Lincoln National Corporation
Business Model Analysis
How Lincoln National Makes Money
Annual Revenue: $18.2B
Lincoln National generates revenue primarily through Life Insurance, with roughly $18.2B in annual revenue.
Core Growth Engine: Since 2023 Lincoln has shifted sales toward products that tie up less capital: RILAs, fixed and indexed annuities, term and executive-benefit life insurance, and workplace benefits, while de-emphasizing guaranteed univer...
Revenue Model & Pricing
Lincoln Financial makes money in four reporting segments. Annuities sells variable, fixed, indexed, and registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) through banks, broker-dealers, and independent advisors, earning fees and investment spread; ending account balances net of reinsurance reached a record $182 billion in Q2 2026. Life Insurance sells term, universal, indexed, variable, and executive-benefit policies, earning premiums, cost-of-insurance charges, and investment income. Group Protection sells disability, life, dental, vision, accident, critical-illness, and leave-management coverage to employers, earning premiums. Retirement Plan Services runs 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans for employers, especially in healthcare, education, and government, with a record $131 billion in account balances in Q2 2026. In FY2025, revenue split into $6.666B of premiums, $5.496B of fee income, and $6.075B of net investment income, plus other revenue and realized gains or losses.
Core Revenue Streams
Insurance premiums
$6.666BPremiums from life insurance, group protection, and other insurance products in FY2025.
Fee income
$5.496BFees from annuity, retirement, insurance, and account-based products in FY2025.
Net investment income
$6.075BInvestment income earned on general-account assets supporting insurance and annuity liabilities.
Other revenue and realized gains/losses
VariableOther revenues and realized investment gains or losses, which can swing year to year.
Growth Strategy
Since 2023 Lincoln has shifted sales toward products that tie up less capital: RILAs, fixed and indexed annuities, term and executive-benefit life insurance, and workplace benefits, while de-emphasizing guaranteed universal life and variable annuities with living benefits. It has paired that with reinsurance (the 2023 Fortitude Re deal), the 2024 sale of its wealth management business to Osaic, and the 2025 Bain Capital partnership, which added $825 million of equity and a 10-year investment management relationship. In Q2 2026, spread-based products made up 63% of $3.5 billion in annuity sales, and life sales rose 79% to $216 million.
How Lincoln National Makes Money: FAQ
How does Lincoln National Corporation generate revenue across its business segments?
Lincoln generates revenue primarily through insurance policy premiums, fee income from assets under management (AUM) across variable annuities and retirement plans, mortality and expense risk charges, net investment spread income on general account assets, and group employee benefit premiums.
What is Lincoln's independent wholesale distribution network (Lincoln Financial Network)?
Lincoln distributes its life insurance, annuity, and retirement products through an extensive open-architecture third-party distribution network, including independent broker-dealers, wirehouses (Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch), banks, financial planners, and independent marketing organizations (IMOs).
What is the strategic role of Registered Index-Linked Annuities (RILAs) at Lincoln?
Through products like Lincoln Level Advantage, Lincoln is a market leader in Registered Index-Linked Annuities (RILAs), which allow retirement savers to capture equity market upside potential up to a defined cap while providing downside buffer protection against market losses.
How does Lincoln manage general account investment portfolio spreads?
Lincoln invests policyholder premiums in a multi-billion-dollar fixed income portfolio (corporate bonds, commercial mortgage loans, and structured credit), earning an investment yield that exceeds the interest crediting rates guaranteed to annuity and life insurance policyholders.
What is the Group Protection division and what employer products does it provide?
Lincoln's Group Protection segment partners with thousands of employers to provide voluntary and employer-paid group disability insurance, group term life, dental, vision, critical illness, and absence management services to millions of employees.
How does Lincoln's Retirement Plan Services business operate in the healthcare and education sectors?
Lincoln specializes in 403(b), 457(b), and 401(a) defined contribution retirement plans for hospital systems, universities, non-profit institutions, and municipal employers, providing participant recordkeeping, investment advisory, and financial wellness tools.
How does Lincoln utilize automated digital underwriting for life insurance?
Through 'Lincoln TermAccel' and 'LincXpress', Lincoln utilizes algorithmic digital underwriting, electronic health record (EHR) data, and predictive modeling to approve eligible term and universal life applicants in minutes without mandatory medical exams or lab fluid draws.
What is the Bain Capital partnership?
Announced in April 2025 and closed in June 2025, it gave Bain Capital a 9.9% stake for $825 million and set up a 10-year, non-exclusive investment management relationship.
How does Lincoln National make money?
Like all massive insurers, they operate a highly lucrative "float" model. Millions of Americans pay them massive monthly premiums for life insurance, workplace benefits, and retirement annuities. Lincoln National takes those massive billions and aggressively invests them in corporate bonds and real estate. They make massive money on the spread between their investment returns and the eventual payouts to policyholders.
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