Athene annuities

Overview

Athene is the largest writer of individual annuities in the United States. Its NAIC group, filed under the name of its owner, Apollo Global Management, ranked #1 among U.S. groups by 2024 individual annuity direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $36.40 billion in premiums and an 8.63% market share. Athene also says it had the No. 1 share of U.S. annuity sales in 2025, based on LIMRA's survey.

Athene Annuity and Life Company, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, issues its annuities in every state except New York, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of New York issues contracts to New York residents. Athene does not sell life insurance; its life insurance profile covers the older life blocks it services, its history and its claim process.

You cannot buy from Athene directly. Its annuities are sold through independent financial professionals, banks and broker-dealers, who are paid commissions. Its registered products are distributed by its affiliate Athene Securities, LLC. Athene is known mainly for fixed indexed annuities and multi-year guaranteed annuities, and on the institutional side for pension risk transfer and funding agreements.

Annuities it sells

Athene's product pages, checked in October 2026, list five retail annuity types. It does not sell traditional variable annuities.

• Fixed indexed annuities. Athene's largest line. Current products include Athene Performance Elite (and the Performance Elite Plus bonus version, with an Enhanced Liquidity Rider), Athene Agility (with an income and death benefit rider), Athene Ascent Pro and Ascent Pro 10 Bonus (with the Athene Ascent Income Rider), Athene AccuMax, Athene Accumulator, Athene Aviator and Athene Protector (with optional minimum interest credit and return of premium riders). Your money is not invested in the index; interest is credited partly on index performance, and you are protected from losses when the index falls. Athene says its riders for lifetime income, extra liquidity or an enhanced death benefit vary by product and often cost extra.
• Registered index-linked annuities. Athene Amplify 2.0 and Amplify 3.0 offer buffer, trigger, dual-direction and fixed segment options. A RILA gives more upside potential than an indexed annuity, but you absorb losses beyond the buffer, so you can lose principal. Only securities-licensed professionals can sell them, and a prospectus is required.
• Multi-year guaranteed annuities. Athene MYG and Athene MYG Assure credit a fixed rate for the term you pick; Athene's fixed annuity page describes three-, five- and seven-year terms, with a withdrawal charge period equal to the term. Additional premiums are not allowed on MYG Assure. Athene MaxRate is a fixed annuity that Athene pitches for growth, income or both. See our guide to MYGAs.
• Immediate annuities. Athene Activate is a single premium immediate annuity with period-certain (5 to 30 years), single life, joint life, cash refund and installment refund payout options, paid monthly, quarterly, semiannually or annually.
• Structured settlement and pension group annuities. These are sold to injury-settlement parties and employers rather than to individual savers. If your employer moved your pension to Athene, see pension risk transfer: when your pension becomes an annuity.

Athene does not publish its rates in a way that stays current, and they change often, so this page does not list them. Indexed annuities are complex: the cap, participation rate and spread can be reset each term, and withdrawals above the free amount during the surrender period cost a surrender charge and, on many contracts, a market value adjustment. Read the Certificate of Disclosure or prospectus before you sign, and see annuity surrender charges and free withdrawals.

Ownership and reinsurance

Apollo Global Management has owned 100% of Athene since its merger with Athene closed on January 1, 2022. Athene Holding Ltd. is domiciled in Bermuda and owns two Bermuda reinsurers, Athene Life Re Ltd. and Athene Annuity Re Ltd. Athene's site notes that reinsurance contracts are written by those Bermuda companies as well as by its U.S. insurers.

Athene also uses "sidecar" capital raised by Apollo from outside investors. Its Athene Co-Invest Reinsurance Affiliate (ACRA), launched in 2019, reinsures a share of qualifying business, and in February 2023 Athene announced a $2 billion first close for a second program, ADIP II, investing in ACRA 2. Athene describes ACRA as a consolidated subsidiary managed to the same risk, investment and capital standards as Athene.

Why this matters to you: your contract is a promise from the U.S. company that issued it, and that company remains responsible for paying you even if it reinsures part of the risk offshore. Critics argue that private-equity ownership, affiliated asset management and Bermuda reinsurance make an insurer's finances harder for regulators and buyers to see; supporters say the structure lets Athene offer competitive guarantees. Our guides to private equity's push into life insurance and Offshore reinsurance and Bermuda: why it matters to policyholders set out both sides.

Regulatory record: in April 2020 the New York Department of Financial Services fined Athene $45 million for doing pension risk transfer business in New York without a license, covering 14 large transactions. That business moved to the New York subsidiary. The action concerned pension deals, not retail annuity sales.

Financial strength

In August 2026 AM Best affirmed the A+ (Superior) financial strength rating of Athene's insurers, with a stable outlook. Athene's website also shows A+ (Strong) from S&P (August 2025), A+ (Strong) from Fitch (August 2026) and A1 (Good) from Moody's (July 2025).

If an insurer fails, your state's life and health guaranty association covers annuity values up to a limit, commonly $250,000 in present value per person per insurer, though limits vary by state. Use our state guaranty association coverage lookup to check yours. Reinsurance contracts themselves are not covered by guaranty associations, as Athene's own disclosures note, but your annuity with the U.S. issuer is.

Who it suits

Athene suits savers who want a fixed indexed annuity, a buffered RILA or a MYGA from the largest issuer in the market, and who buy through an adviser they trust to explain the product. It is a poor match if you want to buy direct, want a traditional variable annuity with subaccounts, or prefer not to rely on a private-equity-owned insurer that uses Bermuda reinsurance.

• Strengths: A+ ratings from AM Best, S&P and Fitch and A1 from Moody's; the biggest individual annuity writer by 2024 NAIC premiums; a broad lineup of indexed, buffered, fixed and immediate annuities; separate New York company.
• Weaknesses: Sold only through commissioned professionals; indexed products are complex and carry multi-year surrender charges; Apollo ownership, sidecar capital and Bermuda affiliates draw regulatory scrutiny; a 2020 New York penalty for unlicensed pension business.

How to contact Athene