Indexed universal life was sold on a projection. The illustration showed an index-linked crediting rate compounding for decades, a growing account value, and premiums that would eventually take care of themselves. Twenty or thirty years later many owners are holding a policy that looks nothing like that page, and the gap between the two is the entire subject of this guide.
If your indexed universal life policy sits under the Global Atlantic umbrella, there is also a corporate fact worth knowing: the group stopped selling new indexed universal life in 2023, so your contract is now part of a block being administered rather than a product being marketed. This page is education only. Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies, is not affiliated with Global Atlantic, Accordia, Forethought or KKR, and offers no legal, tax or investment advice.
In This Article
- Global Atlantic Stopped Selling Indexed Universal Life on July 1, 2023
- Accordia Life Is the Name on the Contract
- Illustrated Rates Versus What Was Actually Credited
- Caps, Participation Rates and the Charges a Carrier Can Change
- Reading the Annual Statement Against the Original Illustration
- Options When an Indexed Universal Life Policy Is Underfunded
- What Pine Lake Can and Cannot Do
- Frequently Asked Questions
Global Atlantic Stopped Selling Indexed Universal Life on July 1, 2023
Distributor bulletins circulated in 2023 stated that Global Atlantic suspended new indexed universal life sales effective July 1, 2023, that all new business applications had to be received in good order on or before June 30, 2023, and that the affected products were Lifetime Builder ELITE IUL, Global Accumulator IUL and Lifetime Foundation ELITE IUL, issued through Accordia. The carrier’s message to distributors stated the decision “does not impact our commitment to our existing life insurance policyholders,” and that it would continue to devote resources to serving them, directing in-force service to its contact center.
Your contract terms do not change when a carrier stops selling a product. What changes is the business context. A closed block is administered, not grown, and the routine attention that comes with an active product line, the agent who used to call and the annual review, tends to thin out. The owner has to supply that attention instead.
Global Atlantic’s public focus since then has been on annuities and retirement products. Its history page records that the group began in 2004 as Goldman Sachs Reinsurance Group, separated as an independent company in 2013, and became a wholly owned KKR subsidiary in 2024 after KKR took majority ownership in 2021.
Accordia Life Is the Name on the Contract
Indexed universal life under this umbrella is generally issued by Accordia Life and Annuity Company of Des Moines, Iowa, NAIC number 62200. An Illinois Department of Insurance market conduct examination report on Accordia, closed by the Department on August 3, 2021, describes the company as offering “individual, company-owned and bank-owned indexed universal life, universal life, and term life products,” and records that Accordia was formerly Presidential Life Insurance Company – USA, re-domesticated from Delaware to Iowa effective July 22, 2013, with Commonwealth Annuity and Life Insurance Company acquiring its stock from Athene Holding Ltd. on September 30, 2013.
Much of the underlying block came from Aviva USA. Athene’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission describe acquiring Aviva USA in 2013, selling most of the United States life business on to Accordia, and administering the block through a transition that finished with the final policies moving to Accordia in early 2016. When you write to the service center, reference the issuing company printed on page one of your contract, not the brand on the envelope.
Illustrated Rates Versus What Was Actually Credited
An indexed universal life policy does not invest in the index. It credits interest according to a formula tied to index movement, subject to a cap, a participation rate, a spread or some combination, with a floor, commonly zero, that protects against index losses.
The original illustration assumed an average crediting rate carried forward indefinitely. Actual results differ for reasons that have nothing to do with the index performing badly:
- A year of index gains above the cap is credited only up to the cap.
- A participation rate below 100 percent credits only a share of the gain.
- A flat or negative index year credits the floor, typically zero, while monthly charges continue to be deducted.
- Charges are deducted every month regardless of crediting, so a zero-credit year is a net decline in account value.
Compound those effects over twenty years and a policy that illustrated as self-sustaining can require substantial ongoing premium instead.
| Compare this on the original illustration | Against this on the current annual statement |
|---|---|
| Projected account value at this policy year | Actual account value |
| Assumed average crediting rate | Interest actually credited in each of the last five years |
| Cap and participation rate at issue | Current cap and participation rate on each index account |
| Projected annual charges | Cumulative charges deducted to date |
| Year the policy was projected to be self-sustaining | Premium a current in-force illustration says is required |
Caps, Participation Rates and the Charges a Carrier Can Change
The critical distinction in any indexed universal life contract is between guaranteed elements and current elements. Guaranteed elements cannot be changed. Current elements can be, within contractual limits, at the carrier’s discretion.
Typically current: the cap rate, the participation rate, any spread or asset charge, and the current cost of insurance scale. Typically guaranteed: the minimum floor, the maximum cost of insurance scale, and the guaranteed minimum interest rate on any fixed account.
An owner whose cap was materially higher at issue than it is today has not been treated improperly; the contract permitted the change. But the projection that sold the policy assumed the higher number, and no one sends a letter explaining what the change did to the long-term math. Ask the servicing company, in writing, for the current cap and participation rate on each index account, the caps in effect for the last several years, the guaranteed minimums, and whether the cost of insurance scale has been increased.
Reading the Annual Statement Against the Original Illustration
Put the two documents side by side. The statement is fact; the illustration was a projection. Compare account value, cumulative premium, cumulative charges and death benefit.
If you cannot find recent annual statements, request them. That is worth doing deliberately on this block: in the Illinois market conduct examination of Accordia, examiners cited the company under 50 Illinois Administrative Code 1406.90(a) for failing to provide an annual statement to the policyholder in 24 of 111 sampled files drawn from a population of 9,697, a 22 percent error rate for the period examined. Examiners also cited the company under the same rule for failing “to have business practices in place to ensure accurate maintenance of policies during the conversion process of life insurance policies.”
Those are historical findings from an examination period ending in 2019 and say nothing about your specific policy. They are a sound reason to request records in writing and keep dated copies.
Options When an Indexed Universal Life Policy Is Underfunded
Once you know where the policy actually stands, the menu is finite and worth walking through in order rather than jumping to the end.
Increase premium to the level a current in-force illustration says will carry the policy. Reduce the death benefit so the required premium falls to something affordable. Move funds among index and fixed accounts if the contract allows it. Use any available reduced paid-up or nonforfeiture option, though indexed universal life often has little. Surrender for whatever cash value remains. Or explore whether a life settlement is possible.
Order two in-force illustrations first: one at current charges and caps, one at guaranteed charges and minimums. The distance between them is the risk you are carrying. No one can tell you in advance whether a settlement offer would exceed the surrender value, and any party promising a number before reviewing the policy should be treated with caution.
What Pine Lake Can and Cannot Do
Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase policies. We are not affiliated with Global Atlantic, Accordia, Forethought, Commonwealth Annuity or KKR, and none of them endorses us. The only thing we ask for is a free, no-obligation policy review.
In practice that means helping you read the annual statement against the original illustration and drafting the written questions that get cap history and cost of insurance information out of the service center. We make no guarantee of eligibility or value, and nothing here is legal, tax or investment advice.
On financial strength: AM Best announced on October 23, 2025 that it affirmed a Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a+” for Accordia Life and Annuity Company and Forethought Life Insurance Company, with a stable outlook, and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb+” for the Bermuda parent, Global Atlantic Financial Group Limited. Confirm current ratings with AM Best directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my indexed universal life policy underperform its illustration?
Usually because of caps, participation rates and the zero floor working together over many years, not because of a single bad market. Gains above the cap are not credited, participation rates below 100 percent credit only part of a gain, and flat index years credit nothing while monthly charges continue. Carriers may also lower current caps and raise current cost of insurance within contractual limits.
Can Global Atlantic lower the cap rate on my policy?
Cap rates, participation rates and spreads are generally current elements that a carrier may adjust within the limits stated in the contract, while the floor and the maximum cost of insurance scale are generally guaranteed. Request the current and historical caps in writing along with the guaranteed minimums so you can see how far the current values sit from the contractual limits.
Does the July 2023 sales halt affect my existing policy?
Your contract terms are unchanged. Global Atlantic told distributors that suspending new indexed universal life sales effective July 1, 2023 did not affect its commitment to existing policyholders and that in-force service would continue. What changes in practice is that a closed block receives less routine attention, so requesting statements and illustrations becomes the owner’s responsibility rather than an agent’s habit.
Should I surrender an underfunded indexed universal life policy?
Not before you have priced the alternatives. Reducing the death benefit, changing the premium, or using available policy provisions can sometimes preserve meaningful coverage at a cost you can carry, and surrender may produce a taxable gain. Order in-force illustrations at both current and guaranteed assumptions, then take the numbers to your own tax and legal advisors before acting.
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Pine Lake Life Solutions does not purchase life insurance policies and does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Information provided is for educational purposes only. Eligibility for any option, including life settlements, is not guaranteed and depends on individual circumstances, policy terms, underwriting, and market conditions. Consult independent legal, tax, or financial professionals before making decisions regarding a life insurance policy.