Allianz Index Advantage+ review

Yes, for the right buyer — and the right buyer needs to understand what a RILA is. This is not a fixed indexed annuity. Your principal is not fully protected. You can lose money. What you get in exchange is higher growth potential than a traditional FIA and more downside protection than a straight variable annuity. If you understand that tradeoff and are comfortable with it, Index Advantage+ is one of the best products in the RILA category.

The main reason to buy Index Advantage+ is to pursue higher returns than a traditional FIA can offer while still having structured downside protection. A traditional FIA protects 100% of your principal but limits your upside through caps and participation rates. A RILA like Index Advantage+ removes some of that downside protection — you absorb losses beyond the buffer or floor — but in exchange, the upside potential is typically higher. The Performance Lock feature adds a layer of tactical control that lets you lock in gains or limit losses mid-term, which is something no traditional FIA offers. In practical terms, this is the annuity someone buys when they want to be in the market but not fully in the market, and they want tools to manage that exposure actively.

I think Index Advantage+ is best for someone who has outgrown the conservative nature of traditional FIAs and wants more growth potential, but who is not ready for the full volatility of a traditional variable annuity. It is a good fit for someone in their 50s or 60s who has a moderate risk tolerance, a time horizon of at least 6 years, and who likes the idea of choosing their own protection level — whether that is a 10% buffer for more upside or a 30% buffer for more safety. It is not a good fit for someone who cannot tolerate any loss of principal, who needs guaranteed income, or who does not understand the difference between a buffer and a floor. If the idea of losing money in a down market makes you uncomfortable, a traditional FIA is the better choice.

You are buying structured market exposure with customizable downside protection. Unlike a traditional FIA where the insurance company absorbs all market losses, a RILA shares some of that risk with you. In exchange, the carrier can offer higher caps, higher participation rates, or uncapped strategies that give you more upside potential. The Performance Lock feature lets you intervene mid-term to lock in gains or limit losses, and the Early Reallocation feature lets you exit a strategy and re-enter up to 12 times per index year. This is a more active product than a traditional FIA — it rewards engagement and punishes neglect.

Index Advantage+ offers five distinct index strategy types, each with different risk-return profiles. The Index Performance Strategy offers uncapped upside with a buffer on the downside. The Index Precision Strategy offers a fixed rate of interest if the index return is positive. The Index Dual Precision Strategy pays a fixed rate whether the index is up or down, as long as it does not breach the buffer. The Index Guard Strategy provides a buffer with a cap on the upside. The Index Protection Strategy with Trigger pays a fixed rate if the index does not decline beyond the protection level.

You choose from five indexes — S&P 500, Russell 2000, Nasdaq-100, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, and EURO STOXX 50 — and from term lengths of 1 year, 3 years, or 6 years. Protection levels include 10%, 20%, and 30% buffers, a -10% floor, and a 100% protection option.

The buffer means Allianz absorbs the first X% of losses. With a 10% buffer, you are protected against the first 10% of decline — if the index drops 15%, you lose only 5%. With a 30% buffer, you are protected against the first 30% — a significant cushion. The floor means your maximum loss is capped at 10% regardless of how far the index drops. The 100% protection option eliminates downside risk entirely but comes with lower upside potential.

The Performance Lock feature is the headline innovation. At any point during a strategy term, you can lock in the current index-linked return. If the index has gained 12% and you are worried about a pullback, you lock it in. If the index has dropped and you want to limit further losses, you lock it in. This feature has been executed over 736,000 times by contract holders, with more than $4.4 billion in gains locked. It is not just a marketing feature — people actually use it.

The Early Reallocation feature lets you exit a strategy before the term ends and reallocate to a new strategy, up to 12 times per index year. This gives you the ability to adjust your positioning based on market conditions, though a daily adjustment applies to mid-term transactions that can work for or against you.

The death benefit options add a meaningful planning dimension. The standard Traditional death benefit pays the greater of the contract value or total purchase payments adjusted for withdrawals. The optional Maximum Anniversary Value death benefit locks in the highest contract value on any anniversary and pays that amount if it exceeds the standard death benefit — for an additional 0.20% annual fee, available for issue ages 0 through 75.

The Maximum Anniversary Value option matters for someone who wants to use this product for both accumulation and legacy planning. In a strong market, the anniversary ratchet can lock in significant gains for beneficiaries, providing a death benefit floor that rises with the market but never declines. The 0.20% fee is modest for this type of protection.

The variable option — the AZL Government Money Market Fund — serves as a holding account for funds between strategy allocations. It is not designed for long-term investment but provides a safe place to park money while deciding on strategy allocations.

This annuity allows free withdrawals of up to 10% of total purchase payments annually. Amounts above that are subject to the withdrawal charge schedule, and a daily adjustment applies to mid-term transactions.

Withdrawal charge schedule (per purchase payment): **8% / 8% / 7% / 6% / 5% / 4% / 0%**

Each purchase payment has its own withdrawal charge schedule, which means subsequent deposits start their own 6-year clock. The schedule holds at 8% for the first two years before declining, which is front-loaded. The daily adjustment on mid-term withdrawals is a separate consideration — it reflects the current value of your index strategies and can increase or decrease the amount you receive.

This is not a product for someone who might need their money in the short term. The 6-year surrender period per purchase payment, combined with the daily adjustment, means early access to principal beyond the free amount can be costly. Buyers should treat this as committed capital for at least 6 years.

The product fee is 1.25% annually of the charge base. For contracts under $100,000, there is an additional $50 annual contract maintenance charge. The optional Maximum Anniversary Value death benefit adds 0.20% annually.

The 1.25% product fee is the most significant ongoing cost. It is assessed regardless of performance, which means it reduces your contract value even in years when your index strategies earn zero or negative returns. Over a 6-year period, the cumulative fee drag is meaningful — roughly 7.5% of the charge base before compounding effects. This is the price of admission for the structured protection and the Performance Lock feature.

The less obvious tradeoffs are structural. The daily adjustment on mid-term transactions means the value of your strategies fluctuates between term endpoints, and accessing money mid-term may result in receiving more or less than the strategy's eventual endpoint value. The withdrawal charge schedule applies per purchase payment, so subsequent deposits do not benefit from the original payment's aging schedule. And the fundamental risk of a RILA remains: if the market drops beyond your buffer or floor, you lose money. A 10% buffer in a 30% market decline means you absorb a 20% loss.

I think the 1.25% fee is reasonable for what you get — the Performance Lock feature alone has demonstrated real value — but buyers should understand that this fee exists whether the market goes up, down, or sideways.

Index Advantage+ is issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and distributed by Allianz Life Financial Services, LLC, a member of FINRA. Allianz Life is a subsidiary of Allianz SE, one of the world's largest financial services companies. The carrier holds an A.M. Best rating of A+ (Superior), an S&P rating of AA, and a Moody's rating of Aa3, giving it a Comdex score of 96. Allianz Life was founded in 1896 and has issued approximately 3.9 million contracts. The carrier is widely credited with pioneering the RILA category and remains one of the largest issuers of registered index-linked annuities in the United States.