Athene’s Amplify contract is not your typical RILA. Like other RILAs, the Athene Amplify contract gives you upside potential with downside protection. The difference is that the upside potential in the Amplify contract is greater than any other contract on the market due to their enhanced participation rate. For example, right now you can build the contract to participate in the S&P 500 Index with no cap on growth and a 125% upside participation rate. On the downside with this option, you still have a 20% buffer built in to protect against losses.
This specific build is a 6-year point-to-point term like many other RILAs out there. But I want to be clear about one thing because it slipped by me the first time I looked into the contract, as I was used to the way just about every other RILA works. The 125% is not a cap. The design I mentioned above is an uncapped design. The contract is giving you 125% of your index returns and a downside protection of 20%. In comparison, where other RILAs may give you a cap of around 200% growth on 20% downside protection, Athene’s Amplify contract will not cap the growth and it will add 25% to whatever that uncapped growth number is.
Is this too good to be true? No, but it is too good to be free and that takes us to a second difference between the Athene Amplify contract and most other RILAs. The Athene Amplify contract described above does carry a 0.95% annual charge. So, I guess you would have to ask yourself one question when considering a variable index annuity. Do you want one with no explicit fees to the client, or is 0.95% a year worth an extra 25% added to your earnings?
For more information on the Athene Amplify contract, please click on the links below and/or contact the Athene annuity sales desk at (888) 266-8489.
