Shield Level Pay Plus II Advisory review

Yes, for the right buyer. This is a good annuity for a fee-based advisory client who wants protected lifetime income with a measure of market growth and values the freedom to access or move the money without a surrender penalty. It is less appealing for someone who doesn't have an advisor managing the account, since they would pay the rider fee without getting the advisory benefit that justifies the I-Share structure, or for someone who wants full principal protection rather than a buffer.

The main reason to buy Shield Level Pay Plus II Advisory is to create guaranteed lifetime income while keeping some upside potential and a downside cushion along the way. The secondary reason is flexibility: because there is no surrender charge, the contract fits cleanly inside a managed advisory account where the planner may rebalance, draw advisory fees, or move assets without tripping a penalty. For a household that wants an income floor it cannot outlive, but doesn't want to give up all market participation the way a plain fixed annuity would, this contract is built to thread that needle.

I think this annuity is best for someone in the pre-retirement or early-retirement window—the issue ages run 50 to 85—who is already working with a fee-based advisor and wants to convert a portion of long-term savings into guaranteed lifetime income. It suits a buyer who is comfortable with a buffer (partial protection) rather than a floor (full protection), and who plans to actually turn the income rider on, since that's what the 1.50% fee pays for. It is less attractive for a self-directed buyer with no advisor, someone who wants complete principal protection, or someone who would never activate the income benefit and is therefore paying for a guarantee they won't use.

You are not buying direct stock market exposure, and you are not buying full principal protection. You are buying a buffered index contract with a lifetime income guarantee bolted on. The buffer absorbs the first slice of any market loss—10%, 15%, or 25% depending on which Shield Rate you pick—while you absorb anything beyond that. On the upside, your return is limited by a cap, a step rate, or a triggered rate depending on the strategy you choose. Wrapped around all of that is the income rider, which builds a separate Benefit Base used to calculate how much guaranteed income you can draw for life. The advisory version simply strips out the surrender charge so the contract behaves like a managed account asset rather than a locked-in product.

The buffer is the heart of the contract. You choose a Shield Rate—10%, 15%, or 25%—and a term of 1, 2, 3, or 6 years, tied to an index such as the S&P 500, Russell 2000, MSCI EAFE, or Nasdaq-100. The Shield Rate is how much loss Brighthouse absorbs before you start losing money. A 10% buffer means if the index falls 8%, you lose nothing; if it falls 30%, you lose 20% (the part beyond the buffer). A 25% buffer absorbs more loss but typically comes with a lower cap in exchange.

On the upside, each strategy credits interest differently. A Cap Rate strategy credits index gains up to a stated ceiling—for example, the brochure shows a 19.00% cap on a 1-year S&P 500 option at the 10% Shield Rate, and a 425% cap on a 6-year version, both as of July 15, 2025. A Step Rate or Performance Triggered strategy credits a fixed amount when the index is flat or positive, regardless of how high it climbs. A Dual Performance Triggered strategy can credit a positive rate even in a modestly down market. There is also a Fixed Account (3.50% as of the brochure date) and an uncapped option. These cap and rate figures are snapshots that Brighthouse resets, so the structure matters more than any one number—ask for the current rate sheet before committing.

The built-in Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) is what separates this from a plain accumulation RILA. It comes in two versions. The Market Growth version lets the Benefit Base track contract growth. The Market Growth with Rollup version adds a 5% simple-interest credit to the Benefit Base each year for the first 10 contract years—but only in years where you take no withdrawals. That roll-up matters because it grows the base used to calculate your future income even if the index has a flat decade, which is the scenario lifetime-income buyers worry about most.

Once you turn income on—no earlier than age 59½—you can take the Annual Benefit Payment for life, and those payments don't reduce the Benefit Base. In plain terms, the rider guarantees a paycheck that continues even if the account value eventually runs to zero. The tradeoff is that the guarantee isn't free, and the roll-up is conditional on leaving the money alone during those first 10 years.

This is where the advisory version stands apart from its commission-based sibling. There is no surrender charge. You are never locked into a withdrawal-penalty schedule, which is unusual for a RILA and is the defining trait of an I-Share contract built for fee-based accounts. You can access your account value subject to keeping a $2,000 minimum balance, and the Annual Benefit Payment can be taken without reducing the income Benefit Base once income begins.

A few caveats. Withdrawals taken mid-term from a structured strategy—including the advisory fees your planner deducts—are subject to an Interim Value calculation, a daily adjustment that can be more or less than a straight-line value depending on where you are in the term and how the index has moved. Required minimum distributions can be automated and the contract is RMD-friendly. Note that advisory program fees paid from the contract are treated as withdrawals, so they reduce account value and may trigger that Interim Value adjustment if pulled from a structured option mid-term. The absence of a surrender charge is a real advantage, but the Interim Value mechanics mean timing still matters.

The base contract has no annual contract fee, no mortality and expense charge, and no administration charge—and on the advisory version, no surrender charge. So the visible cost is the income rider: 1.50% of the Benefit Base annually, charged on both the Market Growth and Market Growth with Rollup versions. That fee buys the lifetime income guarantee and, on the roll-up version, the 5% simple-interest credit—whether it's worth it depends entirely on whether you actually activate income.

The less visible cost is the layering. This is a fee-based product, which means your advisor charges a separate advisory fee on the assets, and that fee comes out of the contract as a withdrawal. Stack that advisory fee on top of the 1.50% rider fee, then remember that a RILA's upside is already limited by a cap. The combined drag can be meaningful against what the buffer strategy actually credits in a given year. None of this is hidden, but a buyer should add the two fees together and weigh the total against the value of the income guarantee, not look at either number in isolation.

Legal Entity: Brighthouse Life Insurance Company

AM Best Rating: A

Shield Level Pay Plus II Advisory is issued by Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, a large, established annuity and life carrier that spun out of MetLife. The A rating from AM Best reflects solid financial strength, and the Shield family is one of the more recognized RILA lineups in the market.