Notes on the economy: Another strong year for Thrivent & clients

As chief financial and investment officer of Thrivent, I am pleased to report that 2025 was another strong year of financial performance for our organization. Thrivent has a responsibility to fulfill the promises we make to clients, whether today or decades down the road. As a membership-owned organization, we manage the finances of Thrivent for the long term—ensuring that we’ll continue to serve for generations to come.

Last year was a strong one for Thrivent across many metrics, and it came on the heels of a record year in 2024. We reached a milestone mid-year, when assets under management and advisement crossed the $200 billion threshold. We then ended the year at $212 billion, reflecting business growth and investment performance.

A clear signal of our long-term financial strength is our capital position, which remained remarkably strong at the close of 2025. Our adjusted surplus ended the year at an all-time high of $18.2 billion.* This strong surplus position enabled us to continue funding additional dividends and other policy enhancements at record levels. In 2025, we returned $555 million* in value to our clients through dividends and other enhancements, 5% higher than 2024, with more policies benefiting than ever before. It’s our privilege to be able to deliver this value to our clients based on our long-term strength, stability and disciplined financial management.

Thrivent’s General Account portfolios, which support our life, health and annuity contracts, continued their long track record of delivering consistently strong performance, further strengthening our capital position.

We continue to maintain a robust product portfolio, ensuring we offer competitive products to meet client needs. In 2025, we saw strong demand for our multi-year guarantee fixed annuities, as clients and their financial advisors locked in some attractive longer-term rates. We continue to have a substantially elevated level of assets in our money market fund—about quadruple the amount from five years ago. However, as rates continue to come down, we have a broad suite of competitive solutions that could help clients lock in attractive rates.

We expanded our exchange-traded fund (ETF) line-up in 2025, and with that came with a first-time opportunity to ring in the new year by ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, where our ETFs are listed. It was incredible to see Thrivent recognized not only for the funds but also for our unique purpose to help clients live out lives rooted in service and faith.

As we head into 2026, the U.S. economy is still sending some mixed signals. On one hand, it’s proven surprisingly resilient, perhaps even accelerating. On the other hand, there’s still plenty of uncertainty—especially as the Federal Reserve (the Fed) continues trying to balance its dual mandate: keep prices stable and maintain full employment.

While inflation has slowed, it remains stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target and hasn’t shown many signs of slowing further.
At the same time, the employment picture is showing signs of weakening. Beyond the headline numbers of job growth, there are some concerning trends: More people are working part time because they can’t find full-time roles, wage growth is slowing and previous job reports have been revised downward. Together, these trends suggest the labor market might be softer than it appears, which could shape how the Fed approaches rate cuts in the first half of the year.

But it’s not all caution and concern. One of the brightest spots right now is economic growth and productivity. Companies are pouring money into artificial intelligence (AI). This massive wave of AI-related investment is helping improve productivity and automate routine tasks. These gains could help keep economic output moving in the right direction.

Consumers are the lifeblood of the economy, and I’m keeping a close eye on an emerging scenario where productivity gains from AI continue to support economic output but employment is weaker because companies can operate with fewer workers. If this is the case, it could have a broader economic impact if many consumers can’t continue to spend at previous levels.

Looking forward, we’ll likely see some volatility as markets react to all these crosscurrents: stubborn inflation, shifting job dynamics, rapid technological change and an active policy environment. The best way to prepare for market volatility is not to be surprised by it. Have a conversation with your financial advisor and be sure you understand how your current financial strategy is positioned to meet your long-term goals. Times of volatility can be potential opportunities depending on your financial goals. And underneath the volatility, the U.S. economy is still powered by adaptability and innovation—key ingredients as we move into this next chapter.

As an asset management team, we are well positioned to not only navigate but also capitalize on market opportunities to further our organization’s financial strength and deliver value to you, our clients. Thank you for being part of our organization and for trusting us to guide you along the way.

David Royal is executive vice president and chief financial & investment officer at Thrivent.

Next Thrivent Market & Economic Update set April 14

Join Thrivent investment leaders as they talk about current economic trends in our live quarterly Market and Economic Update at 11:30 a.m. CT on April 14. Register to attend live or receive the recording. The event is open to everyone; feel free to share with a friend. No products will be sold.