Is Venerable a good annuity company to have as your carrier?
If you already own a Voya or ING annuity, Venerable's ownership is reassuring rather than alarming. It does not sell new contracts, so you cannot choose it, but the entity holding your existing guarantees is backed by well capitalized private equity investors and carries an A insurance financial strength rating from KBRA. A meaningful share of the underlying fixed and indexed block is also reinsured by Athene, which adds a second balance sheet behind those payments. Your contract terms did not change when the business moved to Venerable, and your state guaranty association protects you the same way it would with any other carrier.
Venerable at a glance
| Legal name | Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company (formerly Voya Insurance and Annuity Company) |
|---|---|
| Parent | Venerable Holdings, Inc. |
| Major owners | Apollo Global Management, Crestview Partners, Reverence Capital Partners, with minority stakes held by Athene Holding and Voya |
| Headquarters | Split between Des Moines, Iowa and West Chester, Pennsylvania |
| KBRA financial strength rating | A, for Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company |
| What it does | Administers closed blocks of variable and fixed annuities acquired from other insurers; sells no new individual annuities |
| Formerly known as | Voya Insurance and Annuity Company, renamed September 1, 2019 |
Today's rates for Venerable
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Why your Voya or ING annuity now belongs to Venerable
If you bought an annuity from Voya, ING U.S. or ReliaStar Life Insurance Company years ago, the company on your statement has changed even though your contract has not. Venerable Holdings, Inc. bought Voya's closed block of variable annuities in a deal that closed on June 1, 2018, taking on a large book of existing policies rather than starting a new one from scratch. Your rates, your surrender schedule and your death benefit did not change when that happened; only the name of the company administering them did.
Who owns Venerable
Venerable Holdings was built specifically to hold this kind of business. Its lead investors are Apollo Global Management, Crestview Partners and Reverence Capital Partners, and both Athene Holding and Voya kept small minority stakes after the sale closed. Athene also stepped in to reinsure roughly $19 billion of the fixed and fixed-indexed annuities that came over in the deal, which means Athene Asset Management now helps manage the assets behind those particular guarantees. Voya Investment Management kept the job of managing assets for the variable annuity side. In short, several large, well capitalized firms sit behind the contracts Venerable administers, not just one.
Venerable's push into reinsurance
Venerable has kept expanding well past that first Voya deal. In June 2025, it struck a deal with Corebridge Financial covering roughly $51 billion of variable annuity business. Two Corebridge subsidiaries were involved: American General Life Insurance Company, and, separately, The US Life Insurance Company of New York. As part of the same agreement, Venerable also agreed to buy Corebridge's investment advisor, SunAmerica Asset Management. Then in December 2025, Venerable put Alexandra Findleton in charge of a newly created flow reinsurance function, a role focused on lining up more of these transactions, managing the carriers on the other side of each deal, and pricing them. None of this touches your existing contract directly, but it shows a company that keeps growing by taking on more blocks rather than by writing new individual policies.
From Voya Insurance and Annuity Company to Venerable
On September 1, 2019, the legal entity Venerable purchased, Voya Insurance and Annuity Company, formally changed its name to Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company. Venerable has no plan to write its own new variable annuities. Its growth model instead is to keep buying existing blocks of variable annuity business from carriers that want to exit that market, then administer those contracts going forward. The company splits its operations between Des Moines, Iowa and West Chester, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb where Voya had run part of its variable annuity operation.
How to access your account today
Venerable finished separating its systems from Voya's in January 2020. If your policy originally came from Voya, ING or ReliaStar, you now manage it through the Venerable Annuity Login at my.venerableannuity.com rather than any Voya portal. If you cannot find your login or need to update your contact information, Venerable's customer service team, not Voya's, is who to call.
Contact Venerable
| Department | Phone |
|---|---|
| Variable annuity | (800) 366-0066 |
| Fixed annuity | (800) 369-5303 |
| Mutual fund custodial accounts | (888) 854-5950 |
| Pension risk transfer | (877) 229-9564 |
| Variable life | (800) 447-3644 |
| Licensing and commissions | (800) 369-5305 |
Customer service hours run Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern. General service questions for fixed and variable annuities go to [email protected]. For overnight mail, the address is Venerable Service Center, 699 Walnut Street, Suite 1350, Des Moines, IA 50309-3942.
Venerable's financial strength ratings
| Rating agency | Rating | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| KBRA | A | Insurance financial strength of Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company |
| KBRA | BBB+ | Debt rating on four series of VIAC surplus notes |
| KBRA | BBB | Issuer rating for parent company Venerable Holdings, Inc. |
| KBRA | BBB | Debt rating on Venerable Holdings' $150 million subordinated term loan |
Venerable is rated by KBRA rather than by AM Best, S&P, Moody's or Fitch, the four agencies most annuity buyers are used to checking. KBRA is registered with the SEC as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization and is also recognized by the NAIC as a credit rating provider, so its A grade carries real regulatory weight even though it is a less familiar name than AM Best. KBRA most recently affirmed these ratings, with a stable outlook, on May 22, 2026. If you want a second opinion, our guide to reading AM Best ratings explains how rating scales work in general, and your state guaranty association adds a separate layer of protection regardless of which agency rates the carrier.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Backed by a group of well funded private equity owners, with Apollo, Crestview and Reverence Capital as the lead investors
- Carries an A insurance financial strength rating from KBRA, an SEC-registered rating agency
- A large portion of the fixed and indexed annuity block is reinsured by Athene, adding a second layer of backing
- Your original contract terms, rates and guarantees carried over unchanged when the business transferred from Voya
Cons
- You cannot buy a new annuity from Venerable; it exists only to run off business it acquired from other carriers
- Rated by KBRA rather than by AM Best, S&P, Moody's or Fitch, the four agencies most annuity shoppers check first
- The parent company, Venerable Holdings, carries a lower BBB issuer rating than its insurance subsidiary
- Built for consolidation rather than growth, so there is no new product line to graduate into later
Frequently asked questions
Is Venerable the same company as Voya?
Venerable now owns the legal entity that used to be Voya Insurance and Annuity Company. Venerable Holdings completed its purchase of Voya's closed block of variable annuities in June 2018, and the insurance company itself was renamed Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company in September 2019. If your annuity was originally issued by Voya, ING U.S. or ReliaStar, Venerable is now the carrier standing behind it.
How do I log into my Venerable annuity account?
Use the Venerable Annuity Login at my.venerableannuity.com. The old Voya annuity login no longer works for these contracts, since account access moved over when Venerable finished separating its systems from Voya's in January 2020.
Is my annuity safe with Venerable?
Your guarantee is backed by Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company's own claims-paying ability, which KBRA rates A, plus reinsurance from Athene on much of the fixed and indexed block. On top of that, your state's guaranty association protects annuity values up to a state-set limit, the same protection you would have with any licensed carrier.
Can I buy a new annuity from Venerable?
No. Venerable does not issue or sell new individual annuities. Its business is acquiring and administering closed blocks of policies that other insurance companies want to exit, not writing new contracts for retail buyers.
Written and reviewed by
James Forren Warren
Licensed Retirement Income Strategist · License #20551202
James Forren Warren is a licensed Retirement Income Strategist with Tax Free Wealth Plan. For the past five years he has helped individuals and families turn their savings into retirement income they can count on. He writes and reviews the annuity research on this site and keeps it plain: what a product does, what it costs you, and who it actually fits.
Sources
Educational only, not investment, tax or legal advice. Tax Free Wealth Plan LLC is a licensed insurance agency, not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer. Annuities are not bank deposits, are not FDIC insured and are not guaranteed by any government agency. Guarantees are backed solely by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Features, rates and availability vary by state and change over time; the contract and disclosure documents govern.
