Allianz Life annuities

Overview

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America is the U.S. life and annuity company of Allianz SE, the German insurer and asset manager. Its NAIC group ranked #4 among U.S. groups by 2024 individual annuity direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $22.23 billion in premiums and a 5.27% market share.

Allianz Life is based in the Minneapolis suburb of Golden Valley, Minnesota, and issues annuities in every state except New York, where Allianz Life Insurance Company of New York issues them. It sells only through financial professionals: independent insurance agents, broker-dealer representatives and, for its advisory products, fee-based investment advisers. Its registered products are distributed by its affiliate Allianz Life Financial Services, LLC.

Allianz is known first for fixed index annuities; the company says it became the top U.S. carrier of them in 2000, citing Wink's sales data. Its only life insurance product is an indexed universal life policy, covered in the Allianz Life insurance profile.

Annuities it sells

Allianz's annuity pages, checked in October 2026, say it offers two types: fixed index annuities and registered index-linked annuities. It does not list multi-year guaranteed annuities, immediate annuities or traditional variable annuities for new buyers.

Fixed index annuities. These protect your principal and credited interest from market losses while crediting interest based partly on an index. The current lineup:

• Allianz Benefit Control and Benefit Control+, built for growth with flexibility to switch to income later.
• Allianz 222+, which Allianz pitches to people who do not need retirement income for at least 10 years.
• Accumulation Advantage (including Accumulation Advantage 5, 7, + and Classic), aimed at accumulation.
• Core Income 7, sold with the Core Income Benefit rider at an additional cost, and Essential Income 7, both focused on lifetime income.
• Retirement Foundation ADV, a fee-based version for advisory platforms with guaranteed lifetime income and potential income increases.

Many of these rely on a lifetime income rider or a bonus. Allianz's own disclosures note that rider charges reduce contract value and can cause a loss of principal and interest in a year when credited interest is lower than the fee. Across the industry, bonus amounts are typically paid for through longer withdrawal charge schedules or lower crediting; see bonus annuity and guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit riders.

Registered index-linked annuities. Index Advantage+ and Index Advantage+ NF focus on accumulation with a level of protection through multiple index options. Index Advantage+ Income, Index Advantage+ Select Income and the advisory Index Advantage Income ADV add lifetime income. A RILA can lose principal when losses exceed its protection level and is sold by prospectus.

This page does not quote caps, participation rates or rider percentages; they change often. Indexed annuities are long-term contracts: withdrawals above the free amount during the withdrawal charge period cost a surrender charge, and some contracts also apply a market value adjustment. See annuity surrender charges and free withdrawals.

Ownership and reinsurance

Allianz Life is wholly owned by Allianz SE of Munich, one of the world's largest insurers. A large foreign parent can be a source of capital support, although it has no legal obligation to pay the U.S. company's contract holders.

In January 2022 Allianz completed a reinsurance deal covering about $35 billion of Allianz Life's fixed index annuity liabilities with Resolution Life and affiliates of Sixth Street, including Talcott Resolution. Allianz Life kept administering those contracts and remains responsible to contract holders, so owners still deal with Allianz. The Offshore reinsurance and Bermuda: why it matters to policyholders guide explains why regulators watch deals in which annuity risk moves to investment-backed reinsurers.

Sales-practice history. In January 2007 the Minnesota attorney general sued Allianz Life, alleging it sold deferred annuities to seniors without checking suitability and without adequately disclosing that money could be tied up for as long as 15 years. In the October 2007 settlement, Allianz admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to let Minnesotans who bought a deferred annuity at 65 or older since 2001 seek a refund without penalty, and to add extra screening for future sales. Our guides to annuity sales abuses targeting seniors and best interest rules for annuity sales explain the protections that apply today.

In July 2025 an attacker took personal data on most of Allianz Life's roughly 1.4 million U.S. customers from a third-party customer system; the life profile has details.

Financial strength

According to Allianz Life's ratings page, AM Best affirmed its A+ (Superior) rating in March 2026, S&P Global affirmed AA (Very Strong) in March 2026, and Moody's affirmed Aa3 in September 2025. The company does not publish a Fitch rating.

If an insurer fails, your state guaranty association covers annuity values up to a limit, commonly $250,000 per person per insurer, though limits vary. Check yours with the state guaranty association coverage lookup.

Who it suits

Allianz suits buyers working with a financial professional who want a fixed index annuity or a RILA, especially one built around a lifetime income rider, from a highly rated insurer with a large parent. It suits less well people who want a plain multi-year fixed rate, an immediate annuity, a direct purchase, or a contract they can fully understand without reading a long disclosure.

• Strengths: A+ from AM Best and AA from S&P (both March 2026); decades of experience with indexed annuities; a broad choice of accumulation and income designs, including fee-based versions; a separate New York company.
• Weaknesses: Only indexed and buffered products, no MYGA or immediate annuity; many products depend on riders or bonuses that add cost and complexity; a 2007 senior-suitability settlement in Minnesota; a large 2025 customer data breach.

How to contact Allianz Life