SILAC Annuity Review (2026)

Where SILAC came from

Utah granted this carrier a license back in 1935, under the name Equitable Life & Casualty Insurance Company. Its early decades centered on life policies and supplemental health plans marketed to older adults. The company swapped in the SILAC Insurance Company brand during 2020 and had finished updating its forms and marketing by early the following year. That long tenure now makes it the oldest life insurer still operating in Utah, holding north of $10 billion in assets.

The funding model behind that growth explains a lot about SILAC's pricing. Instead of running purely on a conventional insurer's investment portfolio, the company draws heavily on outside investment capital plus reinsurance deals, a setup shared by several of the newer carriers chasing top rate positions. That funding lets SILAC out-price many long-established mutual insurers on crediting, and it is also the reason AM Best keeps the company in the Fair category instead of Excellent.

Hildene Capital Management, a firm built around credit investing, agreed late in 2025 to take full ownership of parent company SILAC, Inc. for a price near $550 million in cash, with regulators expected to clear the transaction sometime around mid-2026. The buyer was already familiar territory: Hildene had owned a piece of SILAC since 2022 and ran a standing reinsurance arrangement with it before the buyout talks began. Once the agreement became public, AM Best tagged SILAC's ratings as under review with developing implications, its way of signaling the grade could rise, fall or hold steady once the ownership change is final. Pull the live status from ambest.com before you commit any funds.

SILAC financial strength ratings

The B (Fair) rating is the single fact every SILAC shopper needs to weigh before anything else. It sits below the A- (Excellent) bar that carriers such as Aspida and Ibexis clear, and that gap is part of why SILAC's crediting can look so competitive. A lower rating is not a prediction that claims will go unpaid, but it does mean AM Best sees a narrower cushion in the company's finances than it sees at a higher-rated peer.

A rating measures the company, not the product. It tells you how likely the insurer is to pay its obligations, not whether a particular annuity is a good fit for you.

Your resident state's guaranty association also stands behind every SILAC contract, up to a limit that state sets, commonly $250,000 measured in present value of annuity benefits. That protection is a floor, not a substitute for checking the carrier itself. See our state guaranty associations guide for the number in your state, or pull SILAC's current file from NOLHGA directly.

What annuities does SILAC sell?

Two product families make up the whole catalog here: index-linked contracts and rate-locked ones. Nothing variable is on offer.

• Denali: A fixed index annuity built for both growing your balance and eventually drawing income, spanning term lengths of 7, 10 or 14 years. Add the optional Evolve Rider and you pick up a premium bonus, extra liquidity and a beefed-up lifetime withdrawal benefit. Good fit if you want index-tied growth today with room to flip on income later.
• Teton: A growth-focused FIA, offered plain or as a bonus version, that locks credited interest in place, holds a 0% floor against market drops, and lets you pull out up to 30% cumulatively with no penalty. A spousal continuation feature comes standard. Good fit if protecting principal and riding index gains matters more to you than starting income now.
• Vega: An income-first FIA, also available plain or with a bonus, centered on an income rider that pays out faster in certain scenarios and carries a richer death benefit. Good fit for someone whose top priority is squeezing the largest guaranteed paycheck out of retirement savings.
• Secure Savings: A MYGA with a $10,000 entry point, available for 2, 3 or 5 years, that lets you pull earned interest or an RMD without penalty and pays out the full account value as a death benefit. Good fit for a rate shopper who wants CD-like simplicity plus some breathing room.
• Secure Savings Elite: Same 2, 3 and 5-year window as Secure Savings but priced higher, trading away some of the built-in flexibility (it comes back as an optional rider) and basing its death benefit on cash value instead of the full balance. Good fit if maximizing the guaranteed number matters more than tapping the account mid-term.

Rates on both MYGAs move with the market, your state and how much you deposit, and deposits of $100,000 or more typically unlock a better rate band. Use the quote box on this page for current numbers in your state rather than a printed figure that will be stale by the time you read it.

Who fits a SILAC annuity?

SILAC works best for a buyer who is rate-driven, has already made peace with the B (Fair) rating, and is disciplined about staying inside their state's guaranty association limit on any single contract. For that buyer, the extra yield over an A-rated alternative can be worth the tradeoff, because the guaranty backstop still applies up to the state limit. Secure Savings Elite, Teton and Denali are the products where this logic holds up best.

SILAC is a poor match if an A- or better AM Best rating is a hard line for you, if the deposit you are considering would exceed your state's guaranty limit, or if you want the reassurance of a rating from more than one agency. Those buyers should look first at rate-competitive names that still hold an A- or higher, including Aspida and Ibexis, or at FIA specialists with a top grade such as Allianz and American Equity.

The clearest way to decide is to put SILAC's actual quoted rate next to the best A-rated offer for the same term and ask whether the extra yield is worth the step down in rating for your situation. A licensed strategist can run that side-by-side comparison for you.

How to buy a SILAC annuity

SILAC sells only through independent insurance agents and brokerages appointed to represent it. There is no career agent force and no way to buy straight from the company, so you will always work through a licensed professional to get a quote and complete an application.

The process runs like any other fixed or fixed indexed annuity purchase. Confirm the product, term and any riders, complete the state-specific paperwork, fund the contract by check, wire, 1035 exchange or IRA transfer, and use your state's free look period to review everything once the contract arrives. If you are buying an FIA, look closely at the current caps or participation rate, the surrender charge schedule and the exact mechanics of any rider before you sign.

Because rate is what draws people to SILAC in the first place, cross-shopping matters more here than with most carriers. Ask for SILAC's live number alongside quotes from stronger-rated companies for the same term length, then decide with real dollars in front of you rather than a rate on a page.

Other annuity companies to consider

• Aspida: holds an A- grade while still pricing MYGAs and FIAs competitively
• Athene: A+ rated, one of the widest fixed and indexed catalogs available
• Allianz: A+ rated and focused heavily on fixed index products
• American Equity: a long-tenured specialist in fixed index annuities