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The financial lives of Americans have never been more complex, and complexity is precisely why integration matters.

“Careers, compensation, benefits, taxes, and protection decisions all shape a client’s financial future simultaneously, yet most advisory models still treat them as separate conversations,” said Andrew W. Jefferys, national vice president, wealth management solutions at OneDigital.

What we’ve seen in the workplace — as employee benefits and retirement planning conversations converge at the employee level — is that wealth doesn’t form from investments alone. It forms through decisions.

When income, insurance, and investments are addressed in silos, advisors risk optimizing one dimension while inadvertently undermining another, planning experts say.

A client can have a well-performing portfolio and still face catastrophic exposure because protection was never coordinated with the plan.

“The advisors who will matter most to clients going forward are the ones who stop treating these as separate disciplines and start owning the full financial picture,” Jefferys explained.

What’s driving this shift?

Two things have converged to fundamentally change the advisor-client dynamic.

“The first is what I’d call the collapse of information asymmetry,” Jeffreys said. “This industry was built on advisors being the experts in the room. Clients trusted you precisely because they didn’t have access to what you had. AI has changed that.”

Clients are showing up to first meetings having already researched their options, run their own scenarios, and stress-tested assumptions. The knowledge gap that once defined the advisor’s value proposition has narrowed dramatically.

The second is the nature of what clients are actually navigating. Complexity has become the baseline. Careers, compensation, benefits, taxes, and protection decisions are converging simultaneously, and macro forces are compounding that.

Guaranteed pension income is largely gone, Social Security timing has become a meaningful planning decision, and longevity risk is real.

Clients are making high-stakes choices across all of these at once, and they’re no longer willing to compartmentalize those decisions across multiple advisors or conversations. They want someone who can see the full picture and coordinate across it.

Why advisors must look at the full picture

Financial decisions (and their consequences) don’t operate in isolation. When protection is added on top of a financial plan rather than integrated into it, it becomes a cost rather than a strategic asset.

When investment decisions are disconnected from planning goals, portfolios may perform well on paper but fail to support real financial outcomes.

It’s essential to evaluate risk across a client’s entire balance sheet, including assets, income, liabilities, obligations, and goals, because that’s the only way to identify exposure holistically.

After all, an insurance recommendation informed by a client’s investment strategy, tax situation, and long-term plan is a fundamentally different recommendation than one made in a vacuum. The numbers change, the coverage changes, and ultimately the outcome for that client changes.

“When you treat a client’s financial life as a system, you stop solving for individual products and start solving for the person,” Jeffreys said.

How to shift to holistic planning

Advisors who see their role as helping clients navigate the decisions that create wealth — not just managing the assets that result from them — naturally operate in a more integrated way.

“That perspective reshapes every recommendation you make,” Jeffreys explained.

Integration requires both process and infrastructure. On the process side, advisors benefit from a planning framework that starts with a client’s full financial picture — goals, timeline, risk tolerance, income sources, and protection gaps — before any product or strategy recommendation is made.

That sequencing matters. Planning leads and everything else follows.

On the infrastructure side, advisors need access to credentialed specialists across financial planning, investment management, and risk strategy — and those specialists need to work together, not independently.

Technology plays a role, too, particularly tools that allow advisors to model scenarios across all three dimensions simultaneously, so clients can see how changes in income, protection, or investment strategy ripple across their full plan.

The advisors who make the greatest impact understand that retirement confidence does not come from any single product or strategy.

“It comes from alignment,” said Mike Perry, head of client solutions and wealth management at Guardian. “When income, insurance, and investments are coordinated around how people actually live and spend, planning becomes less about uncertainty and more about clarity and confidence over the long term.”

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Life insurers continue to record strong earnings and stronger annuity sales in 2026.

Several industry leaders reported first-quarter financials on Wednesday and Thursday, led by Prudential Financial, Jackson Financial, and Lincoln Financial.

Here is a roundup of those calls:

Prudential Financial earnings

Prudential posted stronger first-quarter earnings Wednesday, driven by solid insurance and retirement performance, even as the insurer continued to grapple with fallout from compliance problems in Japan.

CEO Andy Sullivan said the company is seeing “tangible evidence of stronger execution” across the enterprise despite the unexpected disruption in Japan.

The insurer recently announced that Prudential of Japan is not ready to resume sales after a 90-day ban following widespread misconduct. Prudential extended the sales moratorium for another 180 days, for a total financial impact of about $1 billion.

POJ announced actions to address the misconduct, including measures to reimburse impacted customers, restructure employee incentive compensation, and strengthen oversight of sales practices, governance, and risk management. The plans also include enhanced education, training and recruitment standards for POJ employees.

The Japan market is “unique,” Sullivan said, with “specialized access to teachers and the service defense forces across Japan and literally is in every geography across Japan with 7,000 agents.”

Prudential’s U.S. businesses generated about $1 billion in pretax adjusted operating income, up 3% year over year. Retirement earnings climbed 9% to more than $570 million, helped by strong spread income and continued momentum in retail annuities and pension risk transfer deals.

Group insurance earnings fell sharply, however, to $38 million from $89 million a year earlier. Executives cited higher disability claims incidence and severity tied to macroeconomic uncertainty, partially offset by favorable mortality trends in group life insurance.

Individual life earnings more than doubled to $139 million, aided by improved mortality experience and higher spread income.

International operations remained under pressure from the ongoing Prudential of Japan sales suspension. International pretax adjusted operating income slipped 4% to $810 million as the company absorbed roughly $130 million in costs tied to customer reimbursements, life planner compensation and lost sales.

Jackson Financial earnings

Jackson Financial reported strong first-quarter insurance results as growth in spread-based products and registered index-linked annuities offset market volatility and weaker fee income.

President and CEO Laura Prieskorn said the company benefited from strong demand for retirement income and protection products, particularly its registered index-linked annuities and fixed indexed annuities.

Retail annuity sales increased 31% from a year earlier to $5.3 billion. RILA sales rose 68% to $2 billion, while fixed and fixed indexed annuity sales jumped to $756 million from $174 million a year earlier.

Jackson said spread-based products accounted for 52% of total sales during the quarter, reflecting its ongoing effort to diversify beyond traditional variable annuities. The company said nearly 40% of account values now come from spread-based and investment-only variable annuity products.

Variable annuity sales (excluding certain internal exchanges) of $2.5 billion were down 6% from the first quarter of 2025, primarily reflecting lower sales of products with lifetime benefits.

Chief Financial Officer Don Cummings said the insurer’s investment portfolio remains conservatively positioned despite increased allocations to higher-yielding assets through its partnership with TPG.

“We continue to maintain our disciplined investment approach,” Prieskorn said.

Jackson maintained its full-year 2026 target of at least $1.2 billion in free capital generation and projected capital returns to shareholders of $900 million to $1.1 billion.

Lincoln Financial earnings

Lincoln Financial reported strong first-quarter earnings growth as improvements in its insurance businesses and disciplined capital management continued to bolster results.

The company said adjusted operating income rose 16% from a year earlier, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. President and CEO Ellen Cooper said the results reflected years of efforts to strengthen the balance sheet, improve efficiency and shift toward products with steadier cash flows and lower market sensitivity.

“Lincoln has a differentiated set of competitive advantages,” Cooper said, “a diversified franchise across four businesses, each at a different stage of its realignment toward our financial and strategic objectives, a deep distribution platform that we are actively expanding and optimizing, and capabilities tailored to each of the markets we serve.”

Insurance operations were a key driver of performance. Group protection earnings climbed 11% to $112 million, helped by favorable underwriting results in group life insurance and continued margin expansion. The business posted an 8% margin, up 60 basis points from a year ago.

Lincoln’s life insurance segment also improved sharply, generating $41 million in operating income compared with a $16 million loss a year earlier. Sales rose more than 30% to $129 million, fueled by growth in core life products and executive benefits.

Demand was especially strong for accumulation-focused and limited-guarantee products, areas the company has prioritized in recent years, Cooper said.

Chief Financial Officer Christopher Neczypor said favorable mortality trends and strong alternative investment returns also supported results.

Annuity earnings slipped modestly to $275 million as Lincoln continued repositioning the business toward spread-based products such as fixed indexed annuities. Retirement plan services earnings increased 26%.

By The Numbers: Prudential

• Operating Income: $1.6 billion ($1.5 billion in Q1 2025)
• Net Income: $597 million ($707 million in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: $1.68 per share ($1.96 in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: $250 million in Q1 2026
• Dividend Declared: $496 million in Q1 2026
• Stock Price Movement: Shares dipped slightly at midday Thursday to $99.58

By The Numbers: Jackson

• Operating Earnings: $361 million ($376 million Q1 2025)
• Net Income: -$435 million (-$35 million in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: -$6.24 per share (-0.48 in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: $192 million in Q1 2026
• Dividend Declared: $65 million in Q1 2026
• Stock Price Movement: Shares declined about 1.8% as of midday Thursday to $112.79

By The Numbers: Lincoln

• Total Revenue: $5.3 billion ($4.7 billion in Q1 2025)
• Net Income: -$211 million (-$756 million in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: -$1.10 per diluted share (-$4.41 in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: None
• Dividend Declared: $0.45 per share
• Stock Price Movement: Shares down 3.3% to $36.39 on midday Thursday

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America’s health care affordability crisis is driven by unchecked health care consolidation, particularly among hospitals, according to a report released by Families USA.

The report contended that this consolidation “gives major health care corporations the ability to set high and irrational prices with no accountability or improvement in health outcomes or health care quality.

“With few truly competitive hospital markets left in the country, most of our nation’s families get their care through large corporate hospital systems that charge nearly three times more for hospital care than what Medicare pays for the same services,” the report continued. “These corporate health systems are charging excessive prices and raking in tens of millions of dollars each year, while patients and families struggle to pay their medical bills.”

Families USA analyzed financial data and commercial insurance prices from more than 2,800 hospitals across 49 states and the District of Columbia from 2018 to 2023, and concluded that ”unchecked hospital consolidation and high hospital prices are a major driver of unaffordable health care across the United States, leading to substantial profits and operating margins for some of the largest corporate health systems in the country.

“These findings suggest that corporate hospital chains often plead poverty to avoid accountability for their high and irrational prices, even as their own self-reported data indicates that they are generating millions of dollars in profits.”

A handful of systems control most healthcare

The report found that a handful of corporate hospital systems in each state now control most of American hospital care. In 42 states and the District of Columbia, five or fewer health systems in each state controlled at least half of all hospital care in 2023. In nearly half of all states, just three systems controlled the majority of care that year. This level of consolidation gives major hospitals the ability to set prices with no meaningful competition or accountability, the report said.

The biggest health care systems earned the most, according to the report. Individual hospitals owned by a health system generated nearly 10 times more in annual net income ($27.7 million) than independent hospitals not owned by a health system ($3.0 million). Rural independent hospitals generated the lowest average net income ($2.3 million).

But nonprofit hospitals can charge high prices too, the report found. Despite their tax-exempt status granted on the premise that they provide community benefit, nonprofit hospitals charged nearly as much as for-profit hospitals (276% of the Medicare rate versus 297% of the Medicare rate, respectively) and brought in nearly as much in annual net income ($24 million versus $26.8 million, respectively), offering consumers no better protection from price gouging.

The biggest differentiator is whether a hospital is independent. The report found that independent hospitals — hospitals not owned or affiliated with a health system — charged a much lower average commercial price of 221% of the Medicare rate and generated an average of $3 million in annual net income per hospital, a fraction of what system-owned hospitals collected.

What Congress can do

Families USA called on Congress to take the following actions to lower health care costs and hold hospitals accountable for charging excessive healthcare prices.

• Enact site-neutral paymentsso the same care costs the same everywhere.
• Mandate full price transparencyacross hospitals and health plans.
• Ban anticompetitive practicesbetween hospital systems and insurers.
• Strengthen oversight of nonprofit hospitalsto ensure real community benefit.
• Limit hospital prices or hospital price growth relative to Medicare benchmarks.

The Families USA report comes on the heels of a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in which committee chairman, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo, told hospital system CEOs that hospital consolidation and mergers “are fueling the borderline extortionary prices hospitals charge patients.”

He blamed hospital consolidation and mergers as one factor leading to high healthcare costs.

Families USA, in its report, said, “Excessive hospital pricing is a systemic problem, but it is solvable.

“Congress has clear tools available, including increasing price transparency, strengthening oversight of consolidation, and curbing anticompetitive and abusive pricing practices to bring prices closer to reasonable benchmarks. Lowering hospital prices would reduce costs for families and employers and improve access to care. The question is not whether solutions exist but whether there is the political will to act.”

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As life insurers toast another quarter of strong sales, executives are also eyeing the elephant in the room: a looming Equitable-Corebridge powerhouse.

The blockbuster merger, expected to close by the end of 2026, came up during multiple calls this week with Wall Street analysts. Corebridge ($27.4 billion) and Equitable ($23.3 billion) combined for more than $50 billion in 2025 annuity sales, with Corebridge finishing third and Equitable fourth in LIMRA’s final sales rankings.

Not surprisingly, competitors stressed their own strengths and scale in the market. Ellen Cooper, president and CEO of Lincoln Financial Group, recalled the decision, made two years ago, to sell Osaic, Lincoln’s wealth management business.

“That was a business for us that we didn’t have scale,” Cooper said Thursday morning. “Scale is clearly a factor, and we have scale in our businesses. We know that we have a real competitive advantage as it relates to our distribution and proven track record of pivoting, and we’re doing that all across the platform.”

During a Wednesday analyst call, Jackson Financial chief financial officer Don Cummings highlighted the steps the insurer has taken in recent years to strengthen and streamline the business. Jackson is “well-positioned” to compete with the new Equitable, he added.

“We already have a pretty comprehensive product suite, and we also happen to have one of the largest distribution forces in our space,” Cummings said. “Our wholesaler group has been quite effective over the last several years, and we’re expanding this year.”

‘Irrational competition’

Also on Wednesday, Apollo Global Management briefed analysts on quarterly results, with subsidiary Athene once again taking center stage after leading LIMRA’s annuity sales rankings for a third consecutive year and continuing to deliver a major share of Apollo’s earnings.

Apollo CEO Marc Rowan said the industry is seeing some “irrational competition,” or annuity competitors “putting business on the books at ridiculously low spreads.”

Annuity sellers will often enter the market by undercutting established insurers with attractive rates. Cooper said Lincoln is seeing the practice as well.

“We know that there are certain pockets of the annuity product segments where it’s a pure price competition play,” she said. “One of those examples at the moment is multi-year guaranteed annuities, and we see pockets of this. There are pockets of this on the registered index-linked annuities side as well.”

Both Rowan and Cooper said their companies are selling annuities responsibly with the bigger picture in mind.

“We are not focused on top-line growth,” Cooper said. “We are focused on balancing growth with profitability, with capital efficiency as we continue to grow here, and we’re leveraging the strength of our distribution franchise to pivot across products.”

Critics contend that private equity-backed insurers such as Athene are leaning too heavily into higher-yielding, riskier assets such as private credit — potentially exposing policyholder funds to greater risk. Rowan pushed back on that narrative once again.

“What we are doing is totally transparent; no guesswork is required,” Rowan said. “I don’t know of any other insurer or any other financial institution that puts out the kind of data that we do, whether it is liability data or granular data on our asset portfolio.”

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Two shifts in care are bringing more people to hospital outpatient departments, and these hospital departments are more expensive than independent physician offices for the same service.

That was part of a report from Christine Monahan, assistant research professor at Georgetown University, who presented her findings to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Health Care Affordability and Mitigation (B) Working Group.

While hospital inpatient usage has increased since 2000, hospital outpatient usage went up by 31% between 2000 and 2023, she said. At the same time, the percentage of U.S. physicians employed by hospitals and health systems rose from nearly 47% in 2019 to more than 55% in 2024.

“Split billing,” or “provider-based billing,” at hospital outpatient departments means separate charges from the hospital and the physician, resulting in higher total spending, she said. Average spending on primary care office visits is $116 for a physician’s office but increases to $217 for a visit to a hospital outpatient department, with $114 of that going to the facility component of the bill.

Split billing happens in both the Medicare and the commercial markets, Monahan said, but price differences between hospital outpatient departments and independent physician offices vary more significantly and are much higher overall in the commercial market due to market forces.

The consequences of increased use of hospital outpatient departments include more vertical integration, higher total spending, greater consumer out-of-pocket exposure, consumer surprises and potential access problems, the report said.

Monahan said states have enacted a variety of reforms in the commercial market, including:

• Facility fee billing bans
• Patient billing protections
• Billing transparency
• Public reporting requirements
• Consumer notification requirements

The report made the following recommendations:

• Examine horizontal or vertical integration in health care, including using medical loss ratio data. Study facility fee billing and site of services diffentials, their relationship with vertical integration, and the role reform can play in limiting or mitigating consumer harm from vertical integration.
• Adopt reference-based pricing. Consider commercial site-neutral payment reform proposals, which may use Medicare or other public fee schedules as a benchmark.
• Enhance price transparency. Examine billing transparency laws, public reporting requirements and consumer disclosure rules for outpatient facility fees across the states.

Group will look at state options to reduce costs

The working group will draft a series of briefs on state options for reducing health insurance costs. The briefs will cover the following options:

• Standardize or limit utilization review to reduce administrative costs.
• Examine horizontal or vertical integration in health care, including using medical loss ratio data.
• Develop state-defined plans with premium reduction targets.
• Adopt reference-based pricing.
• Enhance price transparency.
• Assess direct-to-consumer drug platforms’ interaction with insurance and affordability impacts.

The working group will have outlines of each of these drafts by the end of June.

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Genworth Financial continues to grow its CareScout brand while doubling down on efforts to proactively manage its mispriced long-term care insurance blocks.

The insurer reported first-quarter earnings Wednesday and held a conference call with Wall Street analysts. CEO Tom McInerney said Genworth will now report consolidated adjusted operating income excluding its closed block of legacy long-term care, life and annuity products — a move executives said better reflects the underlying performance of its ongoing insurance operations.

“Our closed block of legacy insurance products is separate from other business lines and self-sustaining,” McInerney explained. “The quarter-to-quarter gap volatility does not reflect the underlying economics or how the business is strategically positioned for the long term.”

For the first quarter, Genworth reported net income of $47 million and adjusted operating income of $109 million, excluding the closed block. Results were driven largely by strong performance at mortgage insurance subsidiary Enact Holdings, which generated $140 million in adjusted operating income.

From an insurance perspective, Genworth’s results underscore the continued importance of diversified earnings streams, particularly as legacy long-term care exposures remain a drag on reported results.

Enact continues to serve as the company’s primary earnings engine, benefiting from disciplined underwriting, strong persistency and a solid capital position. Executives said the mortgage insurer remains well positioned despite macroeconomic uncertainty, including interest rate volatility and housing market pressures.

An LTC journey

Genworth continues to actively manage its closed block of LTC insurance — a segment that has posed challenges across the industry due to adverse claims experience, longevity trends and pricing mismatches.

Since 2012, Genworth has received about $34.5 billion worth of benefit reductions and premium increases, said Jerome T. Upton, executive vice president and chief financial officer. These actions have reduced exposure to high-risk policy features, including rich inflation riders and lifetime benefits.

“We continue to proactively manage and reduce LTC risk and improve self-sustainability through prudent in-force management, including benefit reductions and premium rate increases,” Upton said. “We offer a suite of options to help policyholders manage premium increases while maintaining meaningful coverage.”

The company reiterated that the block is self-sustaining and will not require additional capital injections.

Expected 2026 premium approvals and benefit reductions will remain broadly in line with 2025 levels, contributing roughly $1 billion in economic value, executives said.

CareScout evolves

A key strategic priority for Genworth — and a notable development from an industry standpoint — is the buildout of its CareScout platform, which aims to integrate insurance with aging services.

Genworth is positioning CareScout as a hybrid model combining long-term care insurance, care coordination and provider matching. The platform is designed to address growing demand from an aging U.S. population, particularly as traditional LTC insurance penetration remains low.

Genworth said its CareScout Quality Network now covers approximately 97% of Americans aged 65 and older and is expanding beyond home care into senior living communities. The company expects to facilitate about 7,500 care matches in 2026, up from 3,255 in 2025.

“By the end of 2026, we anticipate having more than 1,000 home care locations and approximately 2,000 senior living communities as part of the CareScout Quality Network,” McInerney said.

Executives also highlighted opportunities to partner with other insurers managing LTC blocks, potentially creating a broader ecosystem and new fee-based revenue streams.

From an insurance industry perspective, the model reflects a broader shift toward integrating care delivery and financing — a trend gaining traction as insurers look to better manage claims costs and improve customer engagement.

Genworth continues to balance shareholder returns with investment in growth initiatives. The company repurchased $66 million in shares during the quarter and expects to allocate up to $225 million for buybacks in 2026.

At the same time, it plans to invest up to $55 million this year to scale CareScout’s services business.

Quarterly Highlights

• Net investment income, net of taxes, was $605 million in the quarter, down from $620 million in the prior quarter and up from $584 million in the prior year primarily from changes in limited partnership income.
• Mortality in LTC and life insurance closed blocks increased sequentially with seasonal trends, but was lower than the prior year.
• Genworth holding company cash and liquid assets of $166 million at the end of the quarter.

By The Numbers

• Total Revenue: $1.78 billion ($1.79 billion in Q1 2025)
• Net Income: $47 million ($54 million in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: 28 cents per share (27 cents in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: $66 million in Q1 2026
• Dividend Declared: None
• Stock Price Movement: Shares rose 2.7% to $9.12

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CVS Health reported strong first-quarter results Wednesday, with its insurance business, anchored by Aetna, showing meaningful improvement.

The healthcare giant posted adjusted operating income of $5.2 billion and earnings per share of $2.57, both up double digits from a year earlier. Revenue topped $100 billion, increasing more than 6%, driven by growth across all business segments.

Executives pointed to the performance of the healthcare benefits segment — which includes Aetna — as a key driver. Adjusted operating income in the unit rose to about $3 billion, reflecting improved medical cost management and favorable prior-year development. The medical benefit ratio came in at 84.6%, better than expected.

“Across CVS. Health, our teams remain focused on what matters most, improving affordability, reducing friction and delivering a more connected and seamless healthcare experience,” said David Joyner, chairman and CEO.

CVS said it remains on track to restore margins in its Medicare Advantage business, an area that has faced industrywide pressure from elevated medical costs and insufficient rate increases. The company reiterated confidence in reaching target margins by 2028, emphasizing a strategy focused on disciplined pricing and prioritizing profitability over growth.

Membership trends reflected ongoing strategic shifts. The company exited the individual exchange business, contributing to a sequential decline in total membership, though this was partially offset by gains in commercial enrollment.

CVS executives stressed that medical cost trends remain elevated, continuing to pressure the Medicare Advantage market. Still, they said recent rate updates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signal incremental progress toward sustainability.

After initially announcing a flat rates in Medicare Advantage for 2027, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a 2.48% average payment increase.

“At least the last couple of years the rates have not been supportive of the elevated medical trends,” Joyner said. “I think our team has proven in two consecutive years that we’ve been able to manage prioritizing margin over growth.”

Beyond Medicare Advantage, CVS highlighted strength in its commercial insurance business, citing solid retention, new business wins and disciplined pricing. The company said it is investing in care navigation, provider partnerships and technology tools to improve member engagement and reduce total cost of care.

Tennessee bill: ‘Going to raise costs’

Executives sharply criticized Tennessee legislation to limit pharmacy benefit managers such as CVS Caremark. The FAIR Rx Act, passed in April 2026, targets PBMs by prohibiting them from owning or controlling pharmacies to curb anti-competitive practices, such as unfair reimbursement rates. The legislation, which limits vertical integration, faces potential legal challenges.

“They really put politics and political interest over things that are much more rational,” said Prem Shah, executive vice president and group president of CVS Health. “The reality is the legislation’s going to raise costs for the state. It’s going to threaten access to pharmacies, which we already know there are challenges with some pharmacy deserts in specific parts.”

For 2026, CVS raised its adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $7.30 to $7.50 per share, up from its previous forecast. The company also increased its expectations for cash flow from operations to at least $9.5 billion.

On GLP-1s, Joyner noted that only about half of CVS clients cover use of the drugs specifically for weight loss. The high cost of GLP-1s, often exceeding $1,000 per patient per month, has become a major driver of medical cost trends.

“We still have a lot of clients that are actually discontinuing coverage for the obesity products of GLP-1s,” Joyner said. “This is where you ask the question, ‘How important is it?’ I think we actually have one of the most robust and or holistic solutions to GLP-1s because we’ve built an extensive and compelling direct-to-consumer solution for patients.”

Quarterly Highlights

• Aetna streamlined its prior authorization reform: standardizing data requirements for 88% of prior authorization volume, approving more than 95% of eligible prior authorizations within 24 hours, and processing 83% of prior authorizations in real time.
• CVS Health announced Health100, which will use Google Cloud’s AI technologies to deliver “a fully integrated health care engagement platform to provide a connected, proactive and personalized experience.”
• Medical membership totaled 26 million at the end of Q1, a decrease of about 600,000 members compared with Dec. 31, reflecting the company’s exit of the individual exchange business.
• Prescriptions filled increased 3.6% on a 30-day equivalent basis compared to the prior year, primarily driven by the company’s Rite Aid prescription file acquisitions.

By The Numbers

• Total Revenue: $100.4 billion ($94.6 billion in Q1 2025)
• Net Income: $2.96 billion ($1.78 billion in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: $2.57 per share ($2.25 in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: None
• Dividend Declared: $0.665 per share
• Stock Price Movement: Shares rose more than 6% by midday Wednesday to $85.55

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WINDSOR, Conn., May 6, 2026 —Total U.S. individual life insurance new annualized premium plus excess jumped 10% year over year to $4.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to LIMRA’s preliminary U.S. Life Insurance Sales Survey.

The total number of policies sold also improved 9% in the first quarter.

“Following record sales in 2025, the individual life insurance market performance remained strong, posting double-digit premium growth in the first quarter. Every product line except fixed UL marked positive gains in premium and all product lines experienced policy sales growth,” said Sean Grindall, senior vice president and chief member relations and solutions officer, LIMRA and LOMA. “Although a third of consumers are very/extremely worried about their individual finances and a majority are very/extremely concerned about the economy in general, demand for life insurance has not waned. It is important that we continue to leverage digital advances to make it easier for today’s consumer to learn about and buy the life insurance they need to protect their loved ones.”

Indexed universal life

First quarter of 2026 indexed universal life (IUL) new annualized premium plus excess was $1.1 billion, 14% higher than results from prior year. Policy count increased 8% year over year. Six of the top 10 IUL carriers reported double-digit growth. IUL represented 25% of the total new annualized premium plus excess in the first quarter.

Variable universal life

Variable universal life (VUL) new annualized premium plus excess increased 12% in the first quarter to $729 million. The majority of VUL carriers reported gains with nearly half reporting double-digit growth. Policy count rose 4% compared with first quarter of 2025. VUL premium held 16% of the total U.S. life insurance market in the first quarter.

Whole life

Whole life new annualized premium plus excess totaled $1.6 billion in the first quarter, up 9% from prior year’s result. The number of whole life policies sold increased 13% in the first quarter, compared with first quarter of 2025. Whole life remains the dominant product in the U.S. market, representing 36% of the total new annualized premium plus excess sold in the first quarter.

“Final expense continued to be the main driver of WL growth,” said Karen Terry, corporate vice president and head of LIMRA Insurance Research. “While distribution capacity continues to increase in the final expense and instant/express market, many traditional WL carriers are seeing flat to negative growth, as recent success in the equity markets push many toward products more market related growth potential.”

Term life

Term new annualized premium plus excess rose 9% in the first quarter to $788 million in the first quarter of 2026. Policy count grew 5% for the quarter. Growth likely reflects continued digital platform and underwriting expansion, improved agent productivity and product enhancements. In the first quarter, term new annualized premium plus excess held a 18% share of the total U.S. individual life insurance market.

Fixed universal life

For the sixth consecutive quarter, fixed universal life (fixed UL) new premium fell. In the first quarter of 2026, fixed UL new annualized premium plus excess was $221 million, down 6% year over year. The number of policies sold, however, improved 5% from first quarter 2025 results, as four in 10 fixed UL carriers reported double-digit policy sales growth. Fixed UL new premium market share was 5%.

For more details on the sales results, go to Preliminary First Quarter 2026 U.S. Life Insurance Industry Estimates in LIMRA’s Fact Tank.

LIMRA’s Retail Individual Life Insurance Sales Survey represents 85% of the U.S. life insurance market. Since 1921, the U.S. life insurance industry has relied on LIMRA’s benchmark sales study for accurate data and trending insights.

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Advisors expect that 54% of clients will receive ongoing comprehensive planning advice by 2027, up from the current 48%, according to the latest Cerulli Edge—U.S. Advisor Edition.

A comprehensive financial plan covers a client’s entire financial situation, explained Noah Serianni, research analyst at Cerulli Associates. Examples of comprehensive financial services include retirement income planning, tax planning, estate planning and education funding, among others. “These services are important to clients because they now expect more than just basic investment management from their advisor, and they want an advisor who can serve their full financial life,” he said.

Factors driving the change

What might be some of the reasons for this change?

“Investment management is commoditized, causing advisors to expand their financial planning capabilities to further differentiate themselves,” said Serianni. “High-net-worth investors are particularly interested in advanced planning services, such as estate and tax planning. Advisors are increasingly offering these services, either in-house or by outsourcing, to move upmarket and grow their practice organically,” he said

Benefits of offering comprehensive financial planning

What are some of the most important benefits of comprehensive planning services for advisors? Serianni pointed out that Cerulli’s survey of financial advisors revealed the top-reported benefits of providing comprehensive financial services include stronger client relationships, increased client referrals and increased client retention. Respondents also cited the importance of the “technology stack.”

Technology plays a major role in allowing advisors to effectively scale their financial planning services as they grow their business, Serianni said. This is important to the end investor as well, as robust platforms are increasingly valued by investors.

“Technology is a critical part of financial planning, particularly when engaging younger retail investors who are used to, and highly value, the easy-to-use online brokerage platforms on which they may have accumulated their assets,” Serianni added. However, he pointed out that technology can also pose difficulties for advisors — 58% reported that their financial planning technology lacks key features, functionality or integrations.

Retail investors represent a fast-growing segment, and financial advisors of all sizes would be wise to segment and expand their capabilities to match the growing expectations of these investors for comprehensive, technology-enabled financial advice, Serianni said.

Another fast-growing segment

Another group that is growing quickly consists of consumers who are low- and moderate-income investors.  According to a survey by The BlackRock Foundation and Commonwealth, more than 54% of Americans living on low and moderate incomes (household incomes ranging from $30,000 to $79,999 annually) are currently retail investors in the capital markets. And among this group, more than half are new investors who began investing within the past five years.

The survey said that more than one-third of investors living on low and moderate incomes who have entered the capital markets in the last five years plan to invest long-term, for at least 11 more years. Eighty percent of this cohort also plan to continue investing for at least three years or more. Individual stocks are the most commonly held assets by newer investors. More than one-third of them hold exchange-traded funds and 34% have mutual funds. This distribution highlights an opportunity to strengthen investor education on diversification practices, the survey revealed.

In addition, newer investors are primarily driven by long-term goals. When asked to identify their current investment goals, of which they could select more than one, the most chosen goals were: retirement (37%), money for the future (35%), reducing financial stress (27%), and more money for their children/family (27%). And 79% of newer investors are both investing in retail markets and saving for retirement.

Challenges encountered

What are some of the challenges faced by this group? More than one-third reported pausing investing at some point, according to the survey. Uncertainty about what to invest in is the top reported challenge for respondents who are newer investors. Other reported challenges include concerns about risk, slow portfolio growth, and balancing investing with monthly and emergency expenses.

This recent surge in participation among low- and moderate-income investors marks a pivotal opportunity, the survey said. Millions of consumers who did not previously participate in financial markets have stepped in — and they’re doing so with long-term goals in mind.

The survey, which examined retail investments outside tax-advantaged retirement 2020 accounts, was conducted in January 2025 with more than 2,750 respondents, all of whom are individuals from households on low and moderate incomes ranging from $30,000 to $79,999 annually.

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Even as Equitable Holdings and Corebridge Financial reported separate first-quarter results Tuesday, analysts focused largely on what lies ahead for the two companies as a powerful combined entity.

Corebridge and Equitable announced a March merger to form a $22 billion entity, a deal expected to close by year-end 2026. The partnership of two top-five annuity sellers comes with the potential to dominate the annuity and retirement market.

The new company will keep the Equitable name, with CEO Mark Pearson calling the merger a pivotal moment in the company’s 166-year history. The new powerhouse Equitable will deliver broader retirement, insurance and asset management offerings to more than 12 million customers, he told Wall Street analysts.

Pearson emphasized that the merger with Corebridge is designed to accelerate growth by combining complementary strengths across retirement products, life insurance, wealth management and asset management.

“We knew that Equitable would need to become more diversified over time in order to fully participate in the growing U.S. retirement market,” he explained. “Combining with Corebridge makes us a top three provider of fixed and indexed annuities and expands our institutional capabilities, notably in pension risk transfer.”

The combined company is expected to manage approximately $1.5 trillion in assets and generate more than $4 billion in annual cash flow. Executives project at least $500 million in expense synergies and more than 10% earnings accretion on a run-rate basis by 2028.

Chief Financial Officer Robin Raju said the merged entity will benefit from a stronger and more diversified earnings mix, with balanced contributions from fee-based and spread-based income.

“We will have a more diversified business mix with equal contribution from fee and spread based earnings,” Raju said. “This should help us generate more consistent earnings in different market environments.”

‘We are stronger together’

The company also highlighted the role of AllianceBernstein, its asset management arm, which is expected to receive at least $100 billion in additional assets from the merger over the next several years. AllianceBernstein currently manages $85 billion in private markets assets and is targeting up to $100 billion by 2027.

In the first quarter, AllianceBernstein reported net outflows of $7.1 billion, primarily in active equities and fixed income, though private markets and private wealth segments saw positive inflows.

Equitable’s retirement business posted strong sales growth, with total sales rising 10% year over year and net inflows reaching $1.3 billion. Wealth management also performed well, generating $2 billion in advisory net inflows over the past 12 months.

The company posted non-GAAP operating earnings of $1.62 per share, or $1.68 per share after adjustments, up 25% from a year earlier. Growth was driven by higher assets under management, improved mortality experience and a lower share count. Total assets under management reached $1.1 trillion, a 9% increase year over year.

Pearson said integration planning is already underway, with the “top 50 or so” leaders from both companies working to confirm synergies and operational alignment.

“We are stronger together in terms of our product breadth, in terms of our distribution, in terms of the scale,” he said.

The transaction is expected to close following regulatory approvals and a shareholder vote, with additional financial details to be disclosed as integration progresses.

Corebridge report

Executives at Corebridge Financial said the company is advancing toward its planned merger while posting first-quarter results that showed steady underlying growth and ongoing capital returns to shareholders.

The company said it has completed most required regulatory filings and expects to file its Form S-4, including the shareholder proxy statement, with the Securities and Exchange Commission soon.

Corebridge CEO Marc Costantini said an executive team for the combined company has been selected and will be announced soon.

“Our combined distribution capabilities will be formidable,” he added during a Corebridge call with Wall Street analysts. “We will have a large multi-channel distribution ecosystem to reach the broadest possible customer base.”

For the quarter, Corebridge reported adjusted pretax operating income of $629 million, or $1.05 per share, down from the year-ago quarter.

Interim Chief Financial Officer Christopher Filiaggi said results were affected by weaker variable investment income. Excluding that impact and other notable items, adjusted earnings per share rose 13% from a year earlier.

Corebridge said first-quarter performance reflected strength across its retirement, life insurance and institutional markets businesses despite volatile market conditions.

In individual retirement, premium deposits totaled $4.3 billion, while general account net flows remained positive at about $500 million.

In group retirement, advisory and brokerage assets reached record levels, with net inflows of more than $300 million. The company said fee-based earnings now account for nearly 60% of group retirement earnings as the business continues shifting away from spread-based income.

Corebridge’s life insurance business generated $850 million in sales during the quarter. In institutional markets, the company issued $1 billion in guaranteed investment contracts in January, including its first Canadian-dollar-denominated contract.

Executives also highlighted customer-service initiatives aimed at improving digital capabilities and streamlining transactions. The company launched a customer council this year and has expanded digital tools for wealth management clients, life insurance applications and payroll integration for retirement plan sponsors, Costantini noted.

Corebridge ended the quarter with more than $1.7 billion in liquidity at the holding company level.

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