Ranked as a Best Annuity Company of 2024
Allianz Life
Our Take
Allianz Life offers several fixed index annuities and RILAs, with some fixed index offerings providing immediate income as well. It ranked above industry average in the 2024 J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index.
Pros
- Strong financial stability
- Great variety of fixed index products
Cons
- Lack of simple fixed options or immediate options
Ratings and Reviews for Allianz Life
Allianz Life holds strong ratings from three of the major credit rating agencies. Credit ratings for annuity providers can help determine a company’s financial strength and stability — an indication that it will be around to guarantee payments to you in the future.
Allianz Life Credit Ratings
| Rating Company | Credit Rating |
| AM Best | A+ |
| Moody’s | Aa3 |
| S&P | AA |
Annuity agents who’ve worked with Allianz praise the company’s wide variety of product offerings. “They essentially have an option for everything that you could want — a product for every outcome,” Jonathan Varner, a licensed health and life insurance agent, told Annuity.org. “
David Lau, founder and CEO of DPL Financial Partners, told Investment News, “Allianz is a great partner. They’ve invested a lot into this space to make their products workable, usable and attractive RIA models.”
Despite these beneficial qualities, Allianz’s customer service reputation is not as good as some of its competitors. The company received a score of 657 in the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index Rating, which put it above the industry average but behind key competitors like F&G and MassMutual.
Allianz Life, however, does have a strong NAIC Complaint Index score, which means that it had fewer complaints than expected, given its presence in the market.
The NAIC tracks consumer complaints each state’s insurance commission receives each year. These are used to compile a company’s NAIC Complaint Index.
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NAIC Complaint Index for Allianz Life
| All Policy Types | 0.12 |
| Individual Annuities Only | 0.82 |
These numbers indicate that Allianz Life has received fewer complaints than the industry average.
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Products Offered by Allianz Life
Allianz Life primarily offers fixed index annuities and registered index-linked annuities (RILAS). The company provides a strong variety of options in each category, with different products corresponding to different goals.
Fixed Index Annuities
Allianz Life lists seven different types of fixed index annuities available, with most of them catering to specific needs. The Accumulation Advantage® annuity, for example, prioritizes accumulation while the Core Income 7® annuity is geared towards helping cover core retirement expenses.
Allianz Life Fixed Index Annuities
| Product | Main Benefit |
| Benefit Control Annuity | More access to your money |
| Allianz 222 | Access to income increases |
| Allianz 360 | More income the longer you wait |
| Core 7 Income Annuity | Covers core retirement expenses |
| Essential Income 7 | Focuses on essential expenses |
| Retirement Foundation ADV | Guaranteed income through an advisory platform |
| Accumulation Advantage | Focuses on accumulation |
Benefit Control Annuity
One of Allianz’s main products is its Benefit Control® annuity. Lack of liquidity is a major concern for many prospective annuity buyers, and this product helps assuage some of those concerns with more access to your money.
If you’re over 50, then Benefit Control can essentially function as an immediate annuity, giving you the option to start making withdrawals right away. Your beneficiary can also have access to a death benefit before the annuity has matured, either in a lump sum or over at least five years.
Benefit Control has several strong features, including a 25% premium bonus on any money placed into the annuity in the first 18 months of the contract.
“The Allianz Benefit Control does one of the best jobs [of combatting inflation],” Federal Retirement Advisor Ken Orenstein told Annuity.org. “It also has an impairment doubler should the person become impaired. That’s a real strong product.”
Other Fixed Index Annuities
- The Allianz 222® includes many similar features to Benefit Control, with payments beginning after 10 contract years. Like Benefit Control, it includes a rider that can double your annual withdrawal if you move to a nursing home, assisted living facility or are hospitalized.
- The Allianz 360TM is an advantageous choice for those planning to save for a long time. Once you turn 40, your lifetime income withdrawal percentage will rise every year you wait to begin taking payments. Simply put, the longer you wait, the bigger your payments will be.
- The Core Income 7®‘s Core Income Benefit rider focuses on combating inflation with automatic withdrawal percentage increases starting at age 45.
- The Essential Income 7® offers a more simplified route with just two index allocation options.
- The Retirement Foundation ADV® is available through an advisory platform and has an option for taking income immediately if you’re at least 50 years old.
- The Accumulation Advantage® features a wide range of index options, innovative crediting methods and an Index Lock option that lets you lock in the index’s value at any point during the crediting period.
Registered Index-Linked Annuities
In addition to fixed index annuities, Allianz Life offers several variations of its RILA products. While less diverse than its fixed index offerings, there are several different routes to consider.
Indexed Offered Across RILAs (options vary by term and product)
- S&P 500
- Russell 2000
- Nasdaq-100
- iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF
- Euro STOXX 50
The main offering is Allianz Index Advantage+℠. There are several different terms and strategies available through the product. For the multi-year term, there are both three-year and six-year options with either 10% or 20% for three years and a 10% buffer for six years.
One-year terms and specific strategies are also offered, which have access to more indexes. Allianz Index Advantage+ NF℠ is a similar option with no product fee. Allianz Index Advantage ADV® works in an advisory platform, providing just one-year and three-year terms.
Additionally, Allianz Life offers two other RILA options that are listed under “Income Solutions.” These products are aimed less specifically at retirement saving and more at growing assets while still providing lifetime income.
The first of these options is Index Advantage+ Income℠, which includes an income benefit rider to provide guaranteed income. The other option – Index Advantage Income ADV® – works through an advisory platform.
| Product | Main Benefit |
| Index Advantage+SM | Indexed return potential with lifetime income options |
| Index Advantage+ NFSM | Growth accumulation with no product fee |
| Index Advantage ADV® | Asset growth through an advisory platform |
| Index Advantage+ IncomeSM | Long-term growth potential with an income benefit rider |
| Index Advantage Income ADV® | Lifetime income potential through an advisory platform |
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Allianz Life Pros & Cons
One big pro of Allianz Life is just how secure of a company it is. Already a strong provider, Allianz is a trustworthy company owned and backed by a major international conglomerate. Typically, customers may be worried about financial security when committing to an annuity, but that is far from a concern with Allianz Life.
Another area where the company truly shines is with its fixed index offerings. The sheer volume of products available is impressive, with many different variations and riders available to help potential customers match with the exact product that fits their situation.
“If you want to defer income for 10 years, build a cash account, they’ve got a product that works well for that,” Varner said. “If you want to defer money for a while in a fixed index annuity and eventually take lifetime income, they have a product that’s specialized for that.”
But, like any company, there are drawbacks to consider with Allianz Life as well. While its fixed index offerings are strong, there aren’t a ton of other options available. RILAs are available, but there are no straightforward fixed offerings, and “immediate” annuities are only available through a couple of types of fixed index annuities that can pay out immediately if you are over 50.
Another drawback is the company’s J.D. Power customer satisfaction score, which is below the industry average.
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About Allianz Life
Allianz Life, which is based in Minnesota, was originally founded in 1896 as North American Casualty, making it a very old and stable financial institution.
The company was acquired by the major German corporation Allianz in 1979 and adopted its current identity in 1993. Today, Allianz Life is a subsidiary of the parent company Allianz SE.
Allianz Life company has long been one of the major carriers of fixed-index annuities – becoming the No. 1 carrier in the United States in 2008 – and currently has more than $125 billion in assets under management.
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.
Top-Ranked Annuity Providers
| Provider | Annuity.org Star Rating |
| Mass Mutual |  |
| New York Life | |
| Pacific Life | |
| Midland National | |
| North American | |
| Western & Southern | |
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