Athene vs Allianz Annuities: 2026 Comparison

Athene and Allianz are the two largest fixed indexed annuity carriers in the United States, and they got there with different playbooks. Allianz Life built the modern FIA category through volatility-controlled custom indices, the flagship 222 contract, and a five-year run at #1 from 2015 through 2019. Athene, backed by Apollo Global Management, took the top spot in 2020 and has held it every year since, growing annual FIA sales from $2.4 billion in 2015 to $15.0 billion in 2025. This is the marquee FIA decision for accumulation-focused and guaranteed-income buyers in 2026.

Financial strength: Athene vs Allianz

Both carriers earn A+ from AM Best. S&P rates Allianz AA versus Athene A+, one notch higher. The Comdex composite, a 0 to 100 score blending all four major rating agencies, sits at 93 for Allianz and 87 for Athene. Allianz Life is the U.S. subsidiary of Allianz SE, the German global insurance group with over $1 trillion in worldwide assets under management and a continuous A+ rating history going back decades. Athene is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Global Management with a shorter standalone rating history and a general account that Apollo manages directly using alternative credit. Both carriers pay claims. If you weight rating depth and length of continuous A+ history, Allianz is the stronger pick on paper.

Product lineup

Allianz focuses almost exclusively on fixed indexed annuities and registered index-linked annuities. The lineup is anchored by the Allianz 222 / 222+ (two-year point-to-point crediting plus a Protected Income Value with a 52% premium bonus), the Accumulation Advantage+, the Allianz Benefit Control (ABC) and Benefit Control+, and the Core Income 7. Allianz does not sell MYGAs through independent distribution. If you want a straight multi-year guaranteed rate, this comparison ends here and Athene wins by default. Athene runs a focused FIA and MYGA shelf anchored by the Performance Elite, MaxRate, and the Aviator 5 (which added Index Lock to the lineup in 2026), plus the Ascent Pro 10 Bonus for income buyers who want a 20% income base bonus at issue and a guaranteed 10% simple roll-up.

Rate competitiveness (updated 2026-05-23)

On the things that matter most to FIA buyers, Athene wins on all three. We ran matched live illustrations on May 23, 2026 for a male annuitant age 60 with $100,000 premium and a 10-year deferral to age 70, single life, on Athene's Ascent Pro 10 Bonus, Allianz's 222+, and Nationwide's Peak 10. Here are the guaranteed numbers each carrier put on paper:

Live illustrations run May 23, 2026 for a male annuitant. Guaranteed values assume zero indexed-interest credits in all years and are subject to each carrier's claims-paying ability. Nationwide Peak 10 included as a benchmark third carrier.

Athene guarantees the largest annual lifetime income of the three by a meaningful margin. The reasons stack:

1. Highest guaranteed roll-up. Athene credits the income base at 10% simple interest every contract year regardless of index performance, taking the base to $220,000 by age 70. Nationwide credits 8% simple for 10 years and lands at a $225,000 base. Allianz uses a performance-driven roll-up of 150% of interest rate, which only grows the Protected Income Value when the indices earn positive interest. In the guaranteed scenario (zero index credits assumed) the Allianz PIV stays flat at its $152,000 starting bonus.

2. Highest withdrawal rate at age 70. Athene 7.5%, Nationwide 6.85%, Allianz 5.5%. Combined with the larger benefit base, Athene's product produces a $16,500 annual lifetime income floor.

3. Enhanced Income Benefit for care events. Athene's Ascent Pro 10 Bonus doubles the lifetime income withdrawal for up to 60 months if the annuitant is confined to a qualified care facility or unable to perform at least 2 of 6 activities of daily living. That doubles the $16,500 to $33,000 per year during a qualifying care window, a meaningful safety net for late-life expenses. Allianz's 222 has a similar Allianz Income Multiplier benefit. Nationwide's Peak 10 does not include an equivalent built-in care-event doubler.

For pure accumulation buyers (no income rider, just cap rate shopping), Athene is also competitive at the top of the market. The Ascent Pro 10 Bonus pairs a 5.5% S&P 500 annual point-to-point cap with a 140% participation rate on the BNP Paribas Multi-Asset Diversified 5 index. Allianz's 222+ uses a 4.5% S&P 500 cap. Nationwide's Peak 10 sits at a 6.25% S&P 500 cap on a single-index contract.

In our own large-balance placement work this year (six figures and up), the Athene Performance Elite 7 and Ascent Pro 10 Bonus have repeatedly won the accumulation-and-income comparisons against both Allianz and Nationwide, with the closest competitive pressure on the pure-accumulation side coming from Corebridge rather than Allianz.

See current MYGA rates from 90+ carriers →

Customer service and complaints

The NAIC complaint index is a normalized measure where 1.00 equals the industry average. Both carriers run well below the baseline. Athene's most recent index sits at 0.34, and Allianz Life has historically reported in the 0.20 range. Both indicate above-average service quality. The slightly lower number for Allianz is consistent with the higher Comdex score, but the practical day-to-day difference for a policyholder is small.