In-force annuity reviews, run to an institutional standard.
Your in-force book holds contracts that have aged out of surrender, riders that no longer fit and owners whose needs have changed. We deliver a consistent, independent, carrier-verified review of every contract in scope, with documentation your supervisors, advisors and clients can rely on.
Every record sales year becomes tomorrow’s in-force book.
U.S. annuity sales have set records four years running. Each of those contracts will move through its surrender period, its rider decisions and its owner’s changing needs, usually without a structured review. The institutions that review their books first will serve those clients best.
- 1. LIMRA, “U.S. retail annuity sales top $460 billion in 2025, marking fourth year of record sales,” February 12, 2026 (preliminary results). limra.com
- 1. NAIC, “Annuity Suitability & Best Interest Standard,” last updated February 10, 2025. naic.org
- 3. Founder’s experience reviewing in-force annuities as a product manager at a major bank, 2020–2023.
From a defined pilot to a repeatable program.
Six steps, each with a deliverable your teams can use. The pilot proves the value on a scope you choose before anything expands.
Scope & agreements
Agree on the contracts in scope, the questions to answer and how success is measured. NDA and data terms come first.
You receive: Pilot charter
Authorize & intake
Collect owner authorizations and only the data a review needs, through the secure channel you choose.
You receive: Intake and authorization log
Verify with carriers
Standardized questionnaires and in-force illustration requests confirm every figure at the source.
You receive: Source-document file per contract
Score & review
The 11-dimension Annuity Health Score, completed by a specialist and checked by a second reviewer.
You receive: Scored, reviewed contract file
Prioritize
Flag the contracts that most need attention, with the reasons and the dollars involved.
You receive: Priority list for advisors and service teams
Report & repeat
Owner reports, advisor summaries and a leadership readout, refreshed on the cadence you set.
You receive: Leadership readout
Illustrative pilot for a defined set of contracts. Actual timing depends on scope and carrier response times.
Controls you can explain to your board and your examiners.
Independence is the starting point, not the whole answer. Every review runs inside documented controls.
Documented methodology
One written, versioned framework defines every dimension and scoring rule. Changes are logged and shared with you before they take effect.
Two-level review
An annuity specialist completes each review. A second reviewer checks the figures, findings and conclusions before anything is released.
Evidence trail
Every figure traces to a carrier source document or in-force illustration, retained according to your agreement.
Independence in writing
No product sales, commissions or compensation from carriers or sponsors, attested in writing for every engagement.
Consistency across the book
The same 11 dimensions and scoring rules apply across advisors, branches and product lines, so results are comparable and defensible.
Escalation path
Time-sensitive findings, such as a surrender charge about to change, go to your designated contact within one business day.
Built to pass your vendor review.
Client data is the most sensitive thing you’ll share with us. We handle it accordingly, and we put those commitments in your agreement.
- Minimum necessary data. We request only what a review needs. Never Social Security or account numbers by email.
- Your NDA first. We sign your NDA, or our mutual NDA, before any data changes hands, and align to your data-processing terms.
- Encrypted in transit. Files move through encrypted channels you approve, including your own secure file-transfer system.
- Restricted access. Only the named reviewers assigned to your engagement can access your data.
- Retention you control. Data is kept and deleted according to your agreement, with written confirmation of deletion on request.
- Prompt notification. We’ll notify your designated contact promptly of any suspected incident affecting your data, as your agreement and applicable law require.
What we provide during due diligence
- Responses to your security and privacy questionnaire, in your format
- A data-flow description for the pilot
- Mutual NDA and data-processing terms
- Methodology documentation and sample deliverables
- A named engagement lead and escalation contacts
A clear view of the whole book, with the detail behind every line.
Leadership sees where the book stands and where to act. Advisors get prioritized action lists. Owners get plain-English reports.
Number of contracts in each score band.
| Contract | Type | Score | Why it’s flagged | Cost/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VA-2014-0418 | Variable | 38 | Income rider unused; past surrender | $14,880 |
| FIA-2017-1122 | Fixed indexed | 44 | Cap reset three times; charges end in 60 days | $6,210 |
| VA-2011-0093 | Variable | 47 | Death benefit falls faster than withdrawals | $9,940 |
| RILA-2020-0571 | RILA | 55 | Buffer term renews next quarter | $3,120 |
Portfolio readout
Coverage, the spread of Health Scores, total cost in dollars and basis points, surrender status and progress against the pilot’s measures.
Prioritized action lists
Which contracts to discuss first, why, and the facts to bring to the conversation, verified with the carrier.
Plain-English reports
Costs in dollars, what the riders really do, the Annuity Health Score and clear options, in language a client can follow.
Designed to support the standards you already supervise to.
Document what the customer would give up.
For broker-dealers recommending variable annuities and other securities to retail customers, an independent, carrier-verified record of the existing contract supports the analysis behind a best-interest recommendation.
Deferred variable annuity exchanges.
Rule 2330 sets suitability and supervisory requirements for recommended purchases and exchanges of deferred variable annuities, including surrender charges and the loss of existing benefits. Our contract-level documentation covers exactly those facts.
The best-interest standard for annuities.
The revised Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation sets a best-interest standard for annuity recommendations, adopted by 48 states as of 2025.2 Verified facts about in-force contracts support the required comparison.
Annuity Benchmark provides independent analysis and documentation. It is not legal or compliance advice and does not replace your institution’s written supervisory procedures.
Start small. Scale with evidence.
Pricing is scoped to each engagement and agreed in writing before work begins.
Pilot
A defined set of contracts, such as one region, one product family or everything past surrender.
- Scoping, NDA and data terms
- Carrier-verified review of every contract in scope
- Owner reports and advisor action lists
- Leadership readout against agreed measures
Program
Ongoing reviews across the book, on the cadence you set.
- Everything in the pilot
- Scheduled re-reviews, such as annually or at surrender-period milestones
- Quarterly leadership reporting
- Advisor enablement sessions
Enterprise
Multi-region or multi-entity programs with integrated reporting.
- Named engagement lead and program governance
- Custom reporting and data exchange
- Methodology briefings for compliance and supervision
- Volume pricing
What’s on your books?
Enter rough figures to see the assets in scope and what each 0.10% of cost means to your clients every year. Your inputs are shared with us only if you request a briefing.
- Assets in scope
- $450M
- Client fees per year
- $7.9M
- Past surrender
- $157.5M
- Contracts past surrender
- 875
- Every 0.10% (10 bps) of cost across the book
- $450K per year to your clients
Arithmetic on your inputs only. It shows the scale involved, not a prediction of what a review program would find.
Request the due-diligence package.
Tell us what your review requires. We’ll confirm the items, your timeline and any NDA requirements within four business hours.
- Methodology overview: the 11 dimensions and how scoring works
- Sample deliverables: an owner report and a leadership readout
- Security and privacy: questionnaire responses and data terms
- Pilot outline: scope, timeline and success measures
45 minutes with our founder.
A working session, not a sales pitch. Invite colleagues from compliance, operations or product.
- Your objectives, your book and your oversight requirements
- Our methodology and controls, step by step
- Sample deliverables for owners, advisors and leadership
- A pilot scope and the measures we’d report against
Prefer email? ppolito@eknox.co · 803-448-4040
Call 803-448-4040 or email ppolito@eknox.co and we'll find a time that works.
Before you start a program.
Start with a pilot. Scale with evidence.
We'll scope a defined set of contracts with you and show you the results before anything expands.