Empower (formerly Great-West Financial) life insurance

Overview

This NAIC group is the U.S. insurance arm of Great-West Lifeco, the Canadian financial services company that owns Empower and Canada Life. Most Americans know it as Empower, the retirement plan company in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Empower says it is the second-largest retirement services company in the U.S., with more than 20 million customers and about $2.2 trillion in assets under administration. Its main insurer was called Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company until 2022, and its life insurance was sold under the Great-West Financial brand.

Empower no longer sells individual life insurance. In 2019 Great-West reinsured substantially all of its individual life insurance and annuity business to Protective Life, which now administers those policies. The group ranked #77 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with about $253.1 million in premiums and a 0.16% market share. Those premiums reflect the legacy policies. Because the deal was done through reinsurance, an old Great-West policy generally still names the original company (now renamed Empower) as its issuer, even though Protective handles service and claims.

The group's NAIC filing also includes the U.S. business of The Canada Life Assurance Company, based at the same Greenwood Village address. Canada Life is Great-West Lifeco's main Canadian insurer. In the U.S. it is known mainly as a reinsurer of other life insurers, not as a seller of individual policies to consumers.

History

Great-West Lifeco's U.S. business grew out of The Great-West Life Assurance Company of Winnipeg. Empower says its legacy organization came to Denver in the 1970s. For decades its U.S. insurer, Great-West Life & Annuity, sold individual life insurance, annuities, bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance (BOLI and COLI) and group insurance plans, including coverage offered to members of the American Dental Association.

Key changes:

• 2014: Great-West Lifeco created Empower by combining the retirement businesses of Great-West Financial, Putnam Investments and J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services.
• 2019: Great-West announced on January 24, 2019 that it would reinsure its individual life and annuity business to Protective. The deal closed June 1, 2019. It covered BOLI and COLI, single premium life, individual annuities, part of Great-West's closed block of life insurance and annuities, and the ADA group insurance plans. Great-West kept a small block of participating life policies, which Protective also administers. Protective called it its largest acquisition to date, a capital investment of about $1.2 billion.
• 2020: Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life amalgamated in Canada into a single company, The Canada Life Assurance Company, effective January 1, 2020. Empower bought MassMutual's retirement plan business the same year.
• 2022: Empower completed its purchase of Prudential's full-service retirement business, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, on April 1, 2022. That company is now Empower Annuity Insurance Company. On August 2, 2022, Empower announced that Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company had been renamed Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America. Its New York company became Empower Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York.

Life insurance products

Empower does not sell life insurance. If you own a policy from Great-West Financial or Great-West Life & Annuity, here is where it went:

• Individual life (term, universal life, single premium life) and individual annuities: reinsured to and administered by Protective since June 2019. Policy terms did not change. Protective's life service line is 800-866-9933 and its annuity line is 800-456-6330.
• BOLI and COLI (executive benefits): administered by Protective's executive benefits service center at 888-353-2654.
• ADA Members Insurance Plans (group life and other coverage for American Dental Association members, formerly issued by Great-West): moved to Protective. Members received new certificates naming Protective as the carrier, with no change to rates or terms as a result of the deal. The dedicated line is 800-568-2001.
• Participating policies Great-West kept: still on Empower's books but administered by Protective.

For more on what happens to your coverage when a block is sold, see when your life insurance policy is sold to another company and closed blocks: what happens to policies a company stops selling. If you cannot tell which company holds an old policy, the The NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator: how to use it can search for it.

Other products

Empower's business today is retirement savings. It administers 401(k), 403(b), 457 and other workplace plans for employers. It also offers IRAs and rollovers, wealth management and financial planning through Empower Advisory Group, a high-yield cash account, and stable value and other capital preservation products for retirement plans. Empower says it serves nearly 61,000 plan sponsor organizations.

Buying and service

You cannot buy a new life insurance policy from Empower. Workplace plan participants can reach Empower at 855-756-4738 or through their online account. Owners of old Great-West life and annuity contracts should contact Protective, not Empower, for premium payments, beneficiary changes, loans, surrenders and statements.

Claims

Death claims on former Great-West Financial individual life policies are handled by Protective. Beneficiaries can start a claim through Protective's life service line, 800-866-9933, or online at protective.com. Claims on BOLI and COLI policies go through the executive benefits service center, and ADA plan claims through the ADA plans line. Expect to provide a certified death certificate and a claimant statement; see how to file a life insurance claim.

Ratings and reputation

Empower lists these financial strength ratings for Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America as of March 31, 2026:

• AM Best: A+ (Superior)
• S&P Global Ratings: AA (Very Strong)
• Moody's: Aa3 (Excellent)
• Fitch: AA (Very Strong)

In January 2024, AM Best affirmed The Canada Life Assurance Company at A+ (Superior) and the Empower insurers' issuer credit ratings at "aa," with stable outlooks. AM Best cited Canada Life's very strong balance sheet. These ratings describe Empower's insurers. Service on reinsured legacy life policies depends on Protective, which has its own profile. Neither Empower nor Great-West Financial was ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study.

Who it suits

Empower is relevant to life insurance shoppers mainly as a former insurer. Its life policies moved to Protective in 2019,, and today its business is retirement plans, IRAs and wealth management. If you own an old Great-West Financial policy, your coverage continues under its original terms and you should deal with Protective. If you want new coverage, you will need another insurer.

• Strengths: Very high financial strength ratings (AA-range from S&P and Fitch, A+ from AM Best, as of March 2026); one of the largest U.S. retirement plan providers; legacy policyholders kept their original terms, phone numbers and, for ADA plans, the same Denver service team.
• Weaknesses: Sells no individual life insurance; frequent renamings (Great-West Financial, Great-West Life & Annuity, Empower) can make it hard for families to tell who holds an old policy; legacy life service and claims are split between Empower's books and Protective's administration.

How to contact Empower