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.

Protective Life acquired substantially all of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company's (GWL&A) U.S. individual life insurance and annuity business in a major reinsurance transaction that closed in June 2019, though GWL&A's retirement and investment divisions (like Empower) remained separate. Protective now administers these policies, including many for ADA members, while Great-West Lifeco (the parent company) continues its Canadian and other non-U.S. operations.

Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company

• Corporate Owner: Empower (Owned by Power Corporation of Canada).
• Home Office Address: 8515 E. Orchard Road, Greenwood Village, CO 80111.
• Rich History & Highlights:
  • 1891: Founded in Winnipeg, Canada.
  • 1906: Entered the US market.
  • 2014: Transformation: The US division combines its retirement business with Putnam Investments and JP Morgan Retirement Plan Services to form Empower Retirement.
  • 2019: Sale of Individual Life: Great-West sells its US individual life insurance and annuity books to Protective Life.
  • Current Status: The "Great-West" entity in the US is now almost exclusively focused on retirement plans under the brand Empower.
• Source: Empower / Great-West History

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