About Athene Annuity and Life Company
Athene Annuity Financial Strength
An Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus fixed indexed annuity is a 15-year annuity that may be right for you if you want:
- Guarantees: You can choose the certainty of a fixed rate of interest declared each year by the insurance company and subject to minimum guarantees. Your annuity will always have a Minimum Guaranteed Contract Value.
- Growth Potential: You can pursue additional growth with interest credits that are based in part on the performance of an external market index.
- A Premium Bonus: Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus annuity includes a bonus applied to the money you use to purchase your annuity.
- Protection: There is no direct downside market risk to your money.
- Tax Deferral: Performance Elite 15 Plus annuity provides the advantage of tax-deferred interest accumulation. You don’t pay taxes on any growth until you withdraw money.
- Income: At the annuity’s maturity date, you have options to create a regular stream of income — either for a certain period of time or for the rest of your life.
- A Death Benefit: Your annuity can offer your loved ones a quick source of funds to settle matters after your death.
- Protect and grow your retirement nest egg: Whatever life sends your way.
Designed To:
Help you accumulate money for retirement.
They feature a variety of interest crediting strategies that are designed to grow your money and help protect you from market downturns.
But growing your savings doesn’t mean giving up access to your money.
Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus annuity includes a Liquidity Rider for an annual charge that gives you additional flexibility should the need arise. Athene Performance Elite Plus also provides an enhanced Premium Bonus, which will give an immediate increase to your annuity’s Accumulated Value.
Premium Bonus
The Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus annuity includes a Premium Bonus that is credited at issue and provides an immediate increase to your annuity’s Accumulated Value. The bonus and any earnings on the bonus are subject to a Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment.
Growing your money.
Interest Crediting Strategies
Strategies are methods used to calculate how much interest, if any, will be credited to your annuity. Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus annuity allows you to allocate your money among one or more of the available interest crediting strategies. You can reallocate available funds at the end of each crediting period.
Fixed Crediting Strategy
The fixed crediting strategy provides a guaranteed rate of interest that is used to calculate and credit interest to your annuity daily. Athene declares the guaranteed rate for this strategy each Contract Year.
Indexed Crediting Strategies
With indexed crediting strategies, you receive interest credits linked in part to the performance of external market indices. The interest you earn is credited at the end of each Index Term Period.
Indexed crediting strategies offer two benefits.
- You have the potential to earn interest credits that are based in part on the growth of the market index.
- You’re also guaranteed to never earn less than 0% interest.
So even though it’s possible that you may have years when you have no interest credited to your contract, you will not lose any money in your annuity due to market losses — even during economic downturns.
In exchange for this protection, indexed crediting strategies limit the interest rate you can receive.
The limit can take the form of a Cap Rate, an Annual Spread, and/or a Participation Rate.
Athene declares the caps, annual spreads, and participation rates at the end of each term period.
Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus annuity provides you with a number of different indexed crediting strategies.
Athene’s indexed interest crediting strategies feature the following benefits:
- Any interest earned is credited at the end of the crediting period.
- Your interest credits are “locked in” once credited and cannot be lost due to market downturns.
- Interest credits will never be less than 0%.
Protection from market downturns
Your money is not directly exposed to the risks of the stock market or individual stocks. We guarantee you will not lose money due to market risk or losses.
Access your money when you need it most.
Annual Free Withdrawals
Athene Performance Elite annuities provide annual free withdrawal privileges.
Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus annuities allow up to a 10% annual free withdrawal beginning in the first Contract Year.
Each year, you may withdraw up to the maximum free amount of your annuity’s Accumulated Value (as of the most recent Contract Anniversary) without a Withdrawal Charge, Market Value Adjustment (MVA), or any Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment, if applicable.
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are IRS mandatory withdrawals required with qualified contracts (such as an IRA ).
These withdrawals from your annuity contract are considered part of your free withdrawal, free of Withdrawal Charges, MVA, or Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment for the Contract Year.
Confinement Waiver
After the first Contract Year, you can withdraw up to 100% of your annuity’s Accumulated Value if you’ve been confined to a Qualified Care Facility for at least 60 consecutive days and meet the eligibility requirements.
No Withdrawal Charge or MVA applies if you qualify for this benefit.
To receive the Confinement Waiver, you cannot be confined at the time your contract is issued, and confinement must begin at least one year after the Contract Date.
Terminal Illness Waiver
You can withdraw up to 100% of your annuity’s Accumulated Value if you’re diagnosed with a Terminal Illness that is expected to result in death within one year, and you meet the eligibility requirements.
No Withdrawal Charge or MVA apply if you qualify for this benefit.
This waiver is available after your first Contract Anniversary, and the initial diagnosis of Terminal Illness must be made at least one year after the Contract Date.
Additional Liquidity:
Enhanced Free Withdrawals
On Performance Elite 15, 10, and 15 Plus, the free withdrawal amount is increased to 10% per year and may be taken as early as the first Contract Year. If no withdrawals are taken in a given year, up to 20% of the Accumulated Value is available for withdrawal in the next year.
Return of Premium Benefit
After the fourth Contract Year, the Cash Surrender Value will never be less than the premium minus premium taxes (if applicable) and prior withdrawals, including Withdrawal Charges, Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment and Market Value Adjustment on those withdrawals.
Rider Charge
The Liquidity Rider included with Athene Performance Elite Plus annuity has a charge that is deducted from your annuity’s Accumulated Value during the Withdrawal Charge period. A Rider Charge will be assessed when any of the following occur:
- when you reach the end of a Contract Year;
- when you take a withdrawal;
- on the Annuity Date;
- upon surrender;
- upon the date of proof of death;
- or if the rider is terminated.
The rider may not be terminated during the Withdrawal Charge period.
Enhanced Annuitization
- Performance Elite 15 Plus allows Enhanced Annuitization after the fifth Contract Year.
- Performance Elite 10 Plus allows Enhanced Annuitization after the seventh Contract Year.
- Performance Elite 15 Plus allows Enhanced Annuitization after the ninth Contract Year.
You may elect to surrender your contract and apply the Accumulated Value to one of five settlement options.
No Withdrawal Charges, Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustments, or Market Value Adjustments will apply upon the election of this feature, provided one of the Settlement Options is elected, and annuity payments commence.
Annuity Payout Options
When your annuity matures (on the Annuity Date), Athene Performance Elite gives you options to receive guaranteed lifetime income (called annuitization).
The payment amount will be based on your annuity’s Cash Surrender Value and the annuitization option you choose.
These options can be based on a set period of time, your lifetime, or the lifetimes of your and your Joint Annuitant.
It’s important to note that once you choose to annuitize, the payment schedule and the amount is fixed and can’t be altered.
Death Benefit
The Athene Performance Elite 15 Plus annuity includes a Death Benefit. It guarantees that your beneficiary will receive your annuity’s full Accumulated Value, Minimum Guaranteed Contract Value, or Return of Premium Benefit (Performance Elite Plus only), whichever is greater.
The Death Benefit will be paid as long as you haven’t annuitized your contract. After annuitization, payments will be consistent with the settlement option selected made payable to your named beneficiary.
Athene Life Insurance is also an inexpensive way to leave a death benefit to beneficiaries.
Product Limitations
Athene Performance Elite 15 annuity is designed to help meet your long-term savings and retirement needs.
They include a Withdrawal Charge period.
If you withdraw more money than the free amount allowed by your contract, or if you surrender the annuity before the Withdrawal Charge period ends, a Withdrawal Charge, Market Value Adjustment, and Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment (if applicable) will be applied.
These charges do not apply to free withdrawals, RMDs, payments made in settlement of your annuity’s Death Benefit or Confinement, and Terminal Illness waivers.
Withdrawal Charge
If you surrender your annuity or withdraw an amount that exceeds the Free Withdrawal amount during the Withdrawal Charge period, you will incur a Withdrawal Charge.
In part, Withdrawal Charges allow the company to invest your money on a long-term basis, which generally allows higher credit yields than possible with a similar annuity of a shorter term.
For more information, see the Product Details Insert provided with this brochure.
Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment
Withdrawals or surrenders in excess of the Free Withdrawal amount will result in the loss of a portion of the Premium Bonus, if applicable.
The Premium Bonus Vesting Adjustment is a percentage of the annuity’s Premium Bonus and any earnings on the Premium Bonus.
It will not be applied in the event of the death of the Annuitant or to any Free Withdrawal amount, including those elected under the Confinement or Terminal Illness Waivers, if applicable.
Market Value Adjustment (MVA)
A Market Value Adjustment applies to withdrawals in excess of the free withdrawal amount and full surrenders during the Withdrawal Charge period.
If you take an excess withdrawal before the end of your Withdrawal Charge period, an MVA will be applied to that excess withdrawal.
If interest rates in the market are higher than when you purchased your annuity, the MVA is negative, meaning an additional amount is deducted from your contract value.
The MVA may increase or decrease the amount of the Withdrawal or Cash Surrender Value of your Contract depending on the change in interest rates.
If interest rates have increased, stayed the same, or decreased by less than 0.25%, the MVA will be negative. If interest rates have decreased by more than 0.25%, the MVA will be positive. MVA is not applicable in all states.
