Lincoln Financial Retirement Plan Services Sees 8.6% Average Account Balance Increase in 2025
A focus on participant outcomes within the Retirement Plan Services unit at Lincoln Financial is gaining traction, according to comments today by Ellen Cooper, Chairman, President and CEO of Lincoln Financial during the company’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings conference call.
Lincoln’s Retirement Plan Services reported operating income of $46 million in Q4 2025, up 7% year over year, driven by spread expansion and favorable equity markets and partially offset by outflows and higher net G&A expenses.
“Both Annuities and Retirement Plan Services reported earnings growth compared to the prior-year quarter driven by record-high account balances,” Cooper said in a press release today.
Average retirement account balances went from $113,711 at the end of 2024 to $123,533 at the end of 2025, an 8.6% increase, driven by favorable equity markets.
Financial results for Q4 and full year 2025 showed net outflows in Retirement Plan Services were $1.0 billion in Q4, compared to $0.7 billion in the prior-year quarter, partially due to participant withdrawals. Total deposits were $3.9 billion in the quarter, up 13% over the prior-year quarter, with first-year sales of $1.7 billion up 32% year over year.
“For the full year, earnings were relatively steady with modest pressure reflecting ongoing headwinds including participant outflows. At the same time, we continue to see strong sales and total deposits underscoring that our value proposition is resonating with customers and that our focus on participant outcomes is gaining traction,” Cooper said during today’s earnings call webcast.
As Lincoln’s RPS begins the next phase of its realignment work, Cooper said the focus is on sharpening where and how they compete.
“We see opportunity to build on our strengths in the more profitable parts of the market, including leveraging our distribution footprint and supporting growth in higher-margin areas such as the small market segment,” Cooper said.
She said priorities are centered on improving the earnings profile of the business over time by expanding revenue sources within the existing customer base, broadening products and services where customer demand is strongest, and taking targeted actions to improve operating efficiency. “We also see opportunities to further optimize the investment strategy to support our stable value offerings,” Cooper added. “While this work will take time, the momentum we’re seeing with customers reinforces our confidence in the strategic direction and our ability to steadily improve the quality and durability of earnings in this business over time.”
More details about Lincoln Financial’s 2025 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results can be found at this link.
“Fourth-quarter results reflected continued broad-based momentum and strong execution against our strategic priorities. Each of our businesses contributed meaningfully to our performance, supported by disciplined capital management, improving profitability, and an increasingly efficient operating model,” Cooper said in today’s press release.
As of the start of 2026, Radnor, Pa.-based Lincoln Financial has approximately 17 million customers across four core businesses—annuities, life insurance, group protection, and retirement plan services.
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Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.