Performance Elite 15 Plus review

It depends on your time horizon. For someone in their mid-40s to mid-50s placing IRA or non-qualified money they don't expect to touch for 15-plus years, this is a legitimately competitive product — the 34% bonus gives a real head start that compounds over a long holding period. For someone in their late 60s or early 70s, the calculus is harder: the 29% bonus is still meaningful, but a 15-year surrender window extends well into their 80s, and the exit costs during those first 15 years are severe if circumstances change.

The main reason is the upfront account-value bonus. A 34% credit on a $200,000 premium means $268,000 in account value at inception before any index crediting occurs. That head start is real and, compounded over 15 years of index participation, can produce meaningfully higher terminal values than a comparable FIA without a bonus. A secondary reason is the breadth of the index menu — seven indices across annual and biennial strategies give buyers more ways to position the annuity than simpler products allow.

I think Performance Elite 15 Plus is best for buyers in their 40s or 50s who are parking a lump sum in a tax-deferred account and genuinely won't need it for at least 15 years. It is also worth considering for estate-planning situations where the death benefit guarantee — the greatest of accumulated value, minimum guaranteed contract value, or return of premium — matters as much as accumulation. It is not well suited for buyers approaching or in early retirement who may need flexible access to principal, anyone shopping primarily for lifetime income, or anyone who might relocate to a state where this product isn't approved.

You are buying a principal-protected insurance contract where the insurer credits a large bonus to your account at inception in exchange for a very long commitment. The bonus is an account-value credit, which means it earns index-linked interest alongside your original premium from day one. What you are not buying is direct market participation — the crediting strategies use caps and participation rates to determine how much of the index's positive movement gets credited to your account. The insurance company keeps the rest, which is how it funds the bonus guarantee and the zero-floor protection.

Performance Elite 15 Plus offers seven index choices: the S&P 500, the AI Powered Global Opportunities Index, the AI Powered US Equity Index, the BNP Paribas Multi-Asset Diversified 5 Index, the Nasdaq FC Index, the S&P 500 FC Index, and the UBS Innovative Balanced Index. Crediting runs on annual point-to-point or biennial term-end-point methods, plus a fixed account.

For the S&P 500 cap strategies, caps were listed at 7.00%–9.50% in the October 2025 rate sheet, with no cap on participation-rate strategies — instead those strategies credit 75% to 300% of index movement depending on the index and term. Athene also offers an optional annual strategy charge of 1.75% on select strategies in exchange for enhanced caps or participation rates, which is a meaningful fee that buyers should evaluate carefully before electing. Three predetermined index allocation combinations with automatic rebalancing are available for buyers who don't want to manage their own allocations. Note that biennial strategies are not available in New Hampshire.

The secondary feature worth examining is the Return of Premium guarantee. After year 4, the contract guarantees that the cash surrender value will not fall below premiums paid less withdrawals. That provides a floor that grows in importance the longer you hold. Combined with the death benefit — which is the greatest of accumulated value (without surrender charges), minimum guaranteed contract value, or return of premium — the contract has meaningful downside protection built in beyond the standard zero-floor crediting guarantee.

Performance Elite 15 Plus allows free withdrawals of 10% of account value from year 1. If you don't use the 10% in a given year, you can carry it forward and take up to 20% the following year. The $5,000 minimum account balance must be maintained.

Amounts above the free-withdrawal allowance are subject to a surrender schedule starting at 15% in years 1–2 and stepping down to 4% in year 15, as shown in the table below. A market value adjustment — which fluctuates with interest rates and can increase or decrease the effective penalty — also applies on top of surrender charges during the surrender period (with the exception of Maryland and Missouri, where MVA does not apply).

The bonus vesting schedule adds another layer: the 34% bonus begins vesting in year 12 and reaches full vesting only in year 16 and beyond. Excess surrenders or withdrawals during years 1–15 trigger premium bonus recapture according to the vesting schedule. In plain terms, if you exit before year 15 is up, you may lose a portion of the bonus you were credited at the start.

Enhanced annuitization after year 9 eliminates surrender charges and MVA (not available in Florida), which gives buyers a path out of the surrender period without penalty if they're willing to annuitize. Required minimum distributions attributable to the contract are not subject to surrender charges. The bonus is fully vested upon death or a qualifying waiver event.

The base contract does not carry an explicit annual management fee. What it does carry is a 0.95% annual Liquidity Rider charge deducted from accumulated value throughout the surrender period. That fee is ongoing and compounding — it reduces the account value that earns index credits each year. Buyers should factor this into any projection comparing this product to alternatives.

Beyond that, selecting the optional 1.75% annual strategy charge on certain indexed strategies in exchange for higher caps or participation rates introduces a second recurring fee layer. Whether that trade is worth making depends entirely on how the index actually performs — a higher cap or participation rate only helps if the market cooperates.

The premium bonus recapture provision means the stated bonus is not actually risk-free until year 16. And the MVA means the true cost of an early exit can be higher than the surrender charge schedule alone suggests. These are not hidden fees, but they are real costs that interact in ways buyers should understand before committing.

Legal Entity: Athene Annuity and Life Company

Parent: Athene Holding Ltd.

A.M. Best Rating: A+

Athene is a large, established annuity carrier with an A+ financial strength rating from A.M. Best. It has a substantial presence in the FIA market and is not a niche issuer. The A+ rating places it among the stronger carriers by that measure, which matters when evaluating a 15-year commitment.