Class VA (NY) review

It depends on what you want from it. For a New York investor who wants tax-deferred market participation and is comfortable with downside risk inside the sub-accounts, it is a reasonable, mainstream variable annuity. For someone who thinks "annuity" means "protected from loss," this is the wrong product — a variable annuity does not protect principal unless you pay extra for a rider, and even then the protection is on income, not on account value.

The rational reason to buy Class VA (NY) is tax deferral on market-based growth. If you have already maxed out other tax-advantaged accounts and want more sheltered growth with real equity exposure, a variable annuity is one of the few vehicles that offers it. The secondary reason is the optional FlexChoice Access GLWB rider, which lets you convert the account into guaranteed lifetime income later — useful for someone who wants growth now but a paycheck guarantee down the road. The 100%-of-earnings free-withdrawal feature is also unusually generous and makes the contract more flexible than many surrender-period products.

I think this is best for a New York resident in the accumulation phase — roughly mid-career through early retirement — who works with an advisor, already understands market risk, and wants tax-deferred equity exposure beyond their 401(k) and IRA. It fits non-qualified money especially well, since tax deferral is the main draw and a qualified account is already tax-advantaged. It is a poor fit for someone who wants principal protection, someone close to needing the money, or a conservative buyer who would be better served by a fixed or fixed indexed annuity that cannot lose value.

Strip away the insurance wrapper and you are buying a tax-deferred basket of mutual-fund-like investments. The 62 sub-accounts are the engine — they behave like the funds you would hold in a brokerage account, with net expense ratios running from 0.52% to 1.38% on top of the contract's own 1.30% base fee. Your account value goes up and down with whatever you allocate to. The insurance company is not promising you a return or protecting your principal; it is providing the tax-deferred shell, a death benefit, and the option to layer on income guarantees. That is the honest version of what a variable annuity is.

The core of the contract is the sub-account lineup. You allocate your premium across the available variable sub-accounts, and your account value tracks their performance directly — gains and losses both. There is no cap, no participation rate, and no floor, which is the key difference from an indexed annuity: you get the full market move in either direction. The sub-accounts carry their own net expense ratios (0.52%-1.38%), and the contract layers a 1.30% base fee on top, so your effective annual cost depends on which sub-accounts you choose. This is the part that makes the product an investment rather than a guarantee.

The most meaningful secondary feature is the optional FlexChoice Access VIII GLWB (Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit) rider. For an extra 1.35%, it builds a separate Income Base that grows at a 5.00% compound roll-up annually for five years before you turn income on, then guarantees lifetime withdrawals even if the account value runs to zero. That matters because it addresses the biggest fear in a variable product — that a bad market sequence wipes out your retirement income. The tradeoff is cost: stacking the 1.35% rider on the 1.30% base fee plus sub-account expenses means you could easily be paying north of 3% a year, which the markets have to clear before you see net growth.

This contract is more liquid than most surrender-period annuities. After the first year you can withdraw 10% of purchase payments annually, and 100% of your earnings are accessible anytime without a charge — a genuinely generous feature. Withdrawals above those amounts during the first seven years trigger the declining surrender charge shown below, and a Market Value Adjustment (MVA) applies — meaning the penalty can move with interest rates, increasing the cost of a large early withdrawal when rates have risen. Required minimum distributions are accommodated. Nursing-home and terminal-illness waivers are available after the first contract year for buyers who were age 80 or younger at issue, per the brochure (a medium-confidence detail worth confirming on the contract). There is a $30 annual account fee, waived once your account value reaches $50,000.

Fees are where a variable annuity earns its skeptics, and Class VA (NY) is no exception. The base contract charges 1.30% annually regardless of how the markets perform. On top of that, each sub-account carries its own net expense ratio (0.52%-1.38%), so your all-in investment cost before any rider is roughly 1.8% to 2.7% a year. Add the optional FlexChoice Access GLWB at 1.35% and you can be paying well over 3% annually. The optional Annual Step-Up death benefit adds another 0.20%. There is also a $30 account fee, waived above $50,000. Name the trade plainly: you are paying for tax deferral, a death-benefit floor, and optional income guarantees — that bundle has to outperform a lower-cost taxable portfolio of similar investments before the annuity wins.

Legal Entity: Brighthouse Life Insurance Company of NY

Parent: Brighthouse Financial

A.M. Best Rating: A