Aspida Annuities
Founded in 2021, Aspida is a North Carolina-based annuity provider. The company manages over $13 billion in annuity assets, selling fixed and fixed index annuities in almost every state in the country.
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- Written by Jennifer Schell, CAS®
- Edited By
Lamia Chowdhury
Lamia Chowdhury
Financial Editor
Lamia Chowdhury is a financial content editor for RetireGuide and has over three years of marketing experience in the finance industry. She has written copy for both digital and print pieces ranging from blogs, radio scripts and search ads to billboards, brochures, mailers and more.
Read More- Published: June 19, 2024
- Updated: July 12, 2024
- 5 min read time
- This page features 9 Cited Research Articles
- Aspida sells fixed and fixed index annuities in 49 states, D.C. and several U.S. territories.
- The company holds strong ratings for customer satisfaction and overall financial stability.
- Aspida's annuities have high minimum premiums and some products credit a bonus for premiums of $100,000 or more, making this provider ideal for those who want to put a six-figure premium into an annuity.
Products Offered
The types of annuity products Aspida offers include fixed annuities and fixed index annuities.
Aspida's Fixed Annuities
Aspida offers three fixed annuity options. All three are multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGAs) with guarantee period options of two, three, five or seven years.
- The Aspida Advisory annuity has a $25,000 minimum premium and free withdrawals of up to 10% of the contract's value after the first contract anniversary. This product also comes with waivers allowing owners to access up to 100% of the annuity's value if they are diagnosed with a terminal illness or enter a nursing home.
- The Synergy Choice MYGA has a $25,000 minimum premium and annuitization available after 12 months with multiple payout options. The annuity allows owners to add one of two optional withdrawal features to their contract: either a 10% free withdrawal provision or a free interest withdrawal at regular intervals that owners choose after the first 30 days of the contract.
- Aspida's WealthLock annuity has a $25,000 minimum premium and receives a step-up in interest rate for premiums over $99,999. This product has similar features to Aspida's other MYGAs, including 10% free withdrawals, optional regular interest withdrawals, a nursing home waiver and a terminal illness waiver.
Aspida's Fixed Index Annuities
Aspida also sells two fixed index annuity types, the Synergy ChoiceTM and the WealthLock AccumulatorSM.
- The Synergy Choice fixed index series has a $25,000 minimum premium for all contracts and terms of either five years or 10 years. This product line includes the Synergy ChoiceTM Max, which offers several index crediting options; the Synergy ChoiceTM Bonus, which credits a 10% bonus when issuing the contract; and the Synergy ChoiceTM Income, designed for lifetime or joint life income.
- The WealthLock Accumulator annuities have minimum premiums of $25,000 and terms of five, seven or 10 years. This fixed index annuity has a variety of linked index options and crediting strategies to choose from, as well as a fixed account rate. The fixed account rate receives a 25 basis point increase for premiums of $100,000 or more.
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Aspida Overview
Aspida is a newcomer to the annuity market, founded in 2021 by insurance industry professionals who wanted to bring an updated, disruptive approach to annuities. As of February 2024, Aspida had over $13 billion in assets under management.
Aspida receives backing from Ares Management Corporation, a global alternative investment manager with over $400 billion in assets under management. Ares’ in-house investment team. Ares Insurance Solutions, is dedicated to supporting Aspida with investment management, capital solutions and corporate development services.
In 2023, Aspida sold nearly $2 billion in direct annuity premiums, commanding 0.57% of the U.S. annuity market, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The company is licensed to sell annuities in every state except New York and in D.C. and a few U.S. territories.
Aspida's Reputation and Financial Standing
Aspida’s reputation is limited since the company is relatively new. However, the company has received an excellent financial strength rating from AM Best, one of the country’s top credit rating agencies.
Agencies like AM Best assign ratings to represent the overall financial stability of an insurance or annuity company. The higher the rating, the more likely the company is to be able to meet its obligations to its policyholders. It’s important to know the financial strength rating of any annuity company you consider because annuity guarantees are backed by the issuer’s creditworthiness.
AM Best assigned a credit rating of A- (Excellent) to Aspida Life Insurance Company. This rating is the fourth highest out of 13 potential ratings.
Customer Satisfaction
Aspida does not seem to have issues with annuity customer satisfaction. According to the NAIC, the company has not had any complaints from annuity customers reported to state insurance commissions since its founding. However, it bears repeating that the company has not been around nearly as long as many of its competitors.
The NAIC tracks consumer complaints each state’s insurance commission receives each year. It uses this data to compile a company’s NAIC Complaint Index.
The index score is calculated by dividing the company’s share of complaints in the U.S. market by the company’s share of premiums in the U.S. market. The National Complaint Index is always 1.00, so a score of 2.00, for example, is twice as high as expected in the market.
All Policy Types | 0.00 |
Individual Annuities Only | 0.00 |
These numbers indicate that Aspida received significantly fewer complaints than the insurance and annuity industry average.
Aspida did not appear in the 2023 J.D. Power Annuity Customer Satisfaction Study, which scored annuity companies on a 1,000-point scale of overall customer satisfaction.
Pros and Cons of Aspida
Buying an annuity from Aspida could be advantageous depending on your needs, goals and priorities. However, every annuity company has its benefits and drawbacks. It’s important to consider the pros and cons of a provider and its products before deciding to purchase an annuity.
- Wide availability: Aspida sells annuities in 49 states, D.C. and a few U.S. territories.
- Strong financial stability and customer satisfaction: Aspida has earned high ratings in both financial strength and customer satisfaction.
- WealthLock rate bonuses: Aspida's WealthLockSM fixed and fixed index annuities credit a bonus interest rate for premiums of $100,000 or more.
- High minimum premiums: Aspida's annuities all have a minimum premium of $25,000, higher than many competitors.
- New company: Founded in 2021, Aspida doesn't have as long a track record as major players in the annuity industry.
- Lack of product variety: Aspida mostly sells fixed annuities, with only a few fixed index options and no variable or immediate annuity products.
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9 Cited Research Articles
- Aspida Life Insurance Company. (2024, May 10). WealthLockSM Accumulator. Retrieved from https://www.aspida.com/images/fia-accumullator/25018-WealthLock-Accumulator-Rate-Fact-Sheet.pdf
- Aspida Life Insurance Company. (2024, May 10). WealthLockSM MYGA. Retrieved from https://www.aspida.com/images/wealthlock-myga/25017-WealthLock-MYGA-Rate-Fact-Sheet.pdf
- Aspida Life Insurance Company. (2024, February 26). This Is Aspida. Retrieved from https://www.aspida.com/images/documents/10004-This-is-Aspida-Ares-Financials.pdf
- Aspida Life Insurance Company. (2023, August). Aspida Advisory MYGA. Retrieved from https://www.aspida.com/images/advisory-myga/40002-Aspida-Advisory-MYGA-Fact-Sheet.pdf
- Aspida Life Insurance Company. (2023, August). Synergy ChoiceTM. Retrieved from https://www.aspida.com/images/synergy-hero/30002-Synergy-Choice-MYGA-Fact-Sheet.pdf
- AM Best. (2023, April 28). AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Aspida Life Re Ltd. and Aspida Life Insurance Company. Retrieved from https://news.ambest.com/PR/PressContent.aspx?altsrc=2&refnum=33285
- Aspida Life Insurance Company. (n.d.). Fixed Annuities. Retrieved from https://www.aspida.com/fixed-annuities.html
- Aspida Life Insurance Company. (n.d.). Fixed Index Annuities. Retrieved from https://www.aspida.com/fixed-index-annuities.html
- NAIC. (n.d.). Consumer Insurance Search Results. Retrieved from https://content.naic.org/cis_consumer_information.htm
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