F&G IUL Review (2026)

F&G at a glance: who stands behind the policy

Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company was founded in 1959. It does business as F&G and sells fixed annuities and indexed universal life (IUL) insurance through independent agents, not directly to consumers. Its headquarters is at 801 Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ownership has changed several times, which matters when you are buying a policy you will hold for decades. Here is the current picture, from F&G's 2025 annual report:

• Fidelity National Financial (FNF), the large title insurance company, bought F&G on June 1, 2020.
• On December 1, 2022, FNF handed about 15% of F&G's shares to its own shareholders, and F&G began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as FG.
• On December 31, 2025, FNF distributed about 12% more. FNF now owns about 70% of F&G and controls its board. The other 30% trades publicly.
• Blackstone is not the owner. Under an agreement, it managed about 78% of F&G's investment portfolio at the end of 2025. F&G says Blackstone is mainly responsible for picking securities, while F&G sets the strategy and risk limits.

F&G reports about 778,000 annuity and life policyholders as of December 31, 2025. On the life side it is a big player: citing Wink's sales reports, it says it ranked 7th in U.S. IUL sales and 8th by number of IUL policies sold for the first nine months of 2025. For its annuities, see our F&G annuity review.

How strong is F&G?

AM Best affirmed F&G's financial strength rating at A (Excellent) on March 31, 2026, with a stable outlook. A is the third-highest grade on AM Best's scale, one step below the A+ that many of the largest IUL carriers hold. AM Best rated F&G's balance sheet strong, its operating performance adequate and its business profile favorable. It measured risk-adjusted capital as very strong.

AM Best also named the weak spots plainly. It said F&G holds "a higher risk investment portfolio with material allocations to private credit and mortgage-related holdings." It said the quality of F&G's capital "is diminished by materially increasing reinsurance leverage, the use of captive financial solutions and the use of surplus notes." In its view, a history of low and stable credit-related impairments and Blackstone's investment expertise partly offset that risk, and FNF's continued commitment adds support.

F&G reports ratings of A- from S&P, A- from Fitch and A3 from Moody's. Its annual report shows each has moved up since FNF bought the company: S&P and Fitch to A- in June 2020, Moody's to A3 in July 2023 and AM Best to A in January 2024.

A rating measures the company, not the policy. It tells you how likely F&G is to pay claims decades from now. It says nothing about whether an IUL's caps and charges suit you.

For how we weigh ratings against other factors, see how we rate life insurance companies.

F&G's IUL lineup

F&G says it specializes in indexed universal life. It does not list term or whole life policies for individuals. Four IULs have consumer brochures revised in late 2025 or 2026, and F&G's public rate history tool reports current rates for all four. They pair up: two built for cash value, two built for the death benefit.

F&G Pathsetter is the flagship accumulation policy. F&G says it is "specifically designed to maximize your cash accumulation." It pairs the S&P 500 with indexes from Barclays, BlackRock and Morgan Stanley, and pays a 1.00% bonus on some index options from year 2. Its rate history begins in November 2019. The costs: a 9% expense charge in years 1 to 10, then 5%, and 15 years of surrender charges.

F&G Everlast is built mainly for the death benefit. F&G describes it as designed "to maximize your death benefit protection while still providing cash accumulation." It charges a 7.5% expense charge from premiums, has fewer index options (the S&P 500 and Barclays Trailblazer Sectors 5) and a $5 monthly expense charge.

F&G Freedom is a second accumulation policy with the same stated purpose as Pathsetter and the same 9% then 5% expense charge. Its S&P 500 caps have matched Pathsetter's month for month in F&G's published history. Its index menu differs: in place of the BlackRock and Morgan Stanley indexes, it offers a Dow Jones real estate index credited with a spread.

F&G Gold is a second death-benefit policy, with a 7.5% expense charge and a $10 monthly expense charge. It has the broadest mix of indexes in the lineup, including one tied to the price of gold.

Which of these your agent can offer can depend on the marketing organization the agent works with. Ask.

F&G's rate tool also lists two older names, F&G Trailsetter and F&G ExecuDex, but shows no rate data for them. We could not confirm from public documents whether either still accepts new applications, so we do not list them as current.

Index options and how interest is credited

An index account does not buy stocks. It credits interest based on how much an index rose over a year, limited by a cap, a participation rate or a spread. Across its four IULs, F&G uses these indexes:

• S&P 500: versions include annual point-to-point with a cap, a higher-participation version with a lower cap, and a monthly point-to-point version.
• Barclays Trailblazer Sectors 5: a volatility-controlled index credited with a participation rate above 100% and no cap.
• BlackRock Market Advantage and Morgan Stanley US Equity Allocator: offered on Pathsetter and Gold (F&G's rate history for both starts in September 2024), credited with a participation rate and no cap. F&G's disclosures say the Morgan Stanley index uses volatility control and deducts a 0.85% yearly servicing cost inside the index, which lowers its returns.
• Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Daily Risk Control 10% (Freedom and Gold) and the LBMA Gold Price (Gold only).

A calmer index costs less to hedge, which is how these designs carry high participation rates. That does not make them better. Our guide to volatility-controlled indexes explains why.

One detail is worth knowing. Its brochures say the fixed option and every index option are guaranteed not to credit less than 0.25% a year, where many IULs use a floor of 0%. It is a small cushion. It protects the credit, not your cash value: monthly charges still come out, and in a year the index falls they will usually exceed 0.25%.

All four policies add a persistency bonus from policy year 11 when the credited rate is above the 0.25% minimum (0.25% on Pathsetter and Freedom). On Pathsetter and Freedom, some index options instead carry a 1.00% bonus from year 2. Current Pathsetter rates, dated August 2026, are in our Pathsetter review. Our guide to IUL cap rates explains how to weigh caps against charges.

How F&G treats existing policyholders

This is the section that matters most, because you will own an IUL for decades after the sale. We looked at caps on existing policies, cost of insurance charges, and lawsuits and regulatory actions.

Cap history: F&G publishes it

F&G posts a public tool with the caps, participation rates and spreads it has declared on each current IUL, month by month, back to 2019. F&G presents them as the rates offered at each point in time. The tool shows one rate set per product per month. It does not show separate rates for older policies, and it notes that some products pay lower rates to issue ages 18 to 45 and face amounts under $150,000.

Here is what it shows for the main S&P 500 annual cap account on each policy:

Two other moves are worth knowing. In July 2023, F&G raised participation rates on the Barclays Trailblazer Sectors 5 account on all four policies (on Pathsetter, from 145% to 170%). In March 2023, it widened the spread on the real estate account on Freedom from 1.10% to 3.10% and on Gold from 1.25% to 3.25%. A wider spread means smaller credits.

The lesson applies to every carrier: the cap in your illustration is a current rate, not a promise. F&G's own record shows caps drifting down from launch, then holding steady for more than three years. We found no public rate history for IULs F&G sold before 2019.

Cost of insurance charges

The cost of insurance is the monthly charge for the death benefit. A carrier raising it on existing policies is one of the biggest risks in universal life. We found no public record of F&G raising cost of insurance rates on its IULs, but we could not verify that from company filings, and in-force rate actions are not always made public. Treat it as unconfirmed rather than a clean record. F&G's brochures also say it reserves the right to keep charging the monthly unit expense charge after the first 10 or 15 years, depending on the policy.

Lawsuits and regulatory actions

• IUL sales practices (settled). In Cressy v. Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company (Los Angeles Superior Court, case BC-514340), the plaintiff alleged he and others relied on advice to buy unsuitable indexed universal life policies. F&G settled for a nationwide class of owners of policies issued from January 1, 2007 through March 31, 2014, some under its former name, OM Financial Life Insurance Company. F&G agreed to pay a total of $5 million, the court entered final judgment on January 2, 2015, and an interest enhancement for certain policies began October 12, 2015.
• Data security. F&G is a defendant in two putative class actions after a 2023 breach of the MOVEit file transfer software used by one of its vendors. F&G says its own systems were not affected. The cases are part of a national multidistrict litigation.
• Commission dispute. A consulting firm sued F&G in federal court in Texas over commissions tied to two marketing organizations. The court ruled for F&G and entered final judgment in May 2026; the firm has appealed. It does not involve policyholders.
• Regulators. F&G reports that the Iowa Insurance Division's financial and market conduct examination for the five years ending December 31, 2022 found no material deficiencies.

We have not completed a state-by-state review of regulatory actions, so we make no claim either way beyond this. Our guide to IUL lawsuits covers the wider industry picture.

Riders and living benefits

All four IULs offer three accelerated benefit riders, per F&G's brochures:

• Terminal illness: up to 100% of the death benefit, capped at $1,000,000, if life expectancy is 24 months or less.
• Critical illness: up to 100%, capped at $1,000,000, for a qualifying illness that first occurs after the rider starts. The payout depends on age and severity.
• Chronic illness: up to 25% of the death benefit a year (the annual limit does not apply in California) if you cannot perform two of six daily activities or have an impairment of cognitive ability, up to a $1,000,000 lifetime total.

In every case you receive less than the amount of death benefit you give up, and the death benefit shrinks by the amount accelerated. These riders are not long-term care insurance. See IUL living benefits.

Each brochure also lists waiver of monthly deductions for a disability that starts before about age 65, an accidental death benefit, term riders for you, a spouse and children, and an overloan protection rider. That rider can keep a heavily borrowed policy from lapsing once it has been in force 15 years and you have reached age 75, and it can be used once. F&G says riders carry limitations, restrictions and additional charges. Ask what each costs in writing. See overloan protection.

Underwriting and service

F&G says qualified applicants can be approved without a medical exam, attending physician statements or a phone interview. Applicants who do not qualify go through fuller underwriting. For what the process looks like, see IUL underwriting.

Who F&G fits, and who should look elsewhere

F&G is a strong candidate if you:

• Want an accumulation IUL and can fund it steadily for at least the 15-year surrender period.
• Value a carrier that publishes its rate history so you can check its record before you buy.
• Want a slightly higher guaranteed minimum than a 0% floor.
• Want terminal, critical and chronic illness riders on the policy.

Look elsewhere if you:

• Want an A+ rated carrier. F&G is A, and AM Best calls its portfolio higher risk.
• Might need to surrender in the first 15 years. Surrender charges run that long on all four policies.
• Live in New York. The company that issues these four policies does not sell there. F&G serves New York through a separate subsidiary, and we have not confirmed which IULs, if any, it offers.
• Mainly want the cheapest permanent death benefit. Term insurance or guaranteed universal life may cost less. See who should not buy IUL.

A word about how F&G IULs are sold. F&G's annual report says its life sales reach the middle market largely through network marketing groups, and that it owns stakes in some marketing organizations. Nothing about that is improper, but know who you are buying from. Ask your agent how they are paid, and compare an F&G illustration against at least one other carrier's.

A word on taxes, since IUL is often sold on them. Income from an IUL usually comes from policy loans and from withdrawals up to your premiums paid. Both are tax-free only while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract. If the policy lapses or is surrendered with a loan outstanding, the gain can become taxable in a single year. Our IUL taxes guide walks through the rules.

To compare F&G with other carriers, start with our list of the best IUL companies.