Structured Capital Strategies Premier review

It depends on why you are buying it. If you want RILA-style structured downside protection with the ability to add Highest Anniversary Value death benefit coverage, then SCS Premier is a reasonable product — the mechanics are sound, the carrier is financially solid (A.M. Best A), and the segment menu covers the major global indices. If your goal is purely accumulation with no interest in the enhanced death benefit riders, then the 1.25% base contract fee is a real obstacle. The sibling SCS Plus 21 offers comparable structured-segment mechanics without any base fee. That gap matters over a six-year surrender period, and I think most purely accumulation-focused buyers will find Plus 21 the cleaner choice.

The rational case for SCS Premier is structured downside management with a death benefit upgrade. A buyer who wants RILA mechanics — buffer-based partial protection, index-linked upside, no income rider — but also needs a stronger death benefit story for legacy or estate planning will find the optional HAV or Greater of Roll-Up or HAV riders useful. Those features are not available on the fee-free Plus 21, so Premier is not redundant within the Equitable lineup. The 10% free withdrawal corridor from year two on provides a workable liquidity path, and no MVA applies, which simplifies the surrender calculus if early access becomes necessary.

I think SCS Premier is best for a buyer in their 50s or early 60s who is putting retirement-earmarked dollars into a RILA structure and wants to pair accumulation growth with a death benefit that can step up based on contract-anniversary highs or a guaranteed roll-up track. It fits a buyer who understands that they are paying for that death benefit feature and has factored the 1.25% annual drag into their return expectations. It is less suited for buyers who are purely focused on accumulation returns, do not need enhanced death benefits, or want the broadest possible index and segment menu — that buyer gets more depth and better fee efficiency from SCS Plus 21.

You are not buying stock market participation. You are buying a structured insurance contract where your account is allocated into segments, each of which ties a defined payoff to how a stock index performs over a measurement period. Every segment has a buffer — the portion of index loss the contract absorbs — and a cap on the maximum gain you can earn. If the index drops less than the buffer, you experience no loss. If it drops more, you absorb the excess. If it rises, you earn up to the cap. That is a fundamentally different proposition from a principal-protected FIA: a RILA can produce a loss, it just limits how much. On top of that segment structure, SCS Premier adds a 1.25% annual fee that runs on the account value regardless of segment performance. That fee is real cost, not theoretical risk, and it runs every year of the contract.

The Structured Investment Option is the heart of this contract. Buyers select segments tied to one of four indices — S&P 500, Russell 2000, MSCI EAFE, or NASDAQ 100 — and choose a segment type and term. Segment types available on Premier mirror those of the broader SCS family: Standard (buffer plus cap), Dual Direction (earn a positive return equal to the absolute decline if the index falls within the buffer), Step Up (a fixed return if the index finishes flat or positive), Dual Step Up (step-up return plus dual-direction mechanics), Dual Step Tier (dual-direction with tiered outcomes), Enhanced Upside 125% (upside participation above 100% in exchange for a structural adjustment), and Best Entry (the segment tracks the index from the more favorable of two entry points, reducing timing risk). The cap range cited in the spec runs from 9.50% to 300.00% depending on structure and term — the wide range reflects that high-participation-rate structures for multi-year segments can post very high numbers while single-index annual caps will be more conservative. A Fixed Account Rate option (3.25% as of April 2026) is also available for buyers who want a portion of their premium in a guaranteed-rate sleeve. These rates are point-in-time snapshots and will change at each segment renewal.

The standout feature that justifies Premier's fee structure — for the right buyer — is the death benefit menu. The base contract provides the greater of account value or premiums paid (adjusted for withdrawals) for issue ages through 75; at 76 and older the death benefit is account value only. Buyers can upgrade. The Highest Anniversary Value rider (0.25% per year) locks in the highest contract-anniversary account value as a death benefit floor, so a beneficiary receives at least as much as the contract was worth at its best anniversary point, even if the account has since declined. The Greater of Roll-Up or HAV rider (0.75% per year) adds a guaranteed growth track to the HAV mechanic, so the death benefit grows at a defined roll-up rate if market performance lags. For buyers with estate or legacy planning goals, these riders change what the contract leaves behind — and that is a real differentiator from SCS Plus 21, which does not offer those options.

SCS Premier uses a six-year surrender schedule starting at 8% in years one and two — a step above the 7% starting charge on SCS Plus 21. There is no market value adjustment, which removes one layer of interest-rate-driven surrender risk. Free withdrawals of 10% of account value are available beginning in contract year two; in year one, the free amount is 10% of premiums paid in the first 90 days, and at least $500 must remain in the account after any withdrawal. Required minimum distributions that exceed the free withdrawal amount are not subject to surrender charges, which makes this workable for IRA and qualified-plan money. Surrender charge waivers for qualifying chronic illness or care events are available per the spec, though the specific eligibility terms were not fully detailed in the available materials — ask your agent for the exact waiver conditions.

The 1.25% annual base contract fee is the defining cost of this product. It is not a rider fee — it runs on every dollar in the contract, whether you allocate to the structured segments or the fixed account. The fee breaks down as a 0.75% product charge, 0.30% administration charge, and 0.20% other charge. On top of that, buyers who elect the Highest Anniversary Value death benefit pay an additional 0.25% per year, and buyers who elect the Greater of Roll-Up or HAV pay 0.75% per year — so the fully loaded cost for that top death benefit tier reaches 2.00% annually before any segment costs embedded in cap pricing. For comparison, SCS Plus 21 has no base contract fee and a comparable segment structure. The break-even calculus is straightforward: if the death benefit riders have value to you, the fee gap narrows. If they do not, you are paying for features you will never use. The structured segment caps also reflect the cost of the buffer mechanics embedded in the pricing, so the total drag includes both the explicit fee and the implicit cost of protection — that double layer is worth keeping in mind when comparing projected returns.

Legal Entity: Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company of America

Parent: Equitable Holdings Inc.

A.M. Best Rating: A