Two Midwestern insurers hold $245 million in bonds backed by LeBron James's lifetime Nike sponsorship deal, according to Bloomberg. North American Company for Life and Health Insurance and Midland National Life Insurance Co. purchased the bonds through King James Funding LLC, with initial issuance in 2018 at 4.8% due 2049 and additional bonds in 2022 at 5.75%. These bonds sit alongside traditional investments in insurers' general accounts, which back fixed and indexed annuities. Firms like Jackson Financial and Apollo Global Management increasingly use private credit and asset-backed deals to generate higher yields than corporate bonds and Treasuries. Jackson sold $5.90 billion in retail annuities last quarter, up 34% year-over-year. Apollo's Athene took in $22 billion of retirement inflows in Q2 2025, posting record spread-related earnings of $877 million.

Your annuity might be backed by LeBron's Nike deal: inside the $245 million two retirement insurers are betting on the King. Your fixed annuity and LeBron James share a balance sheet, and the tax consequences of that arrangement fall entirely on you. Here is what the insurers funding his Nike deal are not telling their policyholders. This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. Somewhere in the general accounts of two Midwestern life insurers sits roughly $245 million in bonds backed by LeBron James's Nike deal. According to Bloomberg, an LLC named King James Funding borrowed almost $300 million in 2018 from North American Company for Life and Health Insurance and Midland National Life Insurance Co., with bonds due in 2049 at a 4.8% coupon. A follow-on $60 million in 34-year bonds priced at 5.75% in August 2022. Guggenheim Partners arranged the deal, and the pledged revenue stream includes James's lifetime Nike sponsorship. Why this sits next to grandma's fixed annuity. Insurers sell you a fixed or indexed annuity and promise a payout for years, sometimes decades. To fund that promise, they buy long-duration assets that earn more than the guaranteed rate. That used to mean corporate bonds and Treasuries. Increasingly it means private credit, asset-backed finance, and one-off deals like the King James bonds. Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN | JXN Price Prediction), one of the largest US retail annuity issuers, sold $5.90 billion in retail annuities last quarter, up 34% year over year, with record $2.30 billion in RILA sales. Its asset arm PPM America now manages more than $100 billion, and a partnership with TPG explicitly targets higher-yielding private assets to back spread products. Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) owns Athene, which took in $22 billion of retirement inflows in Q2 2026 and posted record $877 million in spread-related earnings. Apollo originated $74 billion in assets during the quarter and calls asset-backed finance and structured settlements a core competency. Athene's fixed income book is 98% investment grade, and its alternative sleeve targets an 11% long-term return. Both firms exemplify the model that produced those bonds, though neither has been disclosed as a party to the LeBron deal. What this means for your annuity tax bill. A non-qualified annuity, the kind you buy with after-tax money outside a 401(k) or IRA, comes with a specific tax bargain. Growth is tax-deferred inside the contract. When money comes out, the earnings portion is taxed as ordinary income, not long-term capital gains, at rates that in tax year 2026 top out at 37%. What happens after A $1,000,000 retirement? How do you continue to grow a seven-figure portfolio in retirement? The last thing you want is to run out of money, you want your money to generate lasting income while you enjoy your life. Learn seven strategies high net worth investors use with new report: The Seven Secrets of High Net Worth Investors from Fisher Investments. Get your guide here (sponsor) Three trap doors matter: * The 10% early-distribution penalty. Pull earnings before age 59[1/2] and the IRS tacks 10% onto your ordinary-income tax. Same rule as an IRA. * No step-up in basis at death. Heirs owe income tax on the deferred gain in a non-qualified annuity. A brokerage account gets stepped up to date-of-death value. An annuity does not. * Ordinary income on the way out. The same S&P exposure held in a taxable brokerage account could qualify for 0%, 15%, or 20% long-term capital gains rates. Inside an annuity, that gain converts to ordinary income at withdrawal. Rich clients' favorite move: 1035 exchanges. Section 1035 of the tax code lets you swap one annuity for another without triggering tax, provided the owner and annuitant stay the same. It is how holders escape old high-fee contracts, roll into a RILA with better terms, or consolidate two annuities into one. Basis and the clock carry over. Boring paperwork, real savings. The Nike-backed bonds are legitimate financial engineering that ordinary savers cannot access. The insurer holding those bonds is likely also holding your neighbor's fixed index annuity. Same balance sheet, very different tax outcomes for who owns what. Two numbers worth watching. Jackson trades at $131.63, up 25.59% year to date and 39.34% over one year. Apollo trades at $133.18, down 6.78% year to date after absorbing a $1.7 billion one-time charge tied to its ACRA Bermuda tax-election revocation in Q1 2026. Withdrawal timing, Roth conversion sequencing, and the 1035 escape hatch are the kind of math worth running with a fiduciary advisor or CPA before signing an annuity contract or drawing one down (the annuity tax traps above are a few of nine IRS rules we mapped in a free retiree tax trap guide). Data sources. This article is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a qualified tax professional about your specific situation. How do you continue to grow a seven-figure portfolio in retirement? The last thing you want is to run out of money, you want your money to generate lasting income while you enjoy your life. Learn seven strategies high net worth investors use with new report: The Seven Secrets of High Net Worth Investors from Fisher Investments. Get your guide here (sponsor) Jake Fitzgerald

Annuities sales reach new heights in Q2 2026, per LIMRA. Total US annuity sales reached a record $123.9 billion in the second quarter. Reported by As guaranteed income products continue to gain traction in retirement portfolios, annuities are leading the charge, with record sales reported in the second quarter. According to LIMRA's U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey, which represents 84% of the total U.S. annuity market, sales reached $123.9 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Year-to-date total annuity sales reached $231.3 billion, 2% higher than the first half of 2025. "Total annuity sales set an all-time quarterly record, the 11th consecutive quarter above $100 billion," said Bryan Hodgens, LIMRA's head of research, in a statement. "A combination of global tensions, market volatility and rising interest rates drove demand that lifted all major products and pushed the total market to a new high." Registered index-linked annuities took the lead in sales, with a new quarterly record of $23.3 billion in the second quarter, up 11% from the first quarter and 22% from Q2 2025. Year-to-date, RILA sales totaled $44.4 billion, 21% greater than the first half of 2025. The trend was also evident in Q2 earnings reports from major annuity providers, several of which reported strong growth in RILA sales. Jackson Financial Inc. reported a record $2.3 billion in RILA sales in its second quarter earnings, up 69% from the second quarter of 2025. Jackson also reported that its total retail annuity sales reached $5.9 billion for the second quarter, up from $4.4 billion in Q2 2025. "We delivered record earnings per share and 34% growth in retail annuity sales compared to the same period last year," said Laura Prieskorn, Jackson's president and CEO, in a statement. "This demonstrates our distribution reach, supported by the growth of our partnership with [asset manager] TPG [Inc.]." Prudential Financial Inc.'s Q2 earnings report found that its total retail annuity sales reached $3.6 billion and reflected momentum following the December 2025 launch of its latest RILA, FlexGuard 2.0. "RILA set another quarterly sales record as carriers continued to pivot toward these products and broaden their distribution," said Keith Golembiewski, LIMRA's head of annuity research, in a statement. "With equity markets reaching new highs in June, investors were drawn to RILAs' blend of upside participation and downside protection." According to LIMRA, traditional variable annuity sales reached $17.9 billion in Q2, an increase of 4% from Q1 and 25% higher than Q2 2025. Variable annuity sales for year-to-date 2026 reached $35.1 billion, 21% higher than the first half of 2025. Jackson also reported that its variable annuity sales for the quarter reached $2.7 billion, up 8% from the Q2 2025. Additionally, LIMRA fixed-rate deferred annuity sales reached $44.7 billion in Q2, up from 26% in Q1, but down 2% from Q2 2025. In the first half of 2026, fixed annuity sales were $80.3 billion, a year-over-year decrease of 7%. Fixed indexed annuity sales totaled $30.7 billion in Q2, up 14% from Q1 but 7% lower than Q2 2025, as average cap rates were slightly below year-over-year levels. Year-to-date, fixed indexed annuity sales were $57.5 billion, down 5% from the first half of 2025. For Jackson, fixed annuity and fixed indexed annuity sales totaled $812 million this quarter, up 73% from Q2 2025. "As crediting rates climbed across every duration, demand for fixed-rate deferred products accelerated," Golembiewski said in the statement. "Investors seeking principal protection pushed FRD sales sharply higher from the first quarter." The record-breaking second quarter puts the industry on pace toward LIMRA's forecast that total annuity sales will surpass $450 billion this year.