Great-West Lifeco Business Model Canvas

Putnam and selected external managers (Putnam acquisition completed in 2023) supply diversified strategies across public and private markets, while sub-advisory mandates expand product breadth and can lift performance through specialist expertise. Model portfolios and target-date funds underpin Great-West Lifeco’s retirement platforms, aligning multi-asset allocation for plan participants. Rigorous due diligence, ongoing monitoring and enterprise risk oversight ensure consistency of outcomes and mandate compliance.

Broker-dealers, advisors and MGAs distribute life, annuity and investment solutions across Canada, US and Europe, supporting ~27 million customers and CAD 1.2 trillion AUA (2024). Empower recordkeeping served ~14 million participants with US$1.3 trillion AUA (2024) under multi-year sponsor contracts. Reinsurers, Putnam (acquired 2023) and tech/data partners optimize capital, diversify risk and enable digital scale.

Product development at Great-West Lifeco is continuous across insurance, annuities, retirement and investment lines, with rapid iteration driven by platform data and A/B testing to shorten release cycles. Customer insights—drawn from digital engagement and surveys supporting over 21 million clients—shape features, fees and UX. Regulatory and tax changes are embedded into product structures to ensure compliance and tax efficiency.

Underwriting, pricing and actuarial analysis manage risk for ~26M customers (2024) to sustain margins. Investment & hedging teams oversee CAD 1.1T general account, matching assets to liabilities. Product, distribution and servicing support CAD 1.4T AUA with digital portals for 21M clients; cybersecurity and APIs enable secure scale.

Recordkeeping, policy administration, CRM and centralized data lakes form core technology assets that enable lifecycle management and analytics across Great-West Lifeco’s businesses. Scalable cloud infrastructure supports capacity spikes and rapid innovation through elastic compute and containerized deployments. Robust security tooling and governance protect client and financial data across jurisdictions. Integration layers and APIs shorten time-to-market for new products and partnerships.

Robust capitalization (CAD 1.1 trillion AUA in 2024) supports guarantees and growth; investment-grade ratings aid reinsurance and distribution. Brand scale via Empower (1T+ AUA), Putnam and Canada Life drives persistency across 20M+ customers in 10+ jurisdictions. Tech, ALM, actuarial and data teams enable liability matching, product delivery and regulatory compliance.

Empower leverages low fees, robust digital planning tools and fiduciary standards to drive competitive retirement outcomes, supporting roughly 16 million participants and about $1.3 trillion in assets under administration in 2024. Personalized advice and managed accounts have been linked to higher savings rates (roughly +1.8% on average) and better asset allocation. Seamless rollovers and tailored decumulation options reduce leakage and improve retirement income continuity, with benchmarked metrics showing higher replacement-rate outcomes versus industry averages.

Great-West Lifeco bundles life, health, retirement and investments into an integrated ecosystem managing CAD 1.6T AUA in 2024, reducing fragmentation and fees. Scale (CAD 1.2T AUM institutional) and A-range ratings support stability and capital efficiency. Empower serves ~16M participants with CAD 1.3T AUA, boosting retirement outcomes.

Financial-wellness content drives engagement, supporting Great-West Lifeco’s CAD 1.5 trillion in assets under administration (2024) by increasing participant interactions; managed accounts and advice lines guide decisions across record-keeping and advice platforms; lifecycle communications (open rates typically 25–35%) prompt timely actions like contribution increases and rebalancing; multilingual support in 15+ languages increases inclusivity.

Wholesaling, training and digital tools support advisors to serve over 16 million customers and CAD 1.1 trillion AUA (2024), improving efficiency and retention. SLAs, TPAs and dedicated desks speed complex cases while STP and nurse escalation reduce friction and claims cycle times. Analytics and personalization (lift 10–30%) plus lifecycle comms (open rates 25–35%) drive engagement; multilingual support (15+ languages) increases inclusivity.

Direct digital channels (consumer portals and apps) enable self-serve account opening and servicing for Great-West Lifeco (GWO), supporting its multi-jurisdictional client base; content marketing and SEO capture inbound demand while chat and call-backs bridge complex needs; e-signature is used to accelerate fulfillment and reduce paper handling across operations serving roughly 28 million customers (2024).

Independent advisors/MGAs, Empower (12M participants, $1.3T retirement AUM in 2024), direct digital portals (28M customers in 2024) and institutional RFPs (CAD 1.5T AUA) form core channels, supported by payroll/HRIS integrations, e-signature and regional wholesaling. Referrals, bank white-labels and branch networks expand mass-market reach (20M+ customers in 2024).

Large enterprises and public sector clients require solutions for complex retirement, benefits, and financial wellness needs, often spanning multi-location and unionized workforces that demand flexible plan design and administration.

Custom governance, reporting, and compliance frameworks are critical as fee transparency and measurable outcomes face heightened scrutiny from regulators and stakeholders; Great-West Lifeco reported approximately CAD 1.3 trillion in assets under administration in 2024, underscoring scale.

Individuals/families use life, health, annuities and investment solutions supported by Great-West Lifeco’s ~CAD 1.4 trillion assets under administration (2024). SMBs (98% of Canadian businesses, Statistics Canada 2024) seek group benefits and retirement plans with simple admin and bundled pricing. Large employers and public clients demand custom governance, reporting and compliance. Institutional investors and reinsurers require LDI/ESG mandates and bespoke treaties with investment-grade collateral (BBB- or higher).

Platform development, cloud migration and cybersecurity remained ongoing in 2024, supporting scale for policy administration, recordkeeping and data management across LifeCo’s businesses.

Automation initiatives in 2024 continued to drive down unit costs over time, with process robotics and straight-through processing reducing manual touchpoints.

Vendor spend in 2024 complemented in-house builds, allowing capacity bursts for cloud, data and security projects while preserving core platform ownership.

Life & health claims were the largest cost at CAD 43.3B in 2024, with underwriting, reinsurance and derivatives managing volatility; AUM near CAD 1.2T amplified scale benefits but raised custody and trading fees. Advisor compensation and distribution remain material acquisition costs; ~24,000 employees sustain actuarial, service and regulatory overhead. Rising funding costs pressured interest expense in 2024.

Empower earns per-participant and asset-based recordkeeping and admin fees, contributing to predictable recurring revenue; Empower reported about $1.0 trillion in assets under administration in 2024. Ancillary services such as managed accounts and brokerage add incremental fee income. Plan consulting and fiduciary advice generate separate advisory streams, while multi-year contract terms enhance revenue visibility and retention.

Life, health, disability and annuity premiums are Great‑West Lifeco’s core revenue drivers; 2024 Canadian individual life 13‑month persistency ~90% supporting LTV. Asset management fees via Putnam (AUM ~176B USD in 2024) and Empower recordkeeping (AUA ~1.0T USD in 2024) add recurring fees. Net investment income benefits from spread capture amid Canada 10y ~3.5% in 2024.