CL Life Annuity Review (2026)

CL Life's history and ownership

CL Life and Annuity Insurance Company started out as an ordinary Texas life insurer chartered back in 1978, and for decades it stayed a minor, unremarkable name in the industry. That changed in 2022, when Crestline Investors, a Fort Worth alternative investment firm with roots in credit and structured finance, bought the charter and rebuilt the company around a new MYGA product line: Sundance and the Tarrant Trail.

Crestline's core business is managing money across credit strategies, hedged equity, and custom separate accounts for institutional clients. That same investing skill sits underneath CL Life's contracts, since Crestline runs the investment portfolio that funds the rates the company can offer. Other carriers follow the same playbook of pairing an alternative asset manager with an insurance charter, among them Axonic, backed by Axonic Capital, and Knighthead Life, backed by Knighthead Capital Management.

That model comes with a trade-off worth understanding. Alternative managers often chase yield in less liquid credit assets, which can support stronger short-term rates but adds a layer of asset-liability and liquidity risk that a traditional, conservatively run insurer typically avoids. CL Life's B++ rating reflects both its short history under Crestline and its still-modest size relative to national carriers.

Ownership has shifted one more layer up since then. Crestline's own parent, Crestline Management, L.P., was acquired by Rithm Capital Corp. in a transaction that closed in December 2025. AM Best placed CL Life's rating under review while it assessed what that change meant for the company, then removed it from under review and affirmed the B++ (Good) rating again in February 2026. Confirm the current rating at ambest.com before you finalize a contract.

CL Life financial strength ratings

B++ describes a carrier that is stable, not distressed, but working with a thinner capital cushion than an A-rated issuer. For a deposit under roughly $75,000 over a 2 to 5 year term, that gap is generally manageable. For a bigger check or a longer commitment, an A- or better carrier buys you a meaningfully wider margin of safety. Your state's guaranty association adds a further backstop up to a state-set limit; see our state guaranty association guide for the number where you live.

What annuities does CL Life sell?

CL Life keeps its shelf deliberately short: two products, aimed at two different kinds of MYGA buyers.

• CL Sundance MYGA: The core product, offered in 2, 3, and 5 year terms. It is a single premium contract that credits compound interest, tax-deferred, and accepts both IRA and non-qualified funds. A 10% annual free withdrawal opens in year two, and surrender charges apply to anything you pull beyond that during the guarantee period. Sundance is the product that most often shows up near the top of 3 and 5 year rate tables.
• CL Tarrant Trail: A 5-year single premium fixed annuity built around one distinguishing feature, a bailout interest rate waiver. Your rate is guaranteed for the first policy year only; after that, CL Life resets it on each anniversary. If a reset ever falls below the bailout rate written into your contract, the surrender charge and any market value adjustment are waived for withdrawals or a full surrender made within 30 days of that anniversary. The product also pays a first-year interest bonus on top of the base rate.

That bailout structure deserves a closer look, because most MYGA contracts give you no way out short of eating a surrender charge if the carrier's renewal rates turn unimpressive. The Tarrant Trail flips that: if CL Life's own renewal pricing falls short, you get a contractual exit. For a buyer who likes today's rate but is not fully sold on CL Life's long-term pricing discipline, that is a meaningful piece of protection. Learn more about how MYGAs generally handle renewals and rate resets.

Who is CL Life best for?

The Sundance MYGA suits buyers placing a moderate sum, roughly $25,000 to $75,000, into a 3 or 5 year contract who want a top-of-market rate without extra complexity. A B++ rating is an easier trade to accept over a shorter term at that size, especially if the same buyer already holds other annuities elsewhere and is treating CL Life as one piece of a larger, spread-out plan.

The Tarrant Trail fits someone who wants a strong current rate but is genuinely unsure whether CL Life's pricing will stay competitive five years out. The bailout clause gives that buyer real leverage: if renewal rates disappoint, walking away costs nothing extra, rather than forcing a choice between an underwhelming rate and a surrender charge.

CL Life is not the right fit for a single contract north of $150,000, for buyers who need a top-rated carrier for personal or fiduciary reasons, or for anyone in a state where the company is not yet licensed. In those cases, the rate premium over an A- alternative rarely justifies the added risk. It is also worth comparing CL Life against other alternative-asset-manager-backed MYGA issuers before you settle on one.

How to buy a CL Life annuity

CL Life sells only through independent licensed agents appointed to represent the company, so start by confirming your state is one of the roughly 24 where it currently holds a license, since coverage keeps expanding. From there the Sundance application is routine: settle on a term, current rate, and minimum premium, complete the paperwork with your beneficiary and funding instructions, and submit.

If you are looking at the Tarrant Trail, pin down the exact bailout rate written into the contract before you sign, since that is the number that determines when your exit protection actually activates. Every state also gives you a free look period, typically 10 to 30 days after delivery, to go through the full contract and back out without penalty if anything gives you pause.

Other annuity companies to consider

• Ceres Life Insurance Company: also B++ rated and MYGA-focused, backed by a different private investment firm and built on the same compound-interest structure.