SecureKey Advisory (Wells Fargo) review

For the right buyer in the right situation, yes. If you are already working with a Wells Fargo advisor in a fee-based account, SecureKey Advisory gives you a clean FIA structure — no surrender period, no base product fee, and full flexibility to withdraw. That is a meaningful advantage over most FIAs, which lock you in for 5 to 10 years. The index menu is solid, current cap rates are competitive as of the rate sheet, and the optional GLWB gives you an income path if your plans change. The product is less compelling if you are comparing it against open-market advisory-channel FIAs without the Wells Fargo constraint, or if the advisory fee layer makes the total cost feel heavy relative to what the crediting terms can realistically deliver.

The rational case for SecureKey Advisory is straightforward: you want principal protection and upside potential from index-linked crediting, you already work with a Wells Fargo advisor, and you value not being locked in. The no-surrender design means you are not making a 7- or 10-year commitment — you retain full access to your money at any time, which is genuinely different from how most FIAs work. If you also think you might want lifetime income in retirement but are not sure yet, the optional ReadyPay GLWB gives you the option to add that layer without buying a separate contract later.

I think SecureKey Advisory works best for someone in their 50s or 60s who is already inside Wells Fargo's advisory program, wants a portion of their portfolio in a principal-protected structure, and is not comfortable committing to a multi-year surrender period. It is a reasonable fit for qualified (IRA, rollover) or non-qualified money. It is less attractive for someone whose top priority is maximizing accumulated return without any advisory fee drag, for buyers outside the Wells Fargo ecosystem, and for clients under 50 who want to use the income rider (the GLWB issue age starts at 50).

You are not buying stock market participation. You are buying a principal-protected annuity that earns interest based on how index benchmarks perform during annual measurement periods, subject to caps or performance-trigger rules that limit both your upside and your downside. The mechanics work like this: at each contract anniversary, if the relevant index grew, you earn interest up to the declared cap (or receive the performance trigger credit); if the index fell or was flat, you earn zero — not a loss. Your purchase payments never decrease due to index performance.

The advisory wrapper is also part of the product. SecureKey Advisory is a version of the SecureKey FIA designed specifically for fee-based managed accounts. That means no surrender charges, no base M&E or administration fee embedded in the contract itself — but it also means the contract must be held within a qualifying Wells Fargo advisory program, and any advisory fee charged by the program is separate from and in addition to what the contract costs.

SecureKey Advisory offers two types of crediting strategies across four index benchmarks: S&P 500, MSCI EAFE, Russell 2000, and the S&P 500 Low Volatility Price Return Daily Risk Control 5% index.

The **Annual Point-to-Point with Cap** strategies measure index performance over a one-year period. If the index gains, you are credited interest up to the declared cap. If the index declines or is flat, you are credited zero. Current caps run from 7.50% to 10.25% depending on the index — competitive for the no-surrender advisory FIA segment. There is a guaranteed minimum cap of 0.50%, which means the cap rate cannot be set below that floor when Brighthouse renews rates.

The **Performance Triggered** strategies work differently. If the index is flat or positive at the end of the measurement period, you receive the company's declared performance trigger rate — currently 4.50% to 5.75% depending on the index — regardless of by how much the index moved. If the index is negative, you earn zero. This strategy trades some upside potential for more predictable crediting in flat or slightly positive markets.

A fixed account is also available at a current rate of 4.00%, renewed annually.

Participation rates on all cap-based strategies are guaranteed at 100%, meaning the cap is the only thing limiting your indexed interest — there is no separate participation rate haircut applied on top.

The optional ReadyPay GLWB is the most meaningful secondary feature because it converts an accumulation product into a potential lifetime income vehicle. Without it, SecureKey Advisory is simply a flexible, no-surrender FIA. With it, the contract gains a benefit base that grows at 7% simple interest for up to 10 years before income starts — meaningful compounding for someone who wants to defer income.

Withdrawal rates at activation run from 5.75% to 7.00% for single life and 5.25% to 6.50% for joint, depending on age at first withdrawal. There is also a care-facility provision: if the annuitant becomes confined to a nursing home or hospital after at least five years in force, the guaranteed withdrawal percentage can double — up to a 10% maximum. That is a real benefit, not just a brochure feature.

The rider costs 1.00% annually on the benefit base (maximum 2.00%). That fee is deducted from contract value, not from the benefit base itself. Whether the cost is worth it depends on your withdrawal timeline and payout expectations. For someone who turns income on within a few years, the 7% simple rollup over a short deferral period may not justify the ongoing fee. For someone with a longer deferral horizon, the math gets more favorable.

This is one of the more genuinely liquid FIA structures on the market. There are no surrender charges, no withdrawal penalties, and no market value adjustment. You can withdraw any amount at any time, subject to one practical constraint: a minimum of $2,000 must remain in the contract after any withdrawal.

That said, there are a few things to keep in mind. The product must remain in a qualifying Wells Fargo fee-based advisory program. Withdrawals to pay advisory fees or other program costs may have adverse tax consequences, and the tax treatment of partial surrenders can be complex depending on whether the contract is held in a qualified or non-qualified account. RMD treatment was not specified in the available materials — confirm this directly with your advisor if the contract will be held in an IRA or other qualified plan.

For most buyers, the no-surrender structure is the single most attractive practical feature of this product. It removes the primary commitment risk of most FIAs.

The base contract carries no mortality and expense charge, no administration fee, and no product-level fee. That is genuinely clean.

The optional ReadyPay GLWB adds a current fee of 1.00% annually on the benefit base, with a contractual maximum of 2.00%. This fee comes out of contract value.

What you are not seeing in these numbers is the Wells Fargo advisory program fee, which is charged outside the annuity contract. That fee varies by program and account size, but it is real and ongoing. Before evaluating whether SecureKey Advisory makes sense, the total cost picture needs to include both the rider fee (if elected) and the advisory program fee.

The structural tradeoffs are mostly what you expect from any FIA: upside is limited by caps and performance trigger rates, returns in strong bull markets will lag what you would have made in the index directly, and the low-vol risk-control index may behave very differently from the headline S&P 500 in trending markets. None of these are unusual for the product type — but they are worth understanding before allocating.

Legal Entity: Brighthouse Life Insurance Company

AM Best Rating: A