Global Atlantic IUL (2026): No Longer Sold, a Guide for Current Owners

Global Atlantic at a glance: who stands behind the policy

Global Atlantic is the marketing name for The Global Atlantic Financial Group LLC and its insurance companies. It was founded at Goldman Sachs in 2004 and became an independent company on April 30, 2013, when Goldman Sachs sold most of its stake and kept about 22%, according to the company's 2019 audited financial statements.

Global Atlantic no longer sells IUL. KKR's annual report for 2024 says that effective July 1, 2023, Global Atlantic "no longer underwrites new indexed universal life products," and that policies written before that date remain in force. IUL was a small line for it: KKR's 2023 annual report puts IUL at about 3% of Global Atlantic's individual market sales in 2022. Today Global Atlantic sells annuities to individuals and preneed (funeral) life insurance through about 2,400 funeral homes. For its annuities, see our Global Atlantic annuity review.

This page is for people who already own a Global Atlantic IUL, or who are weighing an old policy against a new one. If you want a second opinion on yours, we offer a free policy review.

Who issued your policy. Global Atlantic's life policies were issued by Accordia Life and Annuity Company, an Iowa-domiciled subsidiary based in Des Moines. Accordia's name is printed on the current loan, ownership change and death claim forms. Accordia also took on a block of older life policies in 2013: Athene Holding's SEC filings say that when Athene bought Aviva USA that year, it reinsured a block of life insurance policies to Accordia. So some people who never bought from Global Atlantic have a policy that Accordia is responsible for and services.

Who owns Global Atlantic. KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), the global investment firm, owns all of it:

• KKR announced the deal in July 2020 and closed on February 1, 2021, owning about 60% after bringing in co-investors.
• On January 2, 2024, KKR bought the remaining 37%, taking its ownership to 100%.
• Global Atlantic keeps its own brand and management team. Its website reports $155.6 billion of invested assets and 3.5 million contract owners as of September 30, 2025.

How strong is Global Atlantic?

KKR's annual report, filed February 27, 2026, gives these financial strength ratings for Global Atlantic's life insurance companies, all with a stable outlook. The "where it sits" column comes from Global Atlantic's ratings page:

Global Atlantic says the ratings apply to Accordia Life and Annuity Company, Commonwealth Annuity and Life Insurance Company, First Allmerica Financial Life Insurance Company, Forethought Life Insurance Company and its two Bermuda companies. S&P raised its rating from A- to A on April 7, 2025.

These are solid grades. They are also a notch or more below the A+ and AA-range ratings that the highest-rated life insurers hold. For an existing owner, that matters less than it would for a new buyer: you are not choosing a carrier, you are deciding whether to keep a policy you have.

A rating measures the company, not the policy. It tells you how likely the insurer is to pay claims decades from now. It says nothing about how your policy's caps or charges will move.

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

Global Atlantic's IUL lineup

There is none for new buyers. Global Atlantic's current website lists annuities and funeral insurance only, and we have no Global Atlantic policy review because there is no policy you can apply for.

If you own one, it is most likely one of the three IULs Global Atlantic listed on its consumer site in 2020, or an older design:

• Global Accumulator IUL, launched in April 2020, was its accumulation policy. It offered six interest crediting options, including two optional "SMART Buy-Up" strategies that added 25% (Secure) or 100% (Performance) to index credits for an extra charge.
• Lifetime Builder ELITE, launched in November 2017, was called its flagship accumulation IUL at launch. It introduced a Linked Loan option and a 1% guaranteed account value enhancement from policy year five.
• Lifetime Foundation ELITE was built for death benefit protection. Global Atlantic said the death benefit was guaranteed up to the earlier of age 90 or 40 years, with the period based on underwriting class and issue age, if minimum premiums were paid.

Your policy's name and form number are on your policy's data pages.

Index options and how interest is credited

Global Atlantic's 2020 consumer pages describe the basics. Money in an index account earns interest based in part on the rise of a major market index, limited by a cap, a participation rate and, on some strategies, a strategy charge. The money is not invested in the index itself. The lowest interest credit for a period is zero, the floor. The policies also offered a fixed account that earns a rate the company declares.

A 0% floor protects the interest credit, not your cash value. Cost of insurance and other charges still come out every month, so in a year the index falls, your cash value will usually go down.

Two features on these policies deserve attention:

• Buy-Up strategies (Global Accumulator). A multiplier boosts index credits in good years, but Global Atlantic deducted a Buy-Up charge at the start of every indexed crediting period, whether or not the index later rose. In a flat year you pay the charge and get nothing back. Global Atlantic said the Buy-Ups would only be made available when policy cash values were better able to support the policy long term.
• Linked Loans (Lifetime Builder ELITE and Global Accumulator). Loan interest was linked to index performance, which Global Atlantic said gave the potential to earn more than it charged while limiting the net cost to a maximum of 2%. Check your contract for the exact terms before you borrow.

We found no current caps published for Global Atlantic's in-force IULs. Your annual statement and an in-force illustration show the rates now applied to your policy. Our guides to IUL cap rates and bonuses and multipliers explain what to look for.

How Global Atlantic treats existing policyholders

This is the section that matters most once a carrier stops selling a product. We looked at what closing the line means, caps and charges on existing policies, the company's service record, and what KKR ownership does and does not change.

Closing the line

When an insurer stops selling a product, existing policies do not end. KKR's filings say Global Atlantic's IUL policies remain in force, and its June 2026 quarterly report says Global Atlantic still hedges its indexed universal life policies. The guarantees in your contract do not change because sales stopped.

What can still change are the non-guaranteed parts: caps, participation rates and cost of insurance rates, within the limits your contract sets. Some owners worry that a carrier with no new sales has less reason to keep renewal rates competitive. That concern applies to every closed block at every insurer, and we found no public evidence either way for Global Atlantic.

Cap history and cost of insurance

We found no public history of the caps Global Atlantic has declared on its in-force IULs, and no public record of a cost of insurance increase on them. We could not verify either way from company filings, and in-force rate actions are not always made public. Treat both as unknown, not as a clean record. The way to find out for your own policy is to compare the caps on your last few annual statements and ask for an in-force illustration.

The policy administration conversion

The biggest issue in the record is service. Global Atlantic's 2019 financial statements describe moving more than 500,000 in-force life insurance policies from systems managed by Athene to the platform of an outside administrator, DXC. KKR's filings name the administrator as Alliance-One, a DXC Technology subsidiary. Athene says the California policies at issue were converted from legacy Aviva systems, which points to the block Accordia took on in 2013. Here is what followed, according to the companies' own filings:

• California. On June 11, 2018, an Athene subsidiary received notice of a regulatory matter from the California Department of Insurance about administration problems with certain California policies reinsured to Accordia. Global Atlantic's 2019 financial statements reported an agreement in principle with the department; in mid-2020 it said it was still working to resolve the matter. We did not find the final terms.
• New York. On June 28, 2018, an Athene subsidiary and Global Atlantic's First Allmerica Financial Life Insurance Company entered a consent order with the New York Department of Financial Services over servicing disruptions caused by the conversion. Athene paid a $15 million fine, and Global Atlantic paid Athene the same amount under its indemnity.
• Policyholder class action. In Clapp v. Accordia Life and Annuity Company (U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois), policyholders alleged harm from billing problems tied to the conversion. The court gave final approval to a settlement on June 23, 2020. It provided remediation, including a claim review process with third-party review on request.
• Agents. A separate class action by independent agents over renewal commissions reached a preliminary settlement with a $3.1 million common fund in July 2020.

Global Atlantic reported a reserve of about $49 million for all regulatory, litigation and related matters as of June 30, 2020. KKR's annual reports still referred to a reserve for matters arising from the conversion through 2022. The 2023 and later reports do not mention it. If you had a billing or lapse problem during those years and never got it resolved, contact the company in writing and keep copies.

What KKR ownership means

Private equity ownership of insurers is a fair question, so here are the facts from KKR's own filings:

• KKR manages the investments. KKR has served as Global Atlantic's investment manager since 2021. KKR's asset management business earns management fees as investment adviser to Global Atlantic's insurance companies.
• What it invests in. KKR says it seeks investments for Global Atlantic with stable, long-dated cash flows and high credit quality, historically including corporate debt, structured products, transportation and infrastructure assets, and commercial and residential real estate loans and securities.
• Outside capital. Investment vehicles funded by third-party investors, such as the Ivy vehicles, provided $58 billion of Global Atlantic's assets under management as of December 31, 2025. KKR says they supply capital for some of Global Atlantic's reinsurance and insurance activities.
• Regulation does not change. Accordia is domiciled in Iowa and regulated by the Iowa Insurance Division. Global Atlantic's Bermuda companies are supervised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Your policy is a contract with the insurance company that issued it, whoever owns the parent.

None of this tells you how your policy will be treated. The ratings above are the independent view of the company's financial strength.

Riders and living benefits

Global Atlantic's 2020 consumer pages list the optional riders it offered on its life policies. Your policy has only the riders you chose and your contract describes, so check your data pages.

• Accelerated Access Rider: lets you take part of the death benefit early if diagnosed with a qualifying chronic or critical illness. Global Atlantic said it had no cost until benefits were paid.
• Terminal Illness Accelerated Death Benefit Rider: pays part of the death benefit early if life expectancy is 12 months or less.
• Overloan Protection Rider: can keep a heavily borrowed policy from lapsing. No upfront cost; a one-time charge applies if you use it. This one matters, because a lapse with a loan outstanding can create a large tax bill. See overloan protection.
• Wellness for Life: a no-cost rider that gives cost of insurance discounts, starting in policy year 3, if the insured sees a doctor at least every other year, with larger discounts for staying within a weight range set at issue. The qualification form is still on Global Atlantic's support page. If your policy has it, keep sending the form in.
• Others: return of premium (Lifetime Builder ELITE only among its IULs), waiver of monthly deductions or premium for disability before 65, accidental death, children's coverage and additional insured riders.

Accelerated benefits usually pay less than the death benefit you give up, and they are not long-term care insurance. See IUL living benefits.

Underwriting and service

Global Atlantic is not underwriting new IUL applications. For existing policies, its life service forms list:

Who a Global Atlantic IUL fits now, and when to look elsewhere

Keeping your policy usually makes sense if:

• It is past its surrender charge period, or close to it, and the in-force illustration shows it lasting well past your life expectancy on the premiums you plan to pay.
• You are older or your health has changed. A new policy would be priced at your current age and health.
• You rely on a rider, such as Wellness for Life or overloan protection, that a new policy might not match.

Look harder at your options if:

• Your in-force illustration shows the policy lapsing, especially with a loan outstanding. See IUL lapse risk.
• Your caps have fallen and your charges have not.
• You mainly need a death benefit and could buy it more cheaply elsewhere.

Never surrender or replace a policy before a new one is approved and in force. A replacement can be done as a 1035 exchange to avoid tax on the gain, but it starts a new surrender period and new charges. If you want a second opinion, we offer a free policy review.

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 explains the rules.

To compare carriers that still sell IUL, start with our list of the best IUL companies.