Customer Satisfaction with Individual Annuities Strained by New-Client Experience and Digital Limitations, J.D. Power Finds

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TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 28, 2025--

As the broader financial services industry is pushing to deliver more personalized, digital-first experiences, the annuities industry is struggling to keep pace. Modernizing engagement in this space could unlock significant growth and elevate the industry’s relevance in today’s client-centric landscape. According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Individual Annuity Study, SM released today, overall customer satisfaction with individual annuities declined 6 points year over year (on a 1,000-point scale) driven primarily by frustrations among newer clients early in the relationship and challenges with digital channels.

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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,” said Craig Martin, executive director, global insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “The data makes it clear that subpar experiences early in the relationship coupled with ineffective digital tools are leading to frustration, which not only threatens customer satisfaction but also strains long-term loyalty to the annuity provider and the financial professionals selling these products.”

Following are some key findings of the 2025 study:

• Satisfaction with digital drops: Digital channels is the only dimension to experience a significant decline year over year. Satisfaction with this part of the experience declined 20 points from 2024 and is now the lowest-scoring part of the customer relationship.
• New customers have substantial declines in satisfaction: Overall satisfaction among customers who indicated they have had their policy less than three years dropped a significant 16 points year over year. The largest declines for this group were in the dimensions of people and digital channels.
• Challenges with understanding: Customer understanding of key product details significantly declined with the proportion who say they “completely understand” annuity costs and fees dropping to 44% from 52%, and those saying they have “complete understanding” of annuity contract declined to 53% from 58%.

Study Ranking

USAA ranks highest among individual annuity providers for a second consecutive year, with a score of 740. Western & Southern Life (684) ranks second and New York Life (675) ranks third.

The U.S. Individual Annuity Study measures the experiences of customers of the largest individual annuity companies in the United States across eight core dimensions (in order of importance): trust; value for price; ability to get service; ease of doing business; people; product offerings; digital channels; and problem resolution. The 2025 study is based on responses from 4,682 individual annuity customers and was fielded from August 2024 through July 2025.

For more information about the U.S. Individual Annuity Study, visit
https://www.jdpower.com/business/insurance/us-annuity-study.

To view the online press release, please visit http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2025140.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules:www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251028213640/en/

CONTACT: Media Relations Contacts

Joe LaMuraglia, J.D. Power; East Coast; 714-621-6224;[email protected]

John Roderick; East Coast; 631-584-2200;[email protected]

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA MICHIGAN

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DATA ANALYTICS TECHNOLOGY INSURANCE FINANCE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PERSONAL FINANCE

SOURCE: J.D. Power

Copyright Business Wire 2025.

PUB: 10/28/2025 08:00 AM/DISC: 10/28/2025 08:01 AM

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