Great West

The "Great-West" name in the U.S. became closely tied to workplace retirement and group annuity platforms. Great-West Lifeco describes Empower as its U.S. subsidiary brand, and notes that Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America (formerly Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco and part of the Power Corporation group. [3]

In the early 2020s, the organization streamlined branding. Empower's name-change notice states that, effective August 1, 2022, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company adopted the name Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America (with related affiliate name changes). [2] State regulator profiles also reflect the Great-West-to-Empower name transition in company records. [1] The shift signaled a move away from legacy "Great-West" product naming toward a unified Empower identity for retirement and related insurance solutions. [2]

Scale in retirement services became a defining opportunity. Empower announced it would acquire Prudential's full-service retirement plan recordkeeping and administration business in a transaction valued at $3.55 billion, subject to regulatory approvals. [4] By combining the insurance company platform with recordkeeping and plan services, the Great-West/Empower franchise positioned itself to compete through market cycles where sponsors and participants demand digital access, lower fees, and stable back-office execution. That operational focus-more than a single flagship product-has been central to how the franchise has adapted to regulatory and economic shifts.

Sources: [1] https://interactive.web.insurance.ca.gov/companyprofile/companyprofile?doFunction=getCompanyProfile&eid=26560&event=companyProfile [2] https://www.empower.com/name-change [3] https://www.greatwestlifeco.com/who-we-are/our-companies/empower.html [4] https://www.empower.com/press-center/empower-retirement-to-acquire-prudential-retirement