Jackson Financial Inc.

Jackson reported pretax adjusted operating earnings of $618 million, or $648 million excluding notable items. Adjusted operating EPS was $7.30 per diluted share; excluding $0.36 of notable items and normalizing tax, EPS was $7.68, up 55% year over year. On the operating line, ex-notables earnings were up 50% year over year, and first-half adjusted operating earnings grew more than 20%. Retail annuity sales approached $6 billion, up 34% year over year, including record RILA sales of more than $2.3 billion; fixed and fixed indexed annuity sales were $812 million, up 73%, and institutional product sales were $1.4 billion. For capital, after-tax statutory capital generation was $656 million, free capital generation was $304 million in the quarter, holding company free cash flow was $287 million, and total adjusted capital ended at $5.8 billion with an estimated RBC ratio of 538%. Management reiterated full-year targets of $1.2 billion of free capital generation and $900 million to $1.1 billion of capital return to common shareholders.

Laura Prieskorn framed the quarter as evidence that Jackson’s strategy is working: more diversification, stronger sales momentum, and a business mix increasingly weighted toward spread-based products. She emphasized that the first half positions the company to hit 2026 targets and supports long-term profitability, while highlighting product innovation, adviser expansion, and the TPG partnership as key growth drivers. Her tone was upbeat and confident, and she closed by underscoring succession planning and continuity as she prepares to retire at year-end.

Don Cummings said the strong quarter was driven by both fee-based and spread-based earnings, helped by a strong equity market, higher average AUM, better portfolio yield on new money, and favorable LP marks. He cited pretax adjusted operating earnings of $618 million, or $648 million ex notable items, and noted the effective tax rate was 15.2%. On capital, he highlighted $656 million of statutory capital generation, $304 million of free capital generation, $287 million of holding company free cash flow, $5.8 billion of total adjusted capital, a 538% estimated RBC ratio, and nearly $1.4 billion of holding company cash and investments; he also said $750 million of senior debt was issued, the revolver was expanded to $1.25 billion, and about $4 billion of total available liquidity was on hand.

Analysts focused on whether the quarter’s higher normalized earnings are sustainable, and management said strong equities and higher interest rates are tailwinds, while spread-asset growth, new money yields, and some expense seasonality should also help. On assumption reviews, management said it is too early to front-run fourth-quarter updates, but policyholder behavior has looked more modest recently than over the past year. Questions on TPG and private credit drew a response that deal flow and collaboration are progressing well, while management stressed discipline in competitive spread markets and said inorganic growth would be considered only if it fits diversification goals and compares favorably with returning capital.