Demand for retirement income products is accelerating, and Jackson Financial Inc. is posting record numbers to prove it. The Lansing, Michigan-based annuity provider reported retail annuity sales of $5.9 billion in the second quarter of 2026, a 34% jump from the same period last year, led by a record quarter for registered index-linked annuities.
RILA sales hit $2.3 billion in Q2 2026, up 69% from Q2 2025 and the highest single-quarter total in the company's history. Fixed and fixed index annuity sales reached $812 million, up 73% from the prior-year quarter, driven by demand for the Jackson Income Assurance FIA. Variable annuity sales came in at $2.7 billion, up 8% year-over-year, a far more modest pace than the RILA and FIA lines.
That gap between RILA/FIA growth and VA growth isn't just a sales statistic - it reflects where advisors are actually steering client conversations right now, and it's worth understanding why. RILAs sit structurally between a variable annuity and a fixed index annuity: they offer market-index-linked growth potential, typically with a cap or participation rate limiting the upside, paired with a buffer or floor that limits how much of a market decline the client actually absorbs. A buffer means the insurer absorbs losses up to a set percentage before the client bears anything beyond it; a floor caps the client's maximum loss outright, regardless of how far the index falls. A variable annuity, by contrast, lets a client invest directly in subaccounts with no such downside limit, carrying the highest risk of the three main annuity categories but also the highest theoretical upside.
For clients nearing retirement specifically, that difference matters because of sequence-of-returns risk, the danger that a market downturn in the years immediately before or after retirement can permanently impair a portfolio's ability to recover, since withdrawals continue regardless of market conditions. A RILA's buffer or floor is designed directly to blunt that risk during the years it matters most, which is a large part of why RILA demand has outpaced variable annuity demand as more advisors position it for clients within roughly five to ten years of retirement.
That said, RILAs and VAs aren't interchangeable, and any recommendation has to be documented against the same standard. Under the SEC's Regulation Best Interest, broker-dealers and their representatives must recommend the product that's actually in a client's best interest, and that standard can't be satisfied through disclosure alone, meaning the buffer/floor mechanics, cap rates, and surrender terms of a specific RILA product need to be matched explicitly to a client's own risk tolerance and time horizon, not simply offered as the currently more popular option.
Jackson's record quarter lands against a backdrop of industry-wide annuity sales growth. LIMRA projected RILA sales to exceed $85 billion in 2026, following a 20% jump to $79.6 billion in 2025 that extended an 11-year growth streak. Q2 2026 also set a new quarterly high for total US annuity sales at $123.9 billion.
Jackson reported adjusted operating earnings of $513 million for the quarter, a record $7.30 per diluted share, up from $350 million, or $4.87 per diluted share, in Q2 2025. President and chief executive officer Laura Prieskorn said the results showed the strength of the company's distribution reach and the momentum in its spread business.
"Our second quarter results reflect the growing strength and diversification of our business," Prieskorn said. "We delivered record earnings per share and 34% growth in retail annuity sales compared to the same period last year."
For advisors recommending Jackson products to clients, the company's capital position offers supporting context for that best-interest documentation. Jackson National Life Insurance Company reported a risk-based capital ratio of 538% as of June 30, well above the regulatory minimum, with total adjusted capital of $5.8 billion. The holding company posted free cash flow of $287 million for the quarter and returned $290 million to common shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.
PPM America, Inc., Jackson's asset management subsidiary, reported assets under management of $101.1 billion as of June 30, up 21% from the same period in 2025. That growth was driven by spread product sales, including RILA and FIA, along with expansion of PPM's third-party business.
Advisors with active carrier relationships at Jackson should note a leadership change disclosed in a separate release earlier this week. Prieskorn has announced plans to retire at the end of 2026, with Don Cummings, executive vice president and chief financial officer, set to succeed her as president and CEO on October 1. Brian Walta will step into the CFO role on the same date.
Cummings has served as CFO through the company's period of strong spread product growth and would take over as annuity sales volume reaches record levels. Jackson said the transition plan was designed to ensure continuity in its distribution and annuity strategy.
Jackson currently supports distribution through more than 130,000 financial professionals across the US. The company's product lineup includes variable annuities, RILAs, and fixed index annuities, with a focus on the retirement income and accumulation market.
