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RILAs Continue Their Wild Ride
Registered index-linked annuities have been a driving force behind record setting annuity sales. By Ben Mattlin
SINCE THEIR INCEPTION IN 2010, SALES OF REGIStered index-linked annuities, commonly called RILAs, have been nothing short of phenomenal. In the first half of this year, for example, RILA sales surged 20 % year-over-year to $ 37 billion, as measured by LIMRA, the Windsor, Conn.-based research organization, and were a driving force behind the total U. S. annuity market’ s record-setting $ 223 billion in sales over that six-month period.
The“ growth trajectory” for RILAs should remain strong, at least in the short term, says Keith Golembiewski, LIMRA’ s director of annuity research.“ We’ ll see a few more insurance companies enter the RILA space, [ and ] RILAs will be available across more broker-dealer firms,” he explains.
RILAs are a type of variable annuity— meaning that they hold assets in mutual-fund-like subaccounts, the value of which can fluctuate. But unlike traditional variable annuities, RILAs are“ buffered,” allowing account holders to preset the maximum and minimum returns. So, for instance, if the cap is 15 % and the floor is 5 %, then for any month in which the underlying investment rises 20 %, the RILA owner will get only 15 % of that gain. But if the underlying investment happens to fall 20 %, the owner loses only 5 % of the account value.
“ What makes RILAs especially interesting is the different ways to risk on, or off, a portfolio,” says David Blanchett, head of retire-
SEPTEMBER 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 47