Investments Director

Empower announces record second quarter 2026 base earnings of $332 million, up 34% year over year. Strong operating performance and strategic expansion highlighted by agreement to acquire Milliman's retirement administration business GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. - Empower today announced after-tax base earnings of $332 million for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 34% from the same period in 2025. Growth was driven by continued strong retirement plan sales, organic client... July 29, 2026 at 10:54 a.m. Strong operating performance and strategic expansion highlighted by agreement to acquire Milliman's retirement administration business GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. - Empower today announced after-tax base earnings of $332 million for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 34% from the same period in 2025. Growth was driven by continued strong retirement plan sales, organic client growth, expanding wealth management relationships and disciplined execution across Empower. Highlights for the quarter include: * Empower base earnings increased 6% from the first quarter of 2026, driven by organic business growth and higher equity markets. * Empower Workplace Solutions generated net plan inflows of $5 billion during the quarter on $13 billion in retirement plan sales. * Empower Personal Wealth(TM) recorded net flows of $1.8 billion during the quarter, with wealth accounts up 40% year over year. * Assets under administration are now more than $2.1 trillion. * Empower now serves more than 20 million participants and investors across workplace retirement, wealth management, stock plan and health benefits solutions.[1] The company's results were released alongside those of parent company Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSX: GWO). Full second quarter financial results are available at greatwestlifeco.com "Empower continues to deliver strong financial results while investing in the future of workplace financial services," said Edmund F. Murphy III, President and CEO of Empower. "Our strategy is centered on helping employers and individuals navigate every stage of their financial lives - from saving and investing to healthcare, wealth accumulation and retirement income. During the quarter, we also announced one of the most significant strategic transactions in our company's history, further strengthening our ability to serve clients with comprehensive workplace solutions." Strategic growth Empower continued to expand its integrated workplace financial services platform during the quarter through growth across retirement, wealth management, healthcare benefits and equity compensation. The company's workplace solutions now span retirement plans, consumer-directed healthcare, stock plan services, non-qualified plans, executive services and defined benefit administration, helping employers deliver more comprehensive financial benefits to employees. During the quarter, Empower announced a definitive agreement to acquire Milliman's retirement administration business, expanding the company's workplace solutions platform and strengthening its leadership in retirement services. Subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2026. The acquisition is expected to: * Expand Empower's defined benefit administration capabilities while adding health and welfare benefits administration and growing its defined contribution retirement business. * Add approximately 800 employees with specialized retirement and benefits administration expertise. At closing, Empower expects to add approximately 400 defined benefit administration clients representing roughly 790,000 participants and approximately $80 billion in assets under administration. The acquisition is also expected to add more than 1,100 defined contribution plans representing approximately 750,000 participants and more than $50 billion in assets, as well as approximately 100 health and welfare administration clients serving roughly 100,000 participants. "This acquisition represents another important milestone in Empower's long-term strategy of building the nation's most comprehensive workplace financial services platform," Murphy said. "By bringing together retirement, wealth management, healthcare benefits, equity compensation and defined benefit administration, we are creating broader capabilities that help employers support employees throughout their financial lives." About Empower Recognized as a leader in retirement services and wealth management,[2] Empower administers more than $2.1 trillion in assets[1] for more than 20 million individuals through the provision of workplace and individual retirement plans, advice, financial planning and investments. Connect with us on empower.com, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram. * As of June 30, 2026. Information refers to all retirement business of Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America (EAICA) and its subsidiaries, including Empower Retirement, LLC; Empower Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York (ELAINY); and Empower Annuity Insurance Company (EAIC), marketed under the Empower brand. Assets under Administration (AUA) refers to the assets administered by Empower. AUA does not reflect the financial stability or strength of a company. * Pensions & Investments DC Recordkeeper Survey (2025). Ranking measured by total number of participants as of December 31, 2025. Cautionary note regarding the proposed transaction The parties have entered into a definitive agreement providing for the acquisition described in this press release. The completion of the transaction remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions and other terms set forth in the agreement. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed on the anticipated timeline or at all. Statements in this press release regarding the expected timing of the closing, anticipated benefits of the transaction, future operations, integration plans, business opportunities or other events that have not yet occurred are based on the parties' current expectations and assumptions. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially due to a variety of factors, including the failure to satisfy closing conditions, required approvals, integration challenges, market conditions and other risks affecting the businesses. Empower refers to the products and services offered by Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America 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. All visuals are illustrative only. 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.

Empower reported after-tax base earnings of $332 million for the second quarter of 2026, up 34% year over year. The growth was driven by strong retirement plan sales, organic client growth, and expanding wealth management relationships. Empower Workplace Solutions generated net plan inflows of $5 billion during the quarter on $13 billion in retirement plan sales. Empower Personal Wealth recorded net flows of $1.8 billion, with wealth accounts up 40% year over year. The company now administers more than $2.1 trillion in assets and serves more than 20 million participants across workplace retirement, wealth management, stock plan, and health benefits solutions. During the quarter, Empower announced a definitive agreement to acquire Milliman's retirement administration business, expected to close in the second half of 2026.

QCD Code Y: optional again in 2026. July 20th, 2026. IRA Analyst. By Andy Ives, CFP(R), AIF(R) IRA Analyst During its recent Ed Slott and Company's Instant IRA Success workshop in Brooklyn, NY, Empower Wealth Group were presenting information about qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) when an audible groan emanated from the crowd. Over the grumbling, an exasperated woman's voice was heard making a loud complaint. The attendees were not criticizing the presenters or any part of the program. What they were frustrated with was news from the IRS. In the "2026 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498," the IRS included the following language on the very first page: "Code Y for box 7a on Form 1099-R. We added code 'Y' to the list of codes for box 7a to identify a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). See QCDs, later. For tax year 2026, the use of code Y to report a QCD is optional. If you are completing and filing a 2026 Form 1099-R, you may choose, but are not required, to enter code Y in box 7a." A QCD is a great way for charitably inclined IRA owners to donate. As long as the funds are properly distributed to the charity and all the QCD rules are followed, then distributions (up to $111,000 in 2026) can be excluded from income. For IRA owners subject to taking required minimum distributions (RMDs), a QCD can even offset all or part of that income. It's a win/win. What has been the problem with QCDs is not the QCD itself, but the reporting of the donation. Historically, IRA custodians were not required to report a QCD. There was never a code on Form 1099-R to identify this special distribution. It was up to the taxpayer to inform the IRS on the tax return that a QCD had been completed (or to tell the tax preparer to do so). As a result, QCDs were often not reported, resulting in a taxable distribution. On May 12, 2025, the IRS released instructions for the 2025 Form 1099-R. Those instructions announced for the first time that the IRS had created a new "Code Y" to identify a QCD on the 1099-R. This was welcome news to tax preparers and financial advisors. Since the new code announcement came mid-year, it was no surprise that the IRS made it optional for 2025. But apparently this ship takes time to turn. Upon release of the 2026 "Instructions," the new code Y is again listed as an optional feature. Hence, the groans from the crowd. While I understand the frustration, I also understand the optionality of the code for at least another tax year. Its guess is that the IRS is allowing IRA custodians time to implement rules and paperwork to cover their tails in the event of a "bad QCD." It's not unreasonable to think that IRA custodians will build some sort of "hold harmless" language into their custodial documents to avoid being held liable for placing a Code Y on a 1099-R, even if the distribution didn't qualify as a QCD. After all, an IRA custodian does not want to police the credentials of every charity. And how will the custodian know if a person hasn't already hit the annual QCD cap from another IRA at a different institution? These reasons likely explain why "Code Y" is optional again in 2026. If you have technical questions you would like to have answered, be sure to submit them to [email protected], to be answered on an upcoming Slott Report Mailbag, published every Thursday.