“There's this age-old expression that says: don't change for change's sake, change to solve a problem.”
— Colin Lake, President & CEO, Delaware Life Marketing
In a recent Asset TV Interview, Colin Lake, President and CEO of Delaware Life Marketing, shared how the company is leading the industry forward with the launch of the first fixed indexed annuity (FIA) with Bitcoin exposure, powered by BlackRock's IBIT index.
The Challenge: An Industry Overdue for Bold Innovation
For decades, the annuity industry has been known for being steady and reliable—but slow to change. FIAs and RILAs have grown significantly, now making up 44% of total annuity sales compared to just 23% in 2025.1 Yet most products still rely on the same well-known indexes, with only small changes over time rather than incorporating bold innovations. Colin shares demographic data driving this demand and discusses how today’s investors are facing unprecedented pressures:
- Peak 65: Record numbers of Americans reaching retirement age
- Longer retirements: People are living longer and need their savings to last
- Market volatility: Traditional portfolios face new challenges
- Evolving expectations: Younger investors want access to innovative assets like cryptocurrency
Delaware Life's Solution: Innovation Meets Protection
To address these needs, Colin explains how Delaware Life has partnered with BlackRock, Inc. — the world's largest asset manager — to incorporate BlackRock's IBIT Bitcoin index into its FIA product suite.
This partnership introduces cryptocurrency-linked return potential within the structural framework of an FIA, a product that carries a contractual principal protection. The result is that policyholders can gain exposure to the digital asset class without the operational burdens or emotional volatility that accompany direct cryptocurrency ownership.
Colin frames this as a natural extension of Delaware Life's founding philosophy: innovating not for its own sake, but to solve real problems facing today's retirees.
What This Means for Policyholders
Colin outlines three core benefits of the initiative:
- A New, Previously Inaccessible Return Stream – Cryptocurrency-linked indices introduce a diversified source of potential returns that was previously unavailable in the insurance product landscape.
- Alignment with Evolving Client Expectations – The offering is designed to meet the preferences of both current retirees and the next generation of retirement savers, who increasingly seek exposure to non-traditional and diversified asset classes.
- Institutional-Grade Investment Oversight – Partnering with BlackRock brings sophisticated, risk-managed indexing to everyday retirement planning—combining innovation with the principal protection that defines the FIA structure.
Conclusion
Delaware Life is positioning itself at the intersection of product innovation and demographic necessity. By partnering with BlackRock to embed Bitcoin-linked index crediting within the FIA framework, Delaware Life aims to serve an expanding retiree population with solutions that are both forward-looking and grounded in the foundational protections that have long defined annuities.
Today's retirees and those approaching retirement are more aware of digital assets than any generation before them. They want innovation on the upside and protection on the downside.
Watch the full AssetTV interview to learn how Delaware Life is redefining retirement solutions with the industry's first Bitcoin-linked fixed indexed annuity.