Transamerica At a Glance: Rates, Products and Reviews

3.6

Annuity.org Star Rating

Transamerica

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Our Take

Transamerica might be a good provider choice for a customizable variable annuity with low minimum flexible premiums, but be aware that the company has a poor track record for customer satisfaction.

Pros

• Low minimum premiums
• Wide availability
• Strong financial stability ratings

Cons

• Limited product variety
• Poor customer satisfaction ratings

Products Offered by Transamerica

The types of annuities Transamerica offers include several variable annuities, as well as a registered index-linked annuity (RILA), which Transamerica refers to as a structured annuity.

Transamerica’s Variable Annuities

Transamerica sells four variable annuity products, including one designed for fee-based accounts.

• Transamerica B-Share is a flexible premium variable annuity with a seven-year surrender charge schedule. B-Share annuity owners can customize their contract with an investment-only strategy, living benefits and death benefits. The annuity has a minimum initial premium of $1,000 for qualified accounts and $5,000 for non-qualified accounts. Fees for this annuity vary depending on the death benefit chosen for the contract, ranging from 1.15% to 1.50%.
• Transamerica Principium^SM IV is a flexible premium variable annuity with a five-year surrender charge schedule. Principium^SM IV offers similar living benefit and death benefit options to the B-Share, but the fees associated with this annuity are somewhat lower, ranging from 0.85% to 1.20%. The annuity has a minimum initial premium of $1,000 for qualified accounts and $5,000 for non-qualified accounts.
• Transamerica Axiom^SM III is only available for exclusive distribution with Transamerica. This flexible premium variable annuity has a five-year surrender charge schedule and a minimum initial premium of $1,000 for qualified accounts and $5,000 for non-qualified accounts. Fees for this annuity range from 1.00% to 1.35% depending on the death benefit selected.
• Transamerica I-Share II is a flexible premium variable annuity built for clients working with a fee-based financial advisor. The annuity has a minimum initial premium of $1,000 for qualified accounts and $5,000 for non-qualified accounts. Fees for this annuity range from 0.20% to 0.60% depending on the death benefit selected.

Transamerica’s RILA

Transamerica also offers the Transamerica Structured Index Advantage^®, a registered index-linked annuity with crediting periods of one year, two years or six years.

In addition to choosing a crediting period, Structured Index Advantage^® customers can choose one or more indexes to allocate their investment to, as well as a fixed account option with a guaranteed rate of return. The product also allows owners to set a protection buffer of 10%, 15% or 20% to guard against market downturns.

The Structured Index Advantage^® can be customized with even more benefits at an additional charge, such as a return of premium death benefit, an increased participation strategy and a performance lock feature that locks in an index value at any time before the end of the crediting period.

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About Transamerica

Transamerica was founded in 1906 in San Francisco, California. The international financial organization Aegon Ltd. acquired Transamerica in 1999. Today, Transamerica sells annuities and insurance products in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

In 2022, Transamerica sold over $844 million in individual annuity premiums, owning 0.30% of the U.S. annuity market, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Credit Ratings

An annuity provider’s credit rating represents the company’s financial strength and stability. These ratings are issued by independent credit rating agencies such as AM Best and Fitch Ratings. Annuity customers should consider the financial stability of any provider they consider, as these ratings can also point to how likely the provider is to meet their end of an annuity contract.

Transamerica’s Credit Ratings

What Customers Are Saying About Transamerica

Transamerica has had a poor track record when it comes to customer satisfaction. According to the NAIC, seven annuity customers reported complaints about Transamerica to state insurance commissions in 2022. Thirty-seven annuity customers made complaints about Transamerica in 2021, and seven in 2020.

The NAIC tracks consumer complaints that each state’s insurance commission receives each year. These are used to compile a company’s NAIC Complaint Index.NAIC Complaint IndexDetermined by dividing the company’s share of complaints in the U.S. market by the company’s share of premiums in the U.S. market. The National Complaint Index is always 1.00, so a score of 2.00, for example, is twice as high as expected in the market.

NAIC Complaint Index for Transamerica

These numbers indicate that Transamerica received far more complaints than the industry average.

Transamerica’s life insurance division scored low on the 2023 J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking, which measures the overall customer satisfaction of insurance companies and annuity providers. Transamerica scored a 757, which is well below the study average of 790 and the third-lowest score overall.

Transamerica Pros & Cons

Before purchasing an annuity from any provider, it’s important to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the company and its products. Take a look at some of the pros and cons of Transamerica and its annuities.

Pros

• Low minimum premiums: Transamerica’s annuities have minimum premiums as low as $1,000.
• Wide availability: Transamerica sells annuities in all 50 states and D.C.
• Strong financial stability ratings: Transamerica holds excellent financial strength ratings from several top credit rating agencies.

Cons

• Limited product variety: Transamerica only sells variable annuities and one RILA product.
• Poor customer satisfaction ratings: Transamerica has had several consumer complaints reported to state insurance commissions and the company ranked poorly on the 2023 J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index.

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Provider Rating Methodology

Annuity.org created a fact-based methodology to analyze the strength, security and reach of different annuity providers. We assessed companies based on their availability, the number of direct premiums sold, their AM Best Financial Strength Rating and their NAIC Complaint Index score.

Providers received a rating on a five-star scale for each of these categories, with the complaint index and financial strength ratings weighed as the heaviest variables. Then, using a weighted average, each company was assigned an overall star rating.

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Our Rating Panel

The Annuity.org editorial team spoke with several different annuity experts to learn more about what is important to customers when searching for a provider and what factors make a company reliable. While Annuity.org designed the methodology, these experts provided feedback during the process and consulted on what factors we should leverage to best help prospective buyers compare providers.