SecureKey Advisory (Merrill Lynch) review

Yes, for the right buyer in the right channel. If you're already working with a Merrill Lynch advisor in a fee-based program and you want a principal-protected annuity without surrender charges or layered product fees, SecureKey Advisory is a solid vehicle. If you're not a Merrill Lynch advisory client, it simply isn't available to you. And if your main goal is maximum upside, a no-load FIA still isn't going to match an equity portfolio — what you're getting is protection and index-linked participation, not uncapped stock market exposure.

The main reason to choose SecureKey Advisory is that it fits the fee-based advisory model: no surrender charge means the advisor can rebalance or adjust the portfolio without triggering a penalty, and no base product fee means the cost conversation is cleaner. A Merrill Lynch client who wants a portion of their portfolio in a principal-protected, tax-deferred wrapper — with crediting options tied to the S&P 500, Russell 2000, and MSCI EAFE — has a legitimate use case here. A buyer who wants to eventually turn on a guaranteed income stream can add the ReadyPay rider at the outset, building a rollup base before activation.

I think SecureKey Advisory is best for a Merrill Lynch advisory client in their 50s or 60s who is using this as part of a diversified retirement portfolio rather than as their only vehicle. The no-surrender structure makes it easier to pair with other holdings without creating a liquidity trap. Buyers who are considering the ReadyPay rider should be in the 50-85 issue-age window and should be thinking genuinely about lifetime income — this isn't the right rider for someone who's unlikely to activate it. This product is less attractive for someone shopping the open market for the highest cap rate available or for someone who needs broader state availability — SecureKey Advisory is not approved in New York.

You are not buying market participation. You are buying a principal-protected annuity with indexed crediting — meaning your returns are linked to an index's performance but are shaped by caps, participation rates, or performance triggers rather than the raw index return. The value of this specific product is what's absent: no surrender charges, no base product fee, no MVA. That's meaningful in an advisory context where an annuity that penalizes withdrawals creates friction in portfolio management. The underlying accumulation mechanics are standard FIA design; the differentiation is the fee structure and distribution channel.

SecureKey Advisory lets you allocate across five crediting approaches. Annual Point-to-Point with a Cap rate tracks an index over a year and credits up to the cap — as of November 2025 rates, the S&P 500 cap was in the 7.75-8.00% range, with the Russell 2000 and MSCI EAFE at 7.50-7.75%. The Annual Point-to-Point with Participation Rate strategy credits a percentage of the index return, with 100% participation on that strategy — which is the full return up to the index's actual performance. The Performance Triggered option pays a fixed step rate (5.25-5.50% for S&P 500) if the index is flat or positive at the measurement date, regardless of how much it actually moved. The Fixed Account currently credits 4.00%. A fourth index — the S&P 500 Low Volatility Price Return Daily Risk Control 5% — is available for buyers who want a lower-volatility index alternative, typically with different cap or participation terms.

All crediting uses an annual reset, which means gains lock in each year and a down year resets to zero (not negative). That's the core protection mechanism: you can't lose principal to index movements.

The optional ReadyPay Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit rider is worth understanding even if you're not sure you'll use it. At 1.00% current fee (max 2.00%), the rider applies a 7% simple interest rollup to the benefit base each year for up to 10 years before you activate income. Age-based payout rates at activation range from 5.75% to 7.00% for single life and 5.25% to 6.50% for joint life, depending on how old you are when you first take withdrawals (age 60-85 range). There's also an enhanced payment provision for nursing home or hospital confinement after a five-year hold, which can increase distributions by up to 10%.

For a buyer who wants to defer income for 5-10 years, that 7% annual rollup on the benefit base can produce a meaningful guaranteed floor on future payments. That's the secondary use case: accumulation now, income later, with a contractually defined bridge between the two.

This is the clearest section of the review because there isn't much to explain. SecureKey Advisory has no surrender period and no surrender charges. You can take money out at any time, subject only to a minimum remaining contract value of $2,000. There is no MVA (Market Value Adjustment) — the spec confirms this explicitly.

For RMD planning, the product is confirmed RMD-friendly. Qualified plan types available include IRA, Roth IRA, and non-qualified accounts. Transfers have a $500 minimum.

The only meaningful constraint on withdrawals is that if you have the ReadyPay rider active, withdrawals above the rider's defined maximum annual amount can reduce the income benefit base. That's a rider-level consideration, not an annuity-level penalty.

The base annuity has no product fee, no mortality and expense charge, no administration charge, and no surrender penalty. That's unusual for a retail FIA and is specifically a feature of the advisory channel design.

The ReadyPay rider costs 1.00% currently, with a maximum of 2.00%. That fee comes out of contract value. If you add the rider and never activate income, you've paid a recurring fee for a benefit you didn't use — so the rider is only sensible if income is a genuine planning objective.

The less visible cost is the Merrill Lynch advisory fee itself. SecureKey Advisory is sold exclusively through Merrill Lynch's fee-based advisory program, which means your advisor charges a separate fee on top of the annuity. "No product charges" and "no cost" are not the same thing.

Cap rates and participation rates are competitive for an advisory-channel FIA, but they will change over time. The rates noted here (S&P 500 cap at 7.75-8.00%, fixed account at 4.00%) are as of November 2025 and are not guarantees.

Legal Entity: Brighthouse Life Insurance Company

AM Best Rating: A