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Lincoln National helps individuals protect their families and turn savings into retirement income, and helps employers provide employee insurance benefits. Life insurance, employer-sponsored group coverage and annuities account for most of its revenue. Individuals pay for life policies and annuity contracts; employers or employees pay group premiums, mainly for disability and life coverage. Lincoln Financial Distributors sells individual insurance and retirement products through financial intermediaries, while employee-benefit brokers distribute group coverage.
The company collects insurance premiums and deducts insurance and expense charges from certain policy accounts. Annuity fees often depend on account balances, so investment performance and customer withdrawals affect its income. For contracts backed by its insurers’ own investment portfolios, it invests the supporting funds and earns the difference between investment returns and interest credited to customers. Its smaller retirement-plan business also administers employer plans through offerings such as LINCOLN DIRECTOR and LINCOLN ALLIANCE, earning service fees and investment spreads.
Profitability depends on claims, customers keeping their contracts, and investment returns sufficient to support credited interest and guarantees. Independent distributors can sell competing products. Lincoln National itself is a holding company: it relies on funds from subsidiaries to meet corporate obligations, and insurance rules require those subsidiaries to maintain reserves and capital and limit what they can transfer to the parent.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Brighthouse Financial competes with Lincoln National for U.S. customers buying life insurance and retirement-income contracts through independent distributors, including variable and index-linked annuities sold through Primerica. Brighthouse’s sales of those annuities are worth watching for competition in a channel Lincoln also uses.
Jackson Financial competes with Lincoln National for customers buying variable, registered index-linked and fixed annuities, putting it against Lincoln’s largest earnings segment. Watch Jackson’s annuity sales and the economics of promised benefits: both matter to the retirement income these insurers sell.
Equitable Holdings competes with Lincoln National for customers buying retirement annuities, including variable and index-linked contracts distributed through Primerica. Equitable’s retirement-product sales and net flows show how its combination of advice, asset management and distribution is attracting money against Lincoln’s offerings.
Corebridge Financial competes with Lincoln National for customers buying annuities and life insurance and for employer retirement plans; both also sell annuities through Primerica. Watch the gap between investment earnings and interest credited to customers: spread income supplied 60% of Corebridge’s combined spread income, fee income and underwriting margin in 2025, and Lincoln also earns this gap on fixed annuities.
Prudential Financial competes with Lincoln National for individuals buying annuities and life insurance and for employers buying group insurance. Its individual retirement product features and distribution changes are worth watching for pressure on Lincoln’s retirement-income offerings.
F&G Annuities & Life competes with Lincoln National for policyholders buying fixed-indexed and registered index-linked annuities and indexed universal life insurance. Watch F&G’s expansion through retail banks and broker-dealers, which broadens the reach of products competing with Lincoln’s.
Aegon’s Transamerica businesses compete with Lincoln National for U.S. customers buying annuities and life insurance and for employers buying retirement-plan services.
MetLife competes with Lincoln National for employers choosing group insurance and employee benefits, with coverage paid for by employers or employees. Watch MetLife’s Group Benefits results rather than its company-wide earnings when assessing competition for Lincoln’s workplace coverage.
Voya Financial competes with Lincoln National for employer retirement plans and workplace benefits, earning fees for administering retirement accounts and investing money backing fixed accounts. Watch participant net deposits and the gap between portfolio returns and interest credited to clients: both feed retirement earnings at Voya and Lincoln.
Principal Financial Group competes with Lincoln National for employers buying defined-contribution retirement-plan services and employee insurance benefits. Watch Principal’s workplace retirement sales and service network, which reaches employers through a national sales force, local specialists and registered distributors.
Manulife Financial’s John Hancock businesses compete with Lincoln National for U.S. individuals buying life insurance and employers buying retirement-plan services.
Sun Life Financial’s U.S. group benefits business competes with Lincoln National for employers arranging disability, life and dental coverage for their employees.
CNO Financial Group and Lincoln National both sell life insurance and annuities to individuals, and their fixed-account earnings depend on investment returns exceeding interest credited to policyholders. Watch CNO’s annuity investment income after credited interest or index-option costs, as applicable, for a comparison with Lincoln’s fixed-annuity spread.
Principal Financial Group, Inc. earningsPFG
Principal's report will show whether its workplace retirement business is winning employer plans through the sales and service network that competes with Lincoln National's.
Look at progress in Principal's workplace retirement business and the activity of its sales and service network. Stronger progress would show that Principal is pursuing employers Lincoln National also serves, increasing competitive pressure; weaker progress could mean less pressure from Principal, but one competitor's results cannot separate changes in employer demand from company execution. The conclusion is whether competition for workplace retirement plans is intensifying for Lincoln National.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
For Lincoln Financial, the Fed’s policy-rate decision signals whether borrowing costs and yields on fixed-income investments are moving up or down, affecting annuity withdrawals, investment values and the spread between investment earnings and what it credits to policyholders.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
Higher rates could lead more annuity holders to surrender contracts, increasing withdrawals that may require Lincoln Financial to sell investments, potentially at losses; they can also reduce the value of its fixed-income holdings and pressure capital.
If it comes in below expectations
Lower rates could ease annuity surrender pressure and support the value of Lincoln Financial’s fixed-income holdings, but lower investment earnings may narrow the spread it earns on fixed annuities and universal-life policies.
CNO Financial Group, Inc. earningsCNO
CNO Financial Group's report will show what its annuities retain after investment income covers credited interest or, where relevant, index-option costs, offering a comparison for Lincoln National's fixed-annuity spread.
Compare CNO Financial Group's annuity investment income with the interest credited to policyholders and, where relevant, index-option costs. A larger amount left after those costs would show that investment returns are covering customer costs, a more favorable industry comparison for Lincoln National's fixed-annuity spread; a narrower amount would point to pressure if returns struggle to keep up. The companies' products and investments differ, so this is not a substitute for Lincoln National's own results. It shows whether the spread environment for similar business looks more or less favorable.
Jackson Financial Inc. earningsJXN
Jackson Financial's report will show demand for annuities that compete with Lincoln National's and whether the promised benefits are economical to support.
Read Jackson Financial's annuity sales alongside the cost of the benefits it has promised customers. Rising sales with costs still controlled would show demand for retirement-income products without an obvious sacrifice in product economics by a competitor; weaker sales could mean softer demand and less pressure from Jackson, but would not prove that Lincoln National's sales will rise. Higher benefit costs would show that those promises are becoming more expensive to support. The conclusion is how competitor demand and the cost of annuity promises are changing.
MetLife, Inc. earningsMET
MetLife's Group Benefits business serves the same employer market, and its report will show how workplace coverage demand and claims costs compare with Lincoln National's Group Protection business.
Look at MetLife Group Benefits premiums and claims costs, then compare them with premium growth and the loss ratio in Lincoln National's Group Protection business. Growing premiums with controlled claims would suggest employer demand is holding up without a clear deterioration in costs; weaker premiums or rising claims could point to competitive pressure or higher claims costs. The companies have different customer and product mixes, so MetLife's results do not establish Lincoln National's own results. They help show the direction of demand and costs in employer coverage.
Lincoln National Corp. earningsThis company
Lincoln National's annuity business is its largest earnings segment, and this report will show whether fees and investment spreads can sustain its profit as account outflows rise.
Read annuity fee income alongside separate-account balances and outflows, then compare fixed-account investment income with the interest credited to policyholders. Steady fees with slower surrender outflows would show that account balances and customer retention are supporting the business; a wider gap between investment income and credited interest would mean a stronger spread on fixed accounts. Faster outflows, weaker fees and a narrower spread would put pressure on both balances and margins. Together, these results show whether annuities can sustain operating income despite retention pressure.
