Guggenheim Life and Annuity Review (2026)

Who owns Guggenheim Life and Annuity, and why the rating changed

Guggenheim Life and Annuity Company (GLAC) has carried its current name since 2009, when it took over Standard Life of Indiana. It is domiciled in Delaware, though the day-to-day operation runs out of Indianapolis. For a stretch, AM Best held the company's rating under review with developing implications and rated it B++, a notch below the "Excellent" tier.

That changed once Group 1001 Insurance Holdings LLC closed its purchase of GLAC in November 2021. AM Best lifted the rating to A- (Excellent) and pointed to two specific reasons: GLAC now shares management, services and financial support with the wider Group 1001 Life & Annuity Group (the organization formerly known as Delaware Life Insurance Group), and Group 1001 added $400 million in fresh capital at closing. The name "Guggenheim" traces back to a family business tradition that goes back to 1881, but that history belongs to the broader Guggenheim name, not to this specific insurance company, which is a much newer entity built on that acquisition.

Group 1001 also owns the Gainbridge brand, and Gainbridge annuities are issued through this same GLAC license. If you are comparing a Gainbridge product against a Guggenheim-branded one, you are looking at the same issuing company from two different storefronts.

A name change to know about: Group 1001 renamed GLAC to Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company on August 15, 2022. It is the same licensed insurer, the same AM Best rating history, and the same balance sheet, just operating under a new name since then. Anyone shopping a new contract today will see it issued as Clear Spring, not Guggenheim; see the Clear Spring review for current products and rates.

How strong is Guggenheim (now Clear Spring) financially?

GLAC's most recently reported figures show roughly $11.9 billion in assets against $11.1 billion in liabilities, leaving about $746 million in capital and surplus, an assets-to-liabilities ratio just above 106%. That is a workable cushion, though it runs thinner than what the largest mutual carriers typically hold. AM Best is currently the only major agency that rates the company, so there is no second opinion to weigh against its A- grade. AM Best most recently affirmed A- (Excellent) in July 2026, moving the outlook to negative because of how the parent group classifies a portion of its private credit investments. As always, confirm the live rating on AM Best's site before you commit money.

State guaranty associations add a further layer of protection up to state-set limits if an insurer cannot pay its claims. Check your own state's limit before placing a large sum with any single carrier.

What does Guggenheim Life and Annuity sell?

The lineup is built around fixed annuities distributed through independent marketing organizations nationwide.

• Preserve and ProOption MYGAs. Both are single-premium deferred annuities that lock a fixed interest rate for a chosen guarantee period, with options spanning 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 years. Your money grows tax-deferred until you start taking distributions.
• Guggenheim ViStar. A fixed index annuity built to keep things simple: your premium earns interest linked to outside index performance, with tax-deferred growth along the way. An optional lifetime withdrawal rider can convert the contract into guaranteed income you cannot outlive. ViStar has offered crediting tied to indexes such as the Morgan Stanley Diversified Select Index, a rules-based, multi-asset index that spreads exposure across equities, bonds, commodities, currencies and real estate while managing volatility day to day, and a volatility-controlled index built on Deutsche Bank's CROCI methodology.

Who is Guggenheim a good fit for?

Guggenheim tends to suit buyers who want the flexibility of a wide range of MYGA terms in one place, since eight different guarantee periods gives you more room to match a contract to a specific goal than most single-carrier shelves allow. It also fits buyers who are comfortable evaluating a carrier whose rating history includes a real dip and a real recovery, rather than a carrier with an unbroken top-tier track record. Anyone drawn to the ViStar's lifetime withdrawal rider should compare its terms against income riders from other A-rated FIA carriers before deciding, since rider mechanics vary quite a bit carrier to carrier.

Other annuity companies to consider

• Gainbridge: a sister brand issued through the same GLAC license
• Delaware Life: part of the same Group 1001 family of companies
• Aspida: another investment-manager-backed carrier competing in a similar rate tier