The annuity industry is struggling to deliver more personalized, digital-first experiences, J.D. Power reported Tuesday. Modernizing engagement in this space could unlock significant growth and elevate the industry’s relevance in today’s client-centric landscape, the report said.
Overall customer satisfaction with individual annuities fell by 6 points year over year on a 1,000-point scale, mainly owing to frustrations among newer clients early in the relationship and challenges with digital channels, according to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. individual annuity study.
“Today’s customers — especially those who are new to annuities — expect a level of clarity and convenience comparable to what they experience in other sectors,” Craig Martin, executive director, global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement.
Martin noted, however, that newer clients’ subpar experiences coupled with ineffective digital tools are leading to frustration. This both threatens customer satisfaction and strains long-term loyalty to the annuity provider and the financial professionals selling these products, he said.
The 2025 study measured the experiences of customers of the largest U.S. individual annuity companies across eight core dimensions: trust, value for price, ability to get service, ease of doing business, people, product offerings, digital channels and problem resolution. The survey was fielded from August 2024 through July 2025 among 4,682 individual annuity customers.
Key Survey Findings
Satisfaction with digital channels declined by 20 points from 2024 and is now the lowest-scoring part of the customer relationship. It was the only dimension to suffer a significant year-over-year decline.
Overall satisfaction among customers who said they have had their annuity policy for less than three years plunged 16 points year over year. The largest declines for this group were in the people and digital channels dimensions.
Customer understanding of key product details fell sharply year over year. Just 44% of customers said they completely understand annuity costs and fees, down from 52%. Those who said they have a complete understanding of annuity contracts declined to 53% from 58% a year earlier.
See the charts below for the annuity providers with the highest and the lowest customer satisfaction ratings.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.