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Empower Reports Second Quarter 2025 Base Earnings of $247 Million, Up 13% Year Over Year

via Business Wire

Continued expansion across core business lines; launches new capabilities in healthcare benefits, equity compensation, and private markets

Empower today announced after tax base earnings of $247 million for the second quarter of 2025, a 13% increase from the same period in 2024 excluding the impact of invested asset write-downs of $37 million post-tax in Q2 2025 and $29 million in Q2 2024, and a favorable one-time fee income adjustment to earnings of $22 million in Q2 2024.

Growth was driven by new client acquisition, strong retirement plan sales, and significant momentum across Empower’s expanding wealth and benefits platforms.

  • Empower Workplace Solutions is expected to experience net plan inflows of $25+ billion for the second half of 2025.
  • Empower Personal Wealth net flows improved by 83% to $2.9 billion compared to a year ago, primarily on strong rollover and sales performance.
  • The number of plan participants served by Empower stood at 18.5 million on June 30, 2025, up 3% from a year ago, primarily reflecting solid organic growth over the past 12 months.

The company’s results were released alongside those of parent company Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX: GWO). Full Q2 financials are available at greatwestlifeco.com.

“Empower is delivering meaningful results by building a platform that reflects the full picture of financial well-being — from retirement and investing to health benefits and asset ownership,” said Edmund F. Murphy III, President and CEO of Empower. “We are committed to helping more Americans access the tools, advice, and investment choices they need to reach their long-term goals.”

New Business Units & Capabilities

Empower Consumer-Directed Health

In Q2, Empower officially launched Empower Consumer-Directed Health, a new business unit offering a full suite of healthcare-related financial tools that complement employer retirement plans.

  • Products include:
    • Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
    • Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
    • Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs)
    • VEBA plans, wellness incentives, and lifestyle benefits
  • Designed to integrate with existing plan benefits and give individuals a more unified view of their health and financial wellbeing

Empower Stock Plan Services

Following the September 2024 acquisition of Plan Management Corporation (PMC), Empower launched a dedicated business unit for equity compensation administration, offering a modern, digital-first platform for employers and participants.

  • Services for private and public companies, including all award types such as stock options, RSUs, and employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs)
  • Helps organizations integrate equity compensation into total financial wellness for employees

Access to Private Market Investments

Empower also announced a new capability allowing defined contribution plans to offer participants access to private market investments, including private equity, private credit private real assets

These options will be available through institutional investment structures with fiduciary oversight, providing retirement savers with greater portfolio diversification and access to asset classes traditionally available only to institutional or high-net-worth investors.

Zero Fee S&P 500® Index ISA

In a new move designed to reduce the cost of investing in retirement plans, Empower launched the first-ever zero-fee index fund designed specifically for retirement investors.

The new fund, the Empower S&P 500® Index Separate Account, offers broad market exposure with no management fees — a first in the industry. By eliminating fees entirely, Empower aims to give retirement plan participants the full power of compound growth potential to help close the retirement savings gap for millions of Americans.

The new fund, launched during second quarter, surpassed $2.5 billion in cumulative sales since its inception. This milestone highlights strong demand from US retirement investors seeking low-cost, transparent ways to grow their retirement savings.

About Empower

Recognized as the second-largest retirement services provider in the U.S.1 by total participants, Empower administers more than $1.8 trillion in assets for 19 million investors2 through the provision of retirement plans, advice, wealth management, and investments. Connect with us on empower.com, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram.

  1. Pensions & Investments DC Recordkeeper Survey (2024). Ranking measured by total number of participants as of December 31, 2023.
  2. As of June 30, 2025. Assets under administration (AUA) refers to the assets administered by Empower. AUA does not reflect the financial stability or strength of a company.

Empower refers to the products and services offered by Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America (EAICA) and its subsidiaries. “EMPOWER” and all associated logos and product names are trademarks of Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America.

The information contained herein is being provided for discussion purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities.

Separate accounts are available under group variable annuity contracts issued by Empower Annuity Insurance Company (EAIC), Hartford, CT, an affiliate of Empower Retirement, LLC. EAICA and its affiliates are not affiliated with BlackRock.

The S&P 500® Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (SPDJI), and has been licensed for use by EAIC. Standard & Poor's®, S&P® and S&P 500® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC (S&P); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (Dow Jones); and these trademarks have been licensed for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by EAIC. The Fund discussed in this material is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500 Index.

©2025 Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America. All rights reserved. RO-4723012-0825

Learn more

To learn more about how we’re empowering plan sponsors and their participants to be more engaged in their retirement plans than ever before, call us at 800-719-9914.

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