Reliance Standard Annuity Review (2026)

Who owns Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company

Reliance Standard traces back to 1907, when it was chartered in Chicago as Central Standard Life. It picked up the Reliance Standard name in 1963, joined Delphi Financial Group in 1987, and has belonged to Tokio Marine Holdings of Japan since 2012. Its home office sits in Schaumburg, Illinois, with an administrative office in Philadelphia.

Annuities are not the main event here. The company built its name on group employee benefits, underwriting disability income and group life coverage through its Matrix subsidiary, and annuities function as the newer growth line, distributed through a network exceeding 6,000 independent agents instead of a direct-to-consumer channel. Two details are worth flagging before you shop: the entity on your paperwork will read Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, filed under NAIC number 68381, and if you happen to live in New York, an affiliate carrier named First Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company issues your policy instead, which can change what is actually available to you.

Reliance Standard's financial strength

AM Best has kept Reliance Standard at its top grade, A++, for five straight years running. Very few annuity carriers reach that level, and most of the ones that do price conservatively. Reliance Standard is an exception, since its guaranteed rates still land in a competitive range against carriers rated a notch or two lower.

Behind the rating sits a balance sheet with roughly $30.2 billion in admitted assets and $3.2 billion in capital and surplus. Its owner, Tokio Marine, has a formal commitment in place to inject capital when the annuity business needs it, and has already put well over half a billion dollars toward that growth push since 2024. The one flag worth knowing is that the group carries a somewhat higher share of below-investment-grade bonds than AM Best considers ideal, though it remains within the agency's tolerance.

What annuities does Reliance Standard sell?

Do not expect a sprawling catalog here. You get a choice of three multi-year guaranteed contracts, a pair of index-linked options and a single traditional fixed annuity, and that is the entire shelf.

• Reliance Guarantee requires $20,000 to open and locks a rate for a choice of three term lengths: 5, 7 or 10 years.
• Eleos needs only $10,000 to start and runs a single 5-year term, sold in two flavors depending on whether you want the surrender value adjusted for rate moves.
• Apollo functions as the company's traditional fixed annuity: an annually declared rate wrapped in a 7-year surrender period, again with a choice on the market value adjustment.
• Keystone is a fixed index annuity crediting off S&P 500 performance, letting you pick among a capped point-to-point method, a participation-rate method or a monthly averaging method.
• Reliance Accumulator pairs the S&P 500 with a second, volatility-managed benchmark that has been trading since 2017, and using that benchmark is how the carrier can post noticeably richer participation rates than a plain S&P 500 crediting strategy allows.

Every deferred contract in the lineup allows a 10% penalty-free withdrawal each contract year. The MVA choice is the detail to think through before you buy: it usually buys you a slightly better rate but ties your early surrender value to where rates have moved, while the non-MVA version trades a bit of yield for a more predictable exit if plans change. For a full breakdown of one product, see our Reliance Accumulator 7 review.

Service and complaint record

Reliance Standard built a suitability review into its application process years before regulation caught up, starting the practice in 2009, and its agents are actively steered away from unnecessary contract replacements. Paperwork on the MYGA and fixed side generally clears in under a week, index applications follow the twice-a-month issue calendar, and incoming transfers get a 45-day window that locks in your rate while a prior custodian finishes moving the money. Every policy also requires a signed delivery receipt, which is the trigger for your free look period.

Reliance Standard compared with Athene

Fixed index shoppers researching Athene usually end up comparing it against Reliance Standard, so here is the short version. Reliance Standard sits one notch higher on financial strength, at A++ versus Athene's A+. Athene wins on breadth, with income riders, bonus products and roughly a dozen crediting indexes to choose from, while Reliance Standard offers two indexes and no income rider at all. Pick Reliance Standard when the rating and MYGA pricing matter most to you, and pick Athene when you need guaranteed lifetime income built into the same contract.

How to buy a Reliance Standard annuity

Reliance Standard sells exclusively through independent licensed agents, with no direct-to-consumer option, which is where a licensed strategist comes in to compare it against other carriers competing for the same premium. Funding sources accepted include a rollover from an IRA, a 1035 exchange from an existing contract, or new after-tax money, though a workplace 401(k) or 403(b) balance needs to land in an IRA first, since Reliance Standard will not take that money directly. Done the right way, none of those transfers triggers a tax bill. The 45-day window on transfer paperwork is what protects you if a prior custodian drags its feet, keeping the rate you locked in intact while the funds make their way over. Signing for delivery is what starts the clock on your state's free look period.