Security Benefit annuities

Overview

Security Benefit is a Topeka, Kansas, retirement company whose insurer, Security Benefit Life Insurance Company (SBL), sells annuities and nothing else to individuals; it has no life insurance profile on this site because it does not sell individual life insurance today. Its holding company, SBL Holdings, Inc., ranked #21 among U.S. groups by 2024 individual annuity direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $6.23 billion in premiums and a 1.48% market share.

The company is privately owned. Through Eldridge, the investment firm led by Todd Boehly, Boehly acquired ownership and control of Security Benefit on January 31, 2017, after an investor group led by Guggenheim Partners bought it in 2010. Douglas Wolff, president since 2011, is CEO of Security Benefit and of Eldridge Wealth Solutions, the Eldridge unit it sits in.

Security Benefit describes itself as a leader in overall fixed annuity sales, bank-channel fixed annuity sales, fixed indexed annuity sales and the K-12 education market. It has a long relationship with NEA Member Benefits, the National Education Association's member-services arm, which offers its retirement savings products to educators. It sells through independent agents, banks, broker-dealers and registered investment advisers, and through school-district 403(b) programs, rather than through its own agents.

Security Benefit Life is not licensed in New York and does not do business there. If you live in New York, its annuities are not available to you.

History

Security Benefit began as a fraternal society, the Knights and Ladies of Security, chartered in Topeka on February 22, 1892, by 11 men who each put in a dollar. On January 1, 1950, it converted to a mutual life insurance company. It introduced its first variable annuity in 1970 and the Variflex variable annuity, still sold, in 1984. In 2000 it became the exclusive provider of retirement savings products offered through the National Education Association.

The 2010 Guggenheim purchase ended its mutual era and changed its direction. Under new owners it launched its first fixed indexed annuity, the Secure Income Annuity, in 2011, and in 2016 launched RateTrack, which it calls the industry's first floating-rate annuity. The company says it set a sales record of more than $7 billion in 2023.

Annuities it sells

Security Benefit's lineup leans heavily toward fixed and fixed indexed annuities. None of the product pages on its site for individual buyers lists a lifetime income rider; the products are built for accumulation, with income coming from annuitization or withdrawals.

• Fixed indexed annuities. The Strategic Growth series (Strategic Growth, Strategic Growth Plus and Strategic Growth 7) has 42 index crediting options plus a fixed account, a $25,000 minimum, and 10-year surrender charges (7 years for Strategic Growth 7). Strategic Growth Plus adds a bonus on all purchases. An optional "Rate Buy Up" feature, available on contracts issued after January 9, 2023, offers better crediting terms on some index accounts. TopRidge Bonus has a 10-year surrender period (nine years in California) and a first-year premium bonus that is subject to a bonus recapture schedule, plus an optional cumulative free withdrawal rider. Foundations offers 5- and 7-year surrender periods and a 1% first-year bonus, and can be held in a 403(b). Blueprint, launched in June 2026, has 3- and 5-year surrender periods and an option to lock in fixed rates and index caps for the whole period. ClearLine, sold through registered investment advisers, is commission-free with no surrender charges, though a market value adjustment may apply.
• Multi-year guaranteed annuity. Advanced Choice Annuity locks a fixed rate for 3, 5 or 7 years, with a $10,000 minimum (how MYGAs work).
• Floating-rate fixed annuity. RateTrack credits a guaranteed base rate plus a rate tied to the 3-month CME Term SOFR benchmark, subject to a cap, over 5- or 7-year terms.
• 403(b) and payroll annuities. Total Interest Annuity is a fixed annuity for payroll deferrals of as little as $50 a month, with a 10-year surrender period and optional riders that waive surrender charges after early retirement or guarantee return of purchase payments.
• Variable annuities. SecureDesigns (about 90 funds, 7-year surrender schedule), EliteDesigns II (300-plus funds, no surrender charges, for fee-based advisers) and Variflex (40-plus funds, 8-year schedule). In these, you carry the investment risk.

The trade-offs are typical of indexed annuities and more pronounced on the bonus products. A premium bonus usually comes with a longer surrender period, recapture rules or lower crediting terms, and indexed crediting formulas with caps, spreads and participation rates are hard to compare across products. See annuity surrender charges and free withdrawals and fixed indexed annuities: caps, participation rates and trade-offs before you commit money for 7 to 10 years.

Ownership and reinsurance

Security Benefit is one of the annuity writers owned by an investment firm rather than by policyholders or public shareholders (see private equity's push into life insurance). That matters because such owners typically invest annuity money in higher-yielding, less liquid assets. In a 2021 interview with Retirement Income Journal, Security Benefit's chief investment officer said about 40% of its general account was in collateralized loan obligations, mostly BBB-rated tranches. Its ratings page reports $8.6 billion of total adjusted capital and $66.83 billion of total admitted assets at SBL as of June 30, 2026.

Reinsurance is part of the picture. Retirement Income Journal, analyzing 2021 statutory filings, reported that Security Benefit ceded $4.98 billion of 2021 premium to reinsurers and used SkyRidge Re, a Bermuda reinsurer tied to its parent. This profile could not verify current figures from a company or regulator source. Reinsurance does not change who owes your benefits: SBL remains responsible for its contracts. See Offshore reinsurance and Bermuda: why it matters to policyholders.

In 2019, buyers filed class actions alleging that Security Benefit misled them about proprietary indexes used in its Secure Income and Total Value indexed annuities; the company said it had substantial defenses. This profile could not confirm how the cases ended.

Financial strength

Security Benefit's ratings page lists, for Security Benefit Life Insurance Company: A- (Excellent) from AM Best (February 2026), A- (Strong) from Fitch (August 2026), A- (Strong) from S&P Global (September 2025) and A from Morningstar DBRS (September 2025). These are solid investment-grade ratings but a notch or more below the A+ to A++ ratings of the largest mutual and public annuity writers (AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Fitch ratings explained).

If an insurer fails, state guaranty associations protect annuity values up to state limits, commonly $250,000 per person per insurer. Check your state's limit with the state guaranty association coverage lookup.

Who it suits

Security Benefit suits savers who want principal protection with some index-linked growth and will hold the contract through its surrender period, people looking for a short MYGA or a floating-rate fixed annuity, advisory clients who want a no-surrender-charge indexed annuity through a registered investment adviser, and K-12 employees whose district offers its 403(b) products. It suits less well anyone who wants a guaranteed lifetime income rider, prefers an insurer rated A+ or higher, lives in New York, or wants a simple product they can compare easily.

• Strengths: a broad fixed and indexed lineup, including 3-year MYGA and indexed terms and a commission-free adviser product; a long track record in educator 403(b) plans; an A- (Strong) Fitch rating dated August 2026.
• Weaknesses: A- ratings, below many large competitors; private investment-firm ownership with a portfolio tilted toward structured credit; bonus products with 10-year surrender periods and recapture rules; no lifetime income rider listed on current products; not available in New York.

How to contact Security Benefit