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Executives at KKR, the investment giant that owns Global Atlantic, think the U.S. individual annuity market looked rough in the first quarter but should improve soon.
KKR "continued to see increased levels of competition" in the retail annuity market during the quarter, Robert Lewin, the company's chief financial officer, said during a conference call with securities analysts.
"Given that backdrop, alongside tight spreads on the asset side, we were disciplined around pricing," Lewin said.
But, now that volatility has increased, and the spreads between what Global Atlantic offers annuity buyers and what it can earn on its own investments have widened, "we are starting to see a more attractive entry point," Lewin said.
KKR held the call to go over results for the first quarter.
KKR streamed the call live and posted a recording on its website.
What it means: Retirement savers could have trouble getting the annuity rates and features they want from some annuity issuers.
For advisors, the shift could mean that life and annuity issuers will talk to them more about selling life insurance.
Global Atlantic: Global Atlantic ranked 13th in the U.S. individual market in 2025, with $12 billion in annuity sales, according to LIMRA.
The market: Scott Nuttall, KKR's co-chief executive officer, said he thinks that investment market volatility is already increasing and already starting to improve the sales environment for individual annuities.
The market for employers shopping for the big group annuities used to transfer defined benefit pension plan risk is somewhat less ferocious than the retail annuity market, Nuttall added.
In the medium term, Nuttall said, KKR's ability to originate private credit assets and other alternative assets should help Global Atlantic flourish once investment spreads widen.
Alternative assets might be getting bad press right now, but "it's harder for other people necessarily to be able to generate the returns we think can generate," Nuttall said.
Allison Bell can be reached at allison.bell@arc-network.com.
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