Is Wilton Re a good annuity company?
It is a strong one to have behind your policy, but not one you can shop for directly. Wilton Re Life Insurance Company holds an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, and its parent is owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a pension fund with hundreds of billions of dollars under management. What Wilton Re does not do is sell new individual annuities. Its business is reinsuring and administering blocks of policies that other carriers want off their books, including a large book of structured settlement payments it picked up in 2014. If your contract or settlement was transferred there, the rating and the ownership behind it are both good news.
Wilton Re at a glance
| Legal name | Wilton Re Life Insurance Company |
|---|---|
| Parent | Wilton Re Holdings Limited, Bermuda, owned by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board |
| Founded | 2004 |
| U.S. headquarters | Wilton, Connecticut |
| AM Best rating | A+ (Superior), affirmed November 2025 |
| What it does | Life and annuity reinsurance and in-force block management |
| Retail annuities | Not sold through independent agents, IMOs or direct to consumers |
Where Wilton Re sits on the AM Best scale
A+ is grade 2 of 13. Most buyers look for A- or better for a long-term contract.
- A++
- A+Wilton Re
- A
- A-
- B++
- B+
- B
- B-
- C++
- C+
- C
- C-
- D
Today's rates for Wilton Re
Rates change often and vary by state, term and deposit size. Get today's numbers for your state, side by side with other top-rated carriers. Free, with no obligation.
What Wilton Re actually does
Searching for a "Wilton Re annuity" usually turns up confusion, because Wilton Re Life Insurance Company is not a retail insurer at all. It is a reinsurance specialist, one of the larger ones operating in North America, and its work centers on acquiring and administering existing blocks of life insurance and annuity business from other carriers that want to reduce risk or exit a line entirely. The company was founded in 2004 and runs its U.S. operations out of Wilton, Connecticut, but the capital behind it comes from much further away: the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought Wilton Re and supplies the institutional backing that supports its A+ rating.
One notable deal came in 2014, when Wilton Re bought Continental Assurance Company from CNA Financial. That purchase brought along a substantial book of structured settlement and payout annuity contracts, the kind of guaranteed payment streams often set up after a personal injury settlement. Those policyholders keep receiving their scheduled payments without interruption, and the institutional capital standing behind Wilton Re is a big part of why AM Best has kept affirming that A+ grade.
What annuity-related business does Wilton Re handle?
None of it looks like a typical annuity purchase. Wilton Re's activity in this space breaks down into three buckets:
- In-force block management, meaning it administers annuity and life policies it has acquired from other insurance companies.
- Reinsurance arrangements, where it takes on longevity and mortality risk from a primary carrier on a wholesale basis rather than dealing with policyholders directly.
- Structured settlement administration, specifically the Continental Assurance block it picked up in 2014.
If an acquisition or reinsurance deal moved your policy to Wilton Re, your contractual rights and guaranteed payment amounts did not change; only the company standing behind them did.
Who does Wilton Re actually work with?
- Insurance companies that want to reinsure blocks of in-force life and annuity business.
- Carriers exiting a line, particularly closed blocks of structured settlement or payout annuity obligations.
- Existing policyholders whose contracts arrived at Wilton Re through one of these transactions.
If you are shopping for a brand new annuity as an individual buyer, Wilton Re is not an avenue open to you. Compare Athene, Midland National or another active retail carrier instead.
Other companies to consider
If you landed here looking for a retail carrier rather than a reinsurer, these are worth a look:
- Athene: large, active issuer across MYGA, fixed index and income annuities
- Midland National: A+ rated, broad product lineup sold through independent agents
- F&G: another active issuer with a wide MYGA and index annuity shelf
We can walk you through any of these carriers and compare their current products side by side.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A+ (Superior) AM Best rating, affirmed November 2025, among the strongest grades any insurer can hold
- Owned indirectly by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a pension fund managing well over $600 billion
- Pension fund ownership tends to bring patient, long-horizon capital that suits long-duration insurance obligations
- A track record of successfully absorbing and administering large blocks of acquired policies
Cons
- Sells no new individual MYGAs, fixed indexed annuities or immediate annuities to retail buyers
- Not reachable through independent agents, IMOs or any direct-to-consumer channel
- As a private institutional operator, it discloses far less publicly than a retail-facing carrier would
- Founded in 2004, giving it a shorter operating history than insurers with a century or more behind them
Frequently asked questions
If my annuity was transferred to Wilton Re, is my money still safe?
Yes. When one insurer transfers a block of business to another, whether through reinsurance or an outright sale, the original contract terms, payment amounts and schedule stay legally binding on whichever company now holds the obligation. Wilton Re's A+ AM Best rating points to strong capacity to keep those payments coming, and your state guaranty association adds a further layer of protection on top of that.
Can I open a new annuity with Wilton Re?
No. Wilton Re operates as a reinsurer and block administrator, not a retail insurer, so there is no application you can fill out to buy a new contract from it directly. If you are shopping for a new fixed or indexed annuity, compare active retail carriers instead.
What is a structured settlement annuity, and why does Wilton Re have some?
A structured settlement annuity pays out a series of guaranteed installments, most often awarded as part of a personal injury lawsuit, and the payments are guaranteed by whichever insurer issues them. Wilton Re picked up a block of these when it bought Continental Assurance Company from CNA Financial in 2014, and it has administered those payment streams ever since.
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.
