Great-West Life

Great-West Life's U.S. identity is now largely expressed through the Empower brand. Great-West Lifeco explains that Empower represents products and services for Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America (formerly Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company) and related affiliates, operating within the Power Corporation group. [3]

The rebranding was formalized in the early 2020s. Empower's name-change notice states that Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company was renamed Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America, and that certain product names were updated to replace "Great-West" with "Empower." [2] The goal was to align insurance companies, distribution, and retirement services under a single, more modern market-facing identity. [2]

Growth in retirement-plan servicing accelerated that evolution. Great-West Lifeco announced in April 2022 that its U.S. subsidiary Empower completed the acquisition of Prudential Financial's full-service retirement business. [1] Deals like this expanded Empower's scale in recordkeeping and administration, a segment where technology investment and compliance capabilities can be as important as product design. [1] By emphasizing workplace retirement infrastructure and brand consolidation, the Great-West/Empower franchise found opportunity in a demographic reality-more Americans accumulating assets in employer plans-while navigating interest-rate shocks and regulatory scrutiny that have repeatedly reshaped annuity and retirement markets.

Sources: [1] https://www.greatwestlifeco.com/content/dam/gwlco/documents/press-releases/2022/great-west-lifeco-subsidiary-empower-closes-acquisition-of-prudential-financial-retirement-business.pdf [2] https://www.empower.com/name-change [3] https://www.greatwestlifeco.com/who-we-are/our-companies/empower.html