Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company
Clear Spring Life is an annuity company owned by the financial services corporation Group 1001. It sells fixed-indexed annuities, multi-year guaranteed annuities, and immediate annuities in 48 states. In 2023, the company sold more than $720 million of individual annuity premiums.
- 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: July 16, 2024
- Updated: July 23, 2024
- 5 min read time
- This page features 8 Cited Research Articles
- Clear Spring Life offers fixed indexed annuities, MYGAs and SPIAs, and sold over $720 million in annuities in 2023.
- Clear Spring's products are accessible, with low minimum premiums and availability in 48 states.
- The company has some issues with customer satisfaction; in 2023, five Clear Spring annuity customers made complaints to state insurance commissions.
Products Offered
Clear Spring’s annuity offerings include four fixed indexed annuities, a multi-year guaranteed annuity and a single premium immediate annuity.
Clear Spring's Fixed Indexed Annuities
Clear Spring mainly sells fixed indexed annuities, offering three different products of this type.
- ClearFlex is a flexible premium fixed indexed annuity with a minimum initial premium of $5,000. Customers can choose from crediting strategies that link to a variety of indexes, and the annuity allows for penalty-free withdrawals of up to 10% of the initial premium payment.
- The Highlander series of fixed indexed annuities has a minimum premium of $5,000 for qualified annuities and $10,000 for nonqualified annuities. The product also features a 10% premium bonus and riders allowing full access to the annuity's value if the owner is confined to a nursing home or diagnosed with terminal illness.
- The ViStar fixed indexed annuity has a minimum premium of $5,000 and a 10-year surrender term. This product simplifies index crediting options and can be modified to provide guaranteed lifetime income with an optional Lifetime Withdrawal Rider.
Clear Spring's MYGA
Clear Spring also offers the Preserve® multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA). Customers can purchase this MYGA with guarantee periods from three years to seven years.
Preserve® allows for one free withdrawal of up to 10% of the annuity value each year without penalty. The free withdrawal provision begins in the second contract year.
The MYGA also comes with riders that allow owners to access the full value of the annuity if they are diagnosed with a terminal illness or confined to a nursing home. However, the Nursing Home Care rider is not available in Massachusetts.
Owners can select from several payout options, including period certain, lifetime income or joint life income for two annuitants. The features of Clear Spring’s Preserve® are typical of MYGA offerings throughout the annuity industry.
Clear Spring's SPIA
The Provider® single premium immediate annuity is designed to create a regular income stream in retirement. Customers can choose from a variety of payout guarantees, including certain period, single life, life with period certain, joint and survivor, and joint life with guaranteed period.
The SPIA can be further customized with an optional cost-of-living adjustment benefit. The COLA benefit increases the monthly payments by a set percentage between 1% and 15%. Only contracts with the guarantee period option can be modified with the COLA benefit.
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Clear Spring Overview
Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company is one brand owned by Group 1001, a financial services conglomerate that also owns annuity providers Delaware Life and Gainbridge. In 2023, Group 1001 served over 950,000 customers, and its combined assets under management totaled $62.6 billion.
In 2023, Clear Spring Life sold over $729 million in individual annuity premiums, representing 0.21% of the U.S. annuity market, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The company is licensed to sell annuities in 48 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Clear Spring's Reputation and Financial Standing
Clear Spring Life has a decent reputation for financial stability. The company holds an “A-” rating from AM Best, one of the top credit rating agencies. This rating signifies that the company has a strong financial outlook, adequate operating performance and overall excellent financial stability.
The guarantees of annuities are backed by the insurance company’s creditworthiness, so it’s important to check the credit ratings of any annuity provider you consider.
Customer Satisfaction
Unfortunately, Clear Spring Life has had some issues with customer satisfaction in recent years. According to the NAIC, five annuity customer complaints were reported to state insurance commissioners in 2023, three in 2022 and one in 2021.
The NAIC tracks the consumer complaints that each state’s insurance commission receives each year. These are used 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 | 0.49 |
Individual Annuities Only | 4.19 |
These numbers indicate that Clear Spring received significantly more customer complaints than the annuity industry average.
Pros and Cons of Clear Spring
Clear Spring sells a variety of annuity products, but this provider might not be best suited for every annuity customer. It’s important to understand the pros and cons of an annuity company and its products before making a decision.
- Low minimum premiums: Clear Spring's fixed indexed annuities can be purchased for as low as $5,000.
- Variety of products: Clear Spring offers fixed indexed, multi-year guaranteed and single premium immediate annuities.
- Wide availability: Clear Spring sells annuities in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
- High number of consumer complaints: Clear Spring has received a higher-than-average number of complaints from annuity customers.
- Lack of product information on website: Clear Spring's website has very limited information about its products.
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8 Cited Research Articles
- Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company. (2024, January). Preserve Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity. Retrieved from https://clearspringlife.com/getattachment/9fec6ce5-dbb0-4273-8d90-9bf9f84b84ef/Products-Preserve;.aspx
- Group 1001. (2023, December 31). About Us. Retrieved from https://www.group1001.com/aboutus
- Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company. (2023, October). Highlander® Fixed Indexed Annuity. Retrieved from https://clearspringlife.com/getattachment/ba24a6e4-f200-42a8-87b2-fdf448c843d6/Products-Highlander;.aspx
- Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company. (2023, January). ClearFlex® Fixed Indexed Annuity. Retrieved from https://clearspringlife.com/getattachment/4fd8b760-1604-42da-98be-fcb8f7555376/ClearFlex;.aspx
- AM Best. (2022, February 10). AM Best Assigns Credit Ratings to Clear Spring Life Insurance Company. Retrieved from https://news.ambest.com/newscontent.aspx?refnum=239737&altsrc=23
- Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company. (2022). Provider Single Premium Immediate Annuity. Retrieved from https://clearspringlife.com/getattachment/ebe1d12c-1063-415c-bdb5-e95ca2c8b9b6/Products-SPIA;.aspx
- Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company. (n.d.). Products. Retrieved from https://clearspringlife.com/products
- NAIC. (n.d.). Consumer Insurance Search Results. Retrieved from https://content.naic.org/cis_consumer_information.htm