EquiTrust MarketPower Bonus Index Annuity Review (2026): Rates, Pros & Cons

Is the EquiTrust MarketPower Bonus Index a Good Annuity?

1. Product Snapshot

2. What This Product Actually Is

EquiTrust positions MarketPower Bonus Index squarely in the accumulation-focused bonus FIA bucket – and they are not subtle about it. The product’s entire pitch is built around a single number: 15%. That is the current premium bonus credited on every dollar deposited during the first contract year, added immediately to your Accumulation Value before any index crediting begins.

It is worth flagging that the printed brochure (form ET-MPB-BR-1100, dated 03-25) still references a 12% bonus on the cover. The current illustration we worked from, dated May 13, 2026, shows the bonus has been increased to 15%. EquiTrust has been adjusting the bonus aggressively over the last year as carrier competition for premium has intensified – a good sign for shoppers, but make sure your licensed producer confirms the bonus is still 15% on the day your application is signed.

What MarketPower Bonus Index is not: it is not an income annuity. There is no guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB rider), no benefit base, no rollup rate. If you want guaranteed income for life, this is not the product – look at EquiTrust’s Bridge or Confidence Income lines, or compare against Athene Performance Elite, F&G Power Accumulator, or North American Income Pay Pro. MarketPower is for clients whose primary objective is accumulation of a lump sum over a long horizon, with downside market protection and a meaningful head start from the bonus.

In EquiTrust’s overall FIA lineup, MarketPower Bonus Index sits at the long end of the surrender spectrum. Their MarketFive Index is a 5-year product with smaller caps and no bonus; MarketPower goes in the opposite direction – bigger bonus, much longer commitment, more upside potential. It is the company’s most aggressive bonus product. For broader context on how it stacks up, see our Top 10 Best FIA Companies ranking.

3. Index Options and Crediting Methods – The Real Story

MarketPower Bonus Index offers 10 crediting strategies across four indices, plus a fixed account. Here’s the complete current rate sheet, sorted by historical return – the highest-performing strategies on top:

Rates current as of May 2026. Subject to change. Historical returns reflect the most recent 10-year period using actual or backtested index performance – not a prediction of future returns.

The standout: 2-Year S&P 500 Dynamic Intraday TCA at 80% participation

This is the single most compelling strategy in the lineup, and most producers will not lead with it because clients do not love the word “two-year.” Here’s why it deserves attention:

• 80% participation vs. 60% on the 1-year version – a 33% jump in upside capture for accepting a 2-year lockup.
• Historical credited rate of 10.29% – the highest in the lineup by a meaningful margin.
• The S&P 500 Dynamic Intraday TCA targets 15% vol, the same as the S&P 500 itself – so it captures most of the underlying equity opportunity, just with intraday volatility management.

The tradeoff: you can only transfer out of the 2-year account at the end of each 2-year crediting period, and any zero-return year inside the 2-year window costs you opportunity cost on half the strategy duration. For clients who do not anticipate reallocating frequently, this strategy is where MarketPower actually shines.

The headline strategy: S&P MARC 5% ER at 160% participation

This is what the carrier illustration leads with, and what most producers will pitch first because “160% participation” sounds spectacular. Reality check: the MARC 5% targets just 5% volatility, which structurally limits the index’s annual movement. The 160% participation is essentially the carrier compensating for the dampened index motion.

The MARC 5% is a multi-asset risk-control index – it blends S&P 500, S&P GSCI commodities, and S&P 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures, dynamically reallocating to hit the 5% vol target. When equity vol is low, it leverages up to 150%. When vol spikes, it pulls back into cash. The illustration shows annualized credited rates of 10.23% (high), 6.73% (low), and 8.53% most recent – those reflect the post-2010 backtest era, a benign vol environment. Forward returns will likely cluster in the 4%-8% range. View the official S&P MARC 5% ER methodology for full index construction details.

S&P 500 strategies – where MarketPower is below market

The straight S&P 500 strategies are where this product loses ground to competitors:

• 5.75% base cap on the 1-year PTP – below market. Athene Performance Elite and F&G Power Accumulator currently offer S&P 500 caps in the 7%-8.5% range with no fee. EquiTrust’s cap requires a 1% annual fee to get to 8%, which is roughly where competitors start.
• 5.25% Performance Trigger – uninspiring. The performance trigger pays the trigger rate any year the index is positive. Competing carriers offer triggers in the 6%-8% range. 5.25% means you need the S&P 500 to outperform 5.25% for this strategy to “lose” – which it does in most years.
• No base S&P 500 participation strategy without the 1% fee – clients who want straight S&P 500 participation are forced into the Buy-Up version (50% participation, 1% annual fee). That is a structural choice that effectively makes the S&P 500 participation a fee-bearing option only.
• Monthly Average Participation at 70% – average. Monthly average dampens both gains and losses; expect mid-single-digit returns.
• Monthly Sum Cap at 2.25% – we almost never recommend this strategy. A single -8% month can wipe out an entire year’s worth of capped monthly gains, even if the index ends the year positive. The 6.29% historical return looks decent only because the 2016-2025 window had few extreme drawdown months.

Barclays Focus50 at 140% participation

The Focus50 blends low-volatility U.S. stocks with U.S. Treasuries, targeting 5% volatility. The 140% participation is reasonable for the structure, but the historical return of 5.02% tells you what to expect – mid-single-digit performance over time. Use this strategy as a diversifier away from S&P-only exposure, not as a primary growth engine.

Fixed account at 3.25%

The 1-year fixed rate is 3.25% with a contractual minimum of 1%. That is well below current MYGA market rates (5-5.5% for top-rated carriers), so the fixed account is not a competitive parking spot. Use it only to hold subsequent premium payments during Year 1 until you can reallocate at the first anniversary.

Pattern to notice: Three of MarketPower’s four indices are volatility-controlled. That is not unusual for modern FIAs, but it does mean the “high participation rates” in marketing materials are largely offset by dampened index movement. Don’t compare participation rates across indices – compare historical and expected annualized returns. The rate sheet above does that for you.

4. Hypothetical Performance – What’s Real, What’s Marketing

The carrier illustration we reviewed assumes a $100,000 initial premium from a 60-year-old male in Ohio, allocated 50% to the 1-Year S&P 500 Dynamic Intraday TCA at 60% participation and 50% to the 1-Year S&P MARC 5% ER at 160% participation.

Worth flagging: the illustration uses the 1-Year TCA strategy, not the 2-Year TCA at 80% participation that is also available. The 2-year version’s historical credited rate is 10.29% vs. the 1-year’s 8.96%. An illustration built around the 2-year strategy would actually project meaningfully higher accumulation values – your producer should be willing to run both versions side-by-side.

The headline number in the illustration: 8.75% annual effective rate of return over 36 years, growing the initial $100,000 (plus 15% bonus = $115,000 starting Accumulation Value) into $2,590,774 by age 96.

That sounds incredible. Here’s what’s actually happening in the illustration:

• The first 10 years use actual or backtested historical index performance from 2016-2025, an exceptionally strong period for U.S. equities (S&P 500 returned roughly 13% annualized over that window).
• Years 11-36 simply repeat the same 10-year sequence three more times. The illustration assumes 2016-2025 happens again, and again, and again, for nearly four decades.
• The biggest year in the historical sequence credited 22.30% – that single year happens every 11 years in the projection. Over a 36-year horizon, that compounding does the heavy lifting.

Is this dishonest? Not technically – every FIA illustration in the industry uses some version of this approach, and our review methodology applies the same skepticism to every product we cover. But the resulting “8.75% effective return” is almost certainly higher than what clients should expect in practice. A more realistic forward-looking assumption for this allocation, given current participation rates and historical risk-control index behavior, is probably 5%-7% annualized over a 10-year holding period. That is still excellent for a product with zero downside market risk and a 15% bonus baked in. Shifting allocation to the 2-Year TCA could nudge that range upward by 50-100 basis points.

The guaranteed scenario (Page 3 of the illustration) is the more sobering view: if every index credits 0% for the entire surrender period, the Accumulation Value stays at $115,000 and the Cash Surrender Value drops to as low as $89,600 in Year 1 before recovering. By Year 11 (end of the OH surrender schedule), the contract is worth exactly $115,000. You would not lose principal in nominal terms, but you’d lose 14 years of inflation. That is the worst case, and it is vanishingly unlikely – but understand that the 87.5% Minimum Guaranteed Contract Value floor is exactly that, a floor.

5. The 15% Premium Bonus – Worth It or Marketing Gimmick?

Let’s be direct: 15% is one of the largest premium bonuses available in the FIA market today. Most 10-year FIAs offer 5%-10% bonuses. To find higher bonuses (20%+), you typically have to accept much longer surrender schedules, vested bonuses (where you have to wait years to “own” the bonus), or significantly worse caps and participation rates on the index side. See our full Top 20 Best Bonus Annuity Rates roundup for context.

Here’s what makes MarketPower’s bonus structure unusually consumer-friendly:

• The bonus is added immediately and is a permanent part of Accumulation Value – not a deferred or vesting bonus.
• The bonus earns index credits and interest from Day 1.
• 100% of the bonus is included in the death benefit – your heirs get the full Accumulation Value with no clawback.
• On a full surrender, the surrender charge applies to the full Accumulation Value (including bonus), but EquiTrust states “you won’t lose your bonus” – meaning the bonus is not separately clawed back.

Running the math: On a $100,000 deposit, you start with $115,000 working for you on Day 1. Even if every index credits 0% for the full 14-year surrender period, you would still be ahead of where you started in nominal terms. Compare that to a 5-year MYGA at 5.5% – over the same 14 years, $100,000 compounds to roughly $211,000. The MarketPower starting bonus essentially gives you a 4-year head start on a comparable MYGA, before any index credits are added.

The honest tradeoff: the bonus is paid for through lower ongoing caps and participation rates, plus the 14-year surrender commitment. EquiTrust is not giving away free money – they are capitalizing it across the contract’s life through reduced crediting parameters. A no-bonus, 7-year FIA with the same underlying carrier reserves might offer 200%+ participation on the MARC 5% versus MarketPower’s 160%.

For a buyer who genuinely plans to hold the contract for 10+ years, the math on the 15% bonus works in your favor. For someone who might need liquidity in 5-8 years, it does not.

6. Surrender Schedule and Liquidity Analysis

This is where MarketPower Bonus Index demands the most scrutiny. The surrender schedule is one of the longest in the FIA market, and the early-year charges are unusually punitive.

Standard 14-Year Schedule (most states)

10-Year Schedule (AK, CT, DE, ID, IL, MN, MT, NJ, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, TX, UT, VT, WA)

The reduced-state schedule is much more reasonable. If you are in one of those 17 states, MarketPower becomes meaningfully more attractive – a 10-year commitment with a 17% Year 1 charge is in line with competitive bonus FIAs. If you are in a 14-year state, the math gets harder to defend.

Two things to know about the surrender mechanics:

1. Market Value Adjustment (MVA) applies to withdrawals over 10% and to full surrenders. If interest rates have risen since you bought the contract, the MVA reduces your cash surrender value; if rates have fallen, it could increase it. We do not have the exact MVA formula in the brochure, but EquiTrust’s MVAs are generally moderate – not as aggressive as some competitors.
2. 87.5% floor: No matter what, the Cash Surrender Value can never go below 87.5% of premiums paid (excluding bonus), accumulated at 1-3%. This is a state-mandated minimum guarantee and provides a true floor.

For comparison: Athene Performance Elite has a 7- or 10-year surrender with charges starting in the 8-9% range. F&G Power Accumulator starts at 8.3%. North American Charter Plus 10 starts in a similar range. MarketPower’s 20% Year 1 charge in 14-year states is dramatically more punitive than peers – that is the price of the 15% bonus and the long crediting horizon.

7. Death Benefit, Waivers, and Free Withdrawals

This is where MarketPower quietly shines. The non-headline features are genuinely consumer-friendly:

• Death benefit: Full Accumulation Value, including 100% of the bonus, paid to the beneficiary with no surrender charge and no MVA. This is the standard for modern FIAs but worth confirming – some carriers haircut the bonus on early death.
• Free withdrawals: Up to 10% of Accumulation Value annually after Year 1, with no surrender charge or MVA. Year 1 you can take fixed-account interest via EFT without charges. (See our overview of free withdrawals in annuities.)
• Nursing Home Waiver: If confined to a nursing home or hospital for 90 consecutive days starting in Year 2 or later, you can access the full Accumulation Value with no surrender charge or MVA. No additional cost, included automatically. Not available in CA, GU, NY, PR, VI.
• Terminal Illness Rider: If diagnosed with a terminal illness after the 1-year waiting period, you can withdraw up to 75% of Accumulation Value without surrender charges. Also no additional cost.
• Free-look period: Standard state-mandated free-look review window with 100% premium refund (minus prior withdrawals).

The waivers are real protection. A 14-year surrender feels much less scary when you know that nursing home confinement or terminal diagnosis unlocks the contract.

8. EquiTrust Financial Strength – The Honest Picture

EquiTrust holds the following ratings:

• AM Best: B++ (Good) – the 5th-highest rating on a 13-level scale. Verify current AM Best rating.
• Standard & Poor’s: A- (Strong)
• Fitch: A- (Strong)

For full transparency: AM Best downgraded EquiTrust’s Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “bbb” from “bbb+” in their most recent action, citing a weakened Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR) score, high asset concentrations, and a high dividend payout ratio to the holding company. The Financial Strength Rating of B++ was affirmed with a stable outlook, and the balance sheet was categorized as “adequate.”

What does this mean for buyers? AM Best’s B++ is one notch below the A- threshold many producers use as a minimum, but EquiTrust is well above the regulatory minimum and is rated A- by both S&P and Fitch – agencies that focus more on capital strength than AM Best’s heavier weighting of business profile. EquiTrust manages over $33 billion in assets, holds a 109% solvency ratio, and Magic Johnson Enterprises holds a controlling interest. The company is solvent, well-capitalized, and has been earning Ward’s 50 recognition for top financial performance for ten consecutive years.

Our honest take: EquiTrust is not your weakest carrier, but it is not your strongest either. For a conservative client placing a large portion of their retirement assets, we’d suggest splitting between EquiTrust and a higher-rated carrier (Athene A+, MassMutual A++, Nationwide A+). For a more typical allocation, EquiTrust’s ratings are well within the acceptable range – and the product features compensate for the rating gap. See our full EquiTrust company review for a deeper dive on financials and product line.

9. What We Like and What Gives Us Pause

10. Who This Product Is Best For (and Who Should Skip It)

Strong fit:

• A 55-65-year-old holding $100K-$500K in qualified or non-qualified money, with a 10+ year accumulation horizon and no need for liquidity beyond the 10% annual free withdrawal.
• Someone who wants downside market protection plus meaningful equity-linked upside and is not fixated on getting the absolute highest participation rates.
• Buyers in one of the 17 reduced-charge states (TX, IL, OH, PA, etc.) – the 10-year schedule changes the value equation significantly.
• Anyone particularly drawn to a large premium bonus and willing to trade some ongoing crediting performance to lock it in.
• IRA rollovers from someone who wants to keep their tax-deferral while adding principal protection.

Poor fit:

• Anyone needing guaranteed lifetime income – no income rider exists on this product. Compare our best FIAs with income riders instead.
• Buyers under age 55 or with a horizon under 10 years – the 14-year surrender (or even 10-year) commitment is too long.
• Anyone in a 14-year-schedule state who is not 100% sure they can hold the contract – the 20% early surrender charge is brutal.
• Buyers focused purely on maximum accumulation who do not value the bonus – they would get better long-term performance from a shorter-surrender FIA. See our best FIAs for the accumulation phase.
• Clients wanting top-tier carrier ratings (A or A+) – pair them with MassMutual, Nationwide, or Athene instead.
• Anyone who might need significant liquidity within 7 years.

11. Bottom Line Verdict

MarketPower Bonus Index is exactly what it advertises: a high-bonus, accumulation-focused FIA built for clients with long horizons and patience. The 15% premium bonus is among the best you’ll find anywhere, the death benefit is clean, and the included waivers give you real escape hatches if life takes a turn. EquiTrust is not a top-rated carrier, but it is solvent, well-capitalized, and has been performing consistently for over a decade.

The product loses points on the 14-year surrender period in most states, the below-market 5.75% S&P 500 cap, the 5.25% Performance Trigger, the absence of an income rider, and the gap between the illustration’s projected returns and what we think is realistically achievable. If you are in a 10-year state, can commit to the full term, and allocate primarily to the 2-Year Dynamic Intraday TCA strategy, this product becomes meaningfully more attractive – closer to 4 stars.

Would we recommend it? Yes, for the right client – someone with a long horizon, real conviction about not needing liquidity, a strong preference for a large upfront bonus over higher ongoing crediting rates, and willingness to allocate to the 2-year strategy. For most other clients, we would compare it head-to-head against Athene Performance Elite, F&G Power Accumulator, and North American Charter Plus 10 before pulling the trigger.