaranty Life
F&G, rated A- by AM Best, built its business around indexed annuity access for buyers working with independent agents rather than large wirehouse advisors.
The rating sits a notch below the others here, still within the threshold most financial professionals recommend, but buyers prioritizing maximum financial strength on very large premiums may prefer an A+ or A++ carrier.
What the 2025 Sales Data Shows
LIMRA’s full-year 2025 survey, covering roughly 93% of the U.S. annuity market, points to a few clear shifts worth factoring into any carrier comparison.
- Registered index-linked annuity (RILA) sales rose 20% year over year to $79.5 billion, ten times the volume recorded a decade earlier and the eleventh straight year of growth for the category.
- Fixed indexed annuity sales grew roughly 12% to about $116 billion for the year, a category record.
- Multi-year guaranteed annuity sales held near $116 billion despite rates easing off their 2023 peaks.
- Total annuity sales have roughly doubled since 2020, when full-year sales stood at $231 billion.
That shift toward indexed products changes what “best” means for a lot of shoppers. A company that dominates traditional fixed annuities is not necessarily the strongest choice for someone who wants equity-linked growth with downside protection, which is why the carriers above are grouped by specialty rather than a single overall score.
Choosing Among Top-Rated Carriers
Rate comparison matters, but it should come after financial strength, not before it. A MYGA paying an extra quarter point from a lower-rated carrier is rarely worth the tradeoff on a contract meant to last a decade or more.
Buyers should also check the Comdex score where available, a composite ranking built from multiple rating agencies (AM Best, S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch) on a 1 to 100 scale, since it smooths out differences in how individual agencies grade the same company.
State guaranty association coverage limits are worth checking too, since they vary by state and cap how much protection applies if a carrier fails, though carrier failure among A-rated insurers is rare.
Conclusion
New York Life and MassMutual lead on pure financial strength, while Athene, Allianz Life, and Global Atlantic lead on rate competitiveness and product innovation.
The right carrier depends on whether the priority is claims-paying certainty, income flexibility, or the highest available rate on a specific contract term.