Kaufman and Broad prospered during the 1960s boom years in the housing market, and by the end of the decade, the company was looking for ways to diversify its operations and protect itself from downswings in the volatile housing market.

Kaufman and Broad had been started in 1957 by Eli Broad, who joined with Detroit-area builder Donald Kaufman to form a housing construction firm. This company started on the path that led to the formation of SunAmerica on November 19, 1971, when it was purchased by the Kaufman and Broad Building Company. The earliest incarnation of SunAmerica was the Sun Life Insurance Company of America, which was founded in 1890 in Baltimore. In the late 1980s, the company was separated from the home building business, and it grew rapidly as a purely financial business. Over time, SunAmerica evolved from a general life insurance provider to a specialist in retirement planning.

SunAmerica began as a subsidiary of a house building company that sought to diversify its activities and cushion the impact of cyclical financial trends on its business. SunAmerica Inc., among the nation's largest life insurers, is also a financial services company, offering retirement planning and savings products as well as retirement annuities.