American National Strategy Indexed Annuity PLUS 10 – Lifetime Income and Indexed Growth with Built-In Safety

The BNPP Patriot Technology Index was developed by American National in collaboration with BNP Paribas and launched in July 2024. It is composed of U.S. large and mid-cap technology companies aligned with 14 critical and emerging technologies identified by the U.S. government as being important to national security-related activities. The 14 categories include areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced computing, quantum information science, semiconductors, space technology, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and related fields. The index is designed to capture companies positioned to benefit from strategic government investment and policy focus on maintaining U.S. technological leadership in these priority areas. This is fundamentally different from the S&P 500 (broad large-cap U.S. equity market, market-cap weighted, sector-agnostic) and the Nasdaq-100 (100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq exchange, heavily weighted toward technology but without the national security alignment filter). The Patriot Technology Index is exclusive to American National’s annuity products — it is not available on other carriers’ FIA contracts, making it a product-specific differentiator. As with all proprietary FIA index strategies, evaluating the Patriot Technology Index requires reviewing its construction methodology, historical performance net of any embedded costs, and correlation with other strategies in your allocation — not just the thematic story. If you are concentrating allocation in technology-sector indices, the Patriot Technology Index, Nasdaq-100, and any other tech-heavy strategy in your allocation may have overlapping risk characteristics that should be modeled explicitly before finalizing your index selections.

The Strategy PLUS 10 is a flexible-premium indexed annuity — meaning the contract accepts both an initial premium and ongoing subsequent contributions throughout the contract period, subject to minimums. This distinguishes it from the majority of competing income and accumulation FIAs reviewed in this series, which are single-premium products: the Aspida Synergy Choice Bonus, the Delaware Life PrimeStart Bonus 10, and all income FIA products discussed in this session accept only the initial premium. Subsequent contributions on the Strategy PLUS 10 are available at $100/month via EFT (or $1,000 non-EFT, $300 quarterly, $600 semi-annually, $1,200 annually), allowing buyers to systematically build their annuity value over time. The flexible premium structure is beneficial in several specific planning scenarios. Buyers who have a lump sum to deploy initially but also expect ongoing contributions — for example, an annual bonus, maturing CD proceeds, or scheduled asset reallocation — can continue adding to the same contract rather than opening a new contract for each deposit. Buyers who want to use the Strategy PLUS 10 as a systematic savings vehicle alongside other retirement accounts, making regular monthly contributions rather than a one-time commitment, can use the EFT contribution mechanism for this purpose. The 1% upfront premium bonus applies to premiums received at issue — confirm whether the bonus also applies to subsequent contributions or only to the initial deposit.

Most fixed indexed annuities restrict free withdrawals to year 2 or later. The Strategy PLUS 10’s free withdrawal provision is available during each contract year from the date of issue — meaning a withdrawal within the first 12 months of the contract is allowed up to 10% of the annuity value without surrender charges. This is a more generous liquidity provision than most competing FIAs including the F&G Safe Income Advantage (year 2 start), the Aspida Synergy Choice Income (year 2 start), and the American Equity IncomeShield 10 (year 2 start for standard free withdrawals). The North American Income Pay Pro also offers 10% from year 1, making it a peer on this provision. The year-1 free withdrawal availability is meaningful for buyers who fund the contract and then discover an unanticipated liquidity need within the first 12 months — they have the 10% safety valve available from day one without penalty. It is also meaningful for qualified account holders who need to take an RMD shortly after funding the contract — the greater-of-10%-or-RMD provision ensures the RMD obligation can be met without surrender charges in all contract years. The minimum withdrawal amount of $250 applies to all free withdrawals regardless of timing.

Most fixed indexed annuities include two health event waivers: a confinement/nursing home waiver and a terminal illness waiver. The Strategy PLUS 10 includes a third: the Disability Waiver. If the contract owner is diagnosed as having a qualifying disability, surrender charges are waived — and importantly, the Disability Waiver is available immediately after issue, with no 90-day waiting period and no age restriction for eligibility at issue (unlike the confinement waiver, which requires the owner to be age 80 or younger at issue and is available 90 days after issue). A disability waiver addresses a distinct planning concern that the nursing home and terminal illness waivers do not cover: the scenario where the owner becomes unable to work or faces a major reduction in income capacity due to a disability that does not result in confinement to a facility or a terminal prognosis. For buyers who are still working and have career income risk, or for buyers who have a history of disability or impairment that might make a disability event more foreseeable, the Disability Waiver adds a meaningful additional safety net. The qualifying disability definition will be specified in the contract; review the product disclosure for the exact eligibility criteria before relying on this provision in planning.

Brookfield Asset Management completed its $5.1 billion acquisition of American National Insurance Company in 2022 — one of the largest insurance acquisitions of that year. Brookfield is a Toronto-based global alternative asset manager with over $1 trillion in assets under management, known for investments in real assets, credit, and infrastructure. The acquisition changed ANICO from a Moody family-controlled mutual-style carrier to an institutional asset manager-owned insurance company with explicit return objectives. For annuity buyers, the most important evaluation of this ownership change is the AM Best rating — which ANICO retained and had affirmed at A (Excellent) in November 2025, over three years after the acquisition, with a Very Strong balance sheet assessment and no concerns about claims-paying ability. AM Best’s continued A affirmation under Brookfield ownership provides the primary independent validation that the ownership change has not impaired ANICO’s ability to meet its long-term annuity obligations. There are two considerations buyers should understand. First, unlike mutual insurers (such as MassMutual or New York Life) or ESOP-owned carriers, Brookfield has institutional return objectives that can influence investment strategy and expense management — this is a different operating philosophy than the century-long Moody family stewardship that preceded the acquisition. Second, ANICO discontinued life insurance new business applications in May 2025, signaling a strategic concentration in annuities and pension risk transfer under Brookfield’s direction. From a pure claims-paying perspective, the AM Best A affirmed November 2025 is the operative data point — it reflects no concerns about the financial strength of the insurer on an ongoing basis.

The flexible-premium structure of the Strategy PLUS 10 is a meaningful differentiator from most competing FIAs in this session, which are all single-premium products. The most comparable flexible-premium FIA structures in the broader market typically come from carriers such as North American Company (the Income Pay Pro accepts additional premiums during the first year) and certain products from EquiTrust and other mid-tier carriers. Within single-premium accumulators that are closer competitors on the accumulation mechanics, the Athene BCA 2.0 (A+, Comdex 93) provides a more robust index menu, the BAV daily tracking mechanism for health events and death benefit, and a stronger carrier profile — but is single premium only. The Delaware Life PrimeStart Bonus 10 (A-, Positive AM Best outlook) provides a 14% bonus and the Flex-Lock 10-year rate guarantee — but is single premium. The Strategy PLUS 10’s competitive positioning is strongest for buyers who specifically need the flexible-premium structure (ongoing contributions), want the Disability Waiver in addition to the standard health event waivers, or are attracted to the BNPP Patriot Technology Index as an exclusive crediting option. On carrier financial strength, ANICO’s AM Best A (Comdex 75) places it below the A+ tier (Midland National, North American, Athene, Allianz) but at the same A tier as American Equity and Forethought/Global Atlantic.

The American National Strategy PLUS 10 is best suited for buyers who: need the flexible-premium structure to make ongoing contributions to their annuity (not available on competing single-premium FIAs); want year-1 free withdrawal availability from the date of issue; value the three-waiver health protection framework — particularly the Disability Waiver, which most competing FIAs do not include; are interested in the exclusive BNPP Patriot Technology Index as a crediting strategy; are comfortable with the AM Best A (Brookfield-owned ANICO) carrier profile; and want the optional Lifetime Income Rider for eventual guaranteed income without committing to an income-first product structure. It is less appropriate for buyers who: require A+ carrier financial strength (Midland National, North American, Athene, and Allianz Life offer A+ competing products); prefer single-premium structures with the highest available upfront bonuses (the 1% bonus on the Strategy PLUS 10 is modest compared to the 14–15% bonuses on the Delaware Life and Aspida Bonus products); need the highest guaranteed lifetime income amount from a purpose-built income FIA (the North American Income Pay Pro, F&G Safe Income Advantage, or Prudential SurePath Income are stronger income competitors); or live in New Jersey (not available).