Third quarter 2025 US pension risk transfer sales fell 32% year over year, but single-premium buy-in sales jumped 328% in the third quarter to $4.3bn, according to LIMRA’s U.S. Group Annuity Risk Transfer Sales Survey.
The buy-in figure is the highest quarterly number ever recorded in the US market. In the third quarter, total PRT new premium, however, was $10.6bn meaning that year to date, total US PRT sales were $21.6bn, down 48% year over year.
“While the jumbo market has been quiet in 2025, we are seeing significant activity with small contracts. More than 80% of the contracts sold this year were less than $50 million, signaling broader market interest in these pension liability mitigation solutions,” said Keith Golembiewski, Assistant Vice President, Head of LIMRA Annuity Research.
“Although this year’s sales will likely remain below the record sales set in 2024, this is a very cyclical market. More carriers have entered the market, which has expanded market capacity and increased opportunities to engage small and mid-sized plan sponsors. This will ultimately boost PRT sales in future years.”
In total, there were 183 contracts sold in the third quarter, 12% lower than the prior year’s results. In the first three quarters of 2025, PRT carriers sold 441 contracts, 18% below the number of contracts sold in the same period of 2024.
Single-premium buy-out sales fell 60% to $5.2bn in the third quarter but were 39% higher than second quarter results. There were 178 buy-out contracts in the third quarter, 12% lower than the third quarter of 2024. YTD, there were 431 buy-out contracts totalling nearly $16bn, representing a 56% sales decline.
There were five single-premium buy-in contracts reported in the third quarter. In the first nine months of 2025, new buy-in premium totalled $4.7bn, up 43%. YTD, U.S. carriers reported 10 buy-in contracts. This is an 11% increase year over year.
Single premium buy-out assets reached $308.6bn in the third quarter, 18% higher than the prior year. Single premium buy-in assets were $10.4bn for the quarter, up 16% from the third quarter of 2024. Combined, total PRT assets totalled $319bn, representing a 7% year-over-year increase.
