Delaware Life annuities

Overview

Delaware Life Insurance Company is the main annuity insurer of Group 1001, a group of insurance companies based in Zionsville, Indiana, just outside Indianapolis. The Group 1001 Insurance Holdings group ranked #17 among U.S. groups by 2024 individual annuity direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $8.14 billion in premiums and a 1.93% share. Delaware Life says it passed $40 billion in cumulative annuity sales in November 2025.

The company is domiciled in Delaware and licensed in every state except New York, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It has no captive agents. Its annuities reach buyers through independent marketing organizations (IMOs) and the agents who work with them, and through banks and broker-dealers. It is known mainly for fixed indexed annuities: caps, participation rates and trade-offs, many with built-in or optional income riders.

In 2026 Delaware Life disclosed that a large share of its investments had been reclassified as affiliated with its owners, and that it had received a federal grand jury subpoena. AM Best, S&P and Fitch all took negative rating actions in July 2026. Those events are covered below.

Annuities it sells

As of October 2026 Delaware Life's website listed 11 indexed annuities and two multi-year guaranteed annuities:

• Fixed indexed annuities for growth: Growth Pathway, Target Growth 10, Momentum Growth, Momentum Growth Plus and PrimeStart Bonus 10. These credit interest based partly on an index, with a floor of zero in a down year, and carry multi-year surrender charges.
• TrackGuard+, launched July 27, 2026, is a bonus fixed indexed annuity sold through IMOs. It credits an upfront premium bonus that can be taken back (recaptured) if you surrender during the surrender period. It charges a 0.95% annual fee during that period and guarantees a minimum surrender value from year 5. Its index menu includes volatility-controlled and proprietary bank indexes and a BlackRock index that combines U.S. stocks and bitcoin exposure.
• Fixed indexed annuities built for income: DualTrack Income requires a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit riders rider at issue, for an added charge. The rider tracks a roll-up base and a performance base and pays income on whichever is higher. Target Income Choice offers two lifetime withdrawal riders, RetireReady and RetireBuild. TruePath Income and Retirement Stages Select are also marketed for retirement income. The income riders include a Chronic Illness Income Multiplier that can increase withdrawals for a period if you qualify, where available.
• MYGAs: Apex MYGA lets you split money across more than one interest guarantee period. Pinnacle Plus MYGA offers a choice of several guarantee periods. The site does not list the period lengths.

Delaware Life no longer sells variable annuities, but it services about 70 older variable annuity products under names such as Keyport, Regatta, Futurity, Masters and Columbia All-Star. These came from the company's years as Sun Life's U.S. annuity business.

The trade-offs are typical of indexed products sold through independent agents. Bonuses are usually paid for with longer surrender periods, recapture rules, fees or lower crediting. Proprietary and volatility-controlled indexes are hard to compare across companies. Income riders add a cost that comes out of your account value. Read our best interest rules for annuity sales guide for what an agent must document before recommending one.

Ownership and reinsurance

Delaware Life began in its current form on August 2, 2013, when Delaware Life Holdings, a company controlled by Mark Walter and Todd Boehly, completed its purchase of Sun Life Financial's U.S. annuity business. The insurer, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.), was renamed Delaware Life. Today it belongs to Group 1001 Insurance Holdings, LLC, which also owns Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company and Gainbridge Life Insurance Company, a direct-to-consumer annuity seller. Delaware Life names TWG Global as its parent. Group 1001 reported $86.1 billion in combined assets under management and more than 540,000 active contracts as of March 31, 2026.

Affiliated investments. In June 2026 Delaware Life disclosed that it had reclassified a large part of its private credit investments from unaffiliated to affiliated, because their returns depended mostly on the performance of affiliated companies. Restated, affiliated assets were $18.3 billion, or 42% of general account invested assets, at the end of 2025. That was up from 3% as originally reported, according to AM Best. At June 30, 2026, they were 39%. In February 2026 the company received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and the SEC is running a parallel investigation into affiliated and related-party disclosures.

Under an August 17, 2026 agreement with TWG, Delaware Life plans to exchange up to $6.5 billion of those holdings. It says regulators approved a first set of about $3.8 billion on October 22, 2026. It targets 20% to 25% affiliated assets by the end of 2026 and under 10% by June 30, 2027. Delaware Life says no regulator has required these targets.

Policyholder lawsuits. Two proposed class actions followed, both in federal court in Florida. In September 2026 a TruePath Income annuity owner sued Delaware Life, Group 1001, TWG Global, Guggenheim Partners and Mark Walter, alleging the company understated its related-party investments. On October 7, 2026 a second suit was filed in the Southern District of Florida against Delaware Life, Clear Spring Life and Annuity, their parent and affiliated companies, Guggenheim Partners and Walter on behalf of MYGA and fixed indexed annuity buyers from 2019 to June 26, 2026; it alleges the defendants hid the extent of investments tied to Walter-related businesses and so misrepresented the insurers' financial strength, and it seeks the return of surrender charges and market value adjustments for owners who surrendered. Group 1001 said no court has found wrongdoing and that it will defend the cases vigorously. These are allegations; no court had ruled on them as of October 24, 2026.

Why it matters: the investments backing a fixed or indexed annuity are what pay its guarantees. Heavy investment in companies tied to an insurer's owners concentrates risk and makes the balance sheet harder for outsiders to judge. Our private equity's push into life insurance guide explains the wider trend.

Financial strength

On July 31, 2026, AM Best affirmed Delaware Life's A- (Excellent) financial strength rating but revised the outlook to negative from positive. It cited the reclassification, a material drop in the group's risk-adjusted capital at the end of 2025, execution risk in the remediation plan, internal control weaknesses in financial reporting and the federal investigation. The same month, S&P affirmed its A- rating with a negative outlook, and Fitch placed its ratings on Rating Watch Negative. Fitch said the restated affiliated exposure was the highest among the North American life insurers it rated at the end of 2025. See AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Fitch ratings explained for what these grades mean.

If an insurer fails, your state guaranty association protects annuity values up to a limit, commonly $250,000 per person per insurer. Look up your state's limit with our state guaranty association coverage lookup.

Who it suits

Delaware Life suits buyers working with an independent agent who want a fixed indexed annuity with a lifetime income rider, or a MYGA, from a company with a long annuity record. Existing owners of older Sun Life and Keyport variable annuities will also find their contracts serviced here. It is a weaker fit for anyone who puts rating stability first, who wants a variable annuity or RILA, or who lives in New York, where it does not sell.

• Strengths: a broad lineup of fixed indexed annuities with income riders, including a chronic illness income multiplier; MYGAs with a choice of guarantee periods; sold through banks and broker-dealers as well as IMOs; licensed in 49 states, D.C. and U.S. territories.
• Weaknesses: AM Best, S&P and Fitch all took negative rating actions in July 2026; affiliated investments were 39% of invested assets in mid-2026 and the subject of federal inquiries and two proposed class actions; bonus products come with recapture schedules and fees; not available in New York.

How to contact Delaware Life