Why it earned this rating
Our assessment
Perspective Advisory II is a fee-based variable annuity built for advisory accounts, and its biggest strength is structural: there is no surrender schedule, the investment menu runs to 109 subaccounts plus a fixed account, and the base contract charge is low at 0.45%. It lands in the middle of the pack because a variable annuity without a living benefit is hard to justify against a plain taxable brokerage account, and the rider charges that would make the income case are largely undisclosed in the brochure. It is a reasonable wrapper for the right advisory relationship, not a standout on its own.
The short version
This is a fee-based variable annuity for New York investors working through an advisor on an advisory (fee-for-service) basis. You are buying a tax-deferred investment account with a very deep fund menu, no surrender charges, and the ability to add optional guarantees for income or death benefit if you want them. What keeps it from being more than a middle-of-the-road option is the same thing that limits every accumulation variable annuity: unless you actually use one of the optional guarantees, you are paying insurance-company fees for tax deferral you could get more cheaply elsewhere.
Key facts
The full review
Is Jackson Perspective Advisory II (NY) a Good Annuity?
It depends on how you are buying it. For a fee-based advisory client who wants tax deferral and a deep investment menu, and who plans to add a living-benefit rider, this is a competitive wrapper with clean liquidity. For someone buying it purely for accumulation with no guarantee attached, it is harder to justify, because you are layering annuity fees on top of fund expenses for tax deferral that a brokerage account or IRA may handle more simply.
Why Someone Would Buy This Annuity
The main reason to buy this is to get tax-deferred growth across a very wide investment menu without locking into a surrender schedule. Because it is an advisory share class, there are no commissions baked in and no withdrawal charges, so the money stays fully liquid from day one. The secondary reason is optionality: you can start as a pure accumulation contract and later add a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit or an enhanced death benefit if your plan shifts toward income or legacy. That flexibility is the real selling point for an advisor managing the contract over time.
Who This Annuity Is Best For
I think this is best for a New York investor, somewhere in the pre-retirement or early-retirement window, who already works with a fee-based advisor and has maxed out other tax-deferred accounts. It fits someone who values a broad fund lineup and full liquidity over the simplicity of a fixed or indexed product. It is a poor fit for a do-it-yourself investor, anyone who will not actually use a living-benefit guarantee, and anyone outside New York, since this contract is only sold there.
What You're Really Buying Here
Strip away the wrapper and this is a tax-deferred investment account that happens to be issued as an insurance contract. Your money goes into variable subaccounts, which are essentially mutual funds, plus an optional fixed account that credits a guaranteed interest rate. The contract value rises and falls with the markets, with no caps and no floors on the base product, meaning there is no built-in downside protection unless you pay for a rider. What you gain over a regular brokerage account is tax deferral and access to optional guarantees; what you give up is a layer of insurance fees and the simplicity of holding funds directly.
How the Core Feature Works
The core of the contract is the investment menu: 109 variable subaccounts spanning most major asset classes, plus a fixed account with a one-year guaranteed period. The fixed account has a Fixed Account Minimum Interest Rate that floats between 1% and 3% depending on Treasury rates, with a current guaranteed minimum of 2.40% per the brochure. You can also use dollar-cost-averaging accounts (6-month and 12-month, both crediting 2.40% per the materials) to move money into subaccounts gradually. You get up to 25 penalty-free transfers per year between options; after that, transfers cost $25 each. Subaccount fund expenses themselves range from roughly 0.09% to 2.00% net depending on which funds you pick, so the all-in cost depends heavily on your allocation.
Why the Secondary Feature Matters
The secondary story is the optional rider suite, and it is where the income case lives. Jackson offers its Flex Suite of guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits, plus AutoGuard 5 and MarketGuard Stretch, which apply an annual roll-up to a benefit base in years you take no withdrawals and lock in market gains through annual step-ups. The catch is disclosure: the consumer brochure lists MarketGuard Stretch at 1.11% and AutoGuard 5 at 0.87% (both charged on a benefit base, not contract value), but the Flex Suite charges are not stated and you have to ask the advisor for them. On the death-benefit side, you can add Return of Premium (0.20%), a Highest Anniversary Value benefit (0.45%, available through age 79 at issue), or the Flex Death Benefit NY. These options matter because they are what separate this from a plain investment account, but you cannot fully price the most prominent income rider from the public materials.
Liquidity and Surrender Schedule
Liquidity is the cleanest part of this contract. There are no surrender charges at all, which is the defining feature of the advisory I-share class, so you can withdraw any or all of the contract value at any time before the income date without a penalty. One wrinkle: if you withdraw enough that the remaining contract value drops below $2,000 (on contracts without a GMWB rider), the insurer treats it as a full surrender. A market value adjustment applies only to withdrawals from the 3-, 5-, or 7-year fixed account options, not the one-year fixed account or the subaccounts; an MVA means the value of that fixed allocation can move up or down with interest rates when you pull money early. Required minimum distributions are accommodated, and the contract supports a full range of qualified and non-qualified plan types, including IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), and inherited accounts.
Fees and Tradeoffs
The base mortality and expense (M&E) charge is 0.45% per year, assessed daily on the variable subaccounts only, and it drops to 0.40% once the contract anniversary value reaches $1 million or more. The administration charge is 0.00%, and the $30 annual contract maintenance fee is waived once your contract or surrender value hits $50,000. On top of that you pay the underlying fund expenses (roughly 0.09% to 2.00%) and any rider charges you elect. The honest read is that the base fee is reasonable for a variable annuity, but the total cost depends entirely on which funds and riders you stack on. The biggest tradeoff is transparency: the headline Flex Suite income-rider charges are not in the consumer brochure, so if you are weighing this for income, get the current rider charge sheet directly before committing.
Product snapshot
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Product Type | Variable Annuity |
| Surrender Period | None |
| Issue Ages | 0-85 |
| Minimum Premium | $25,000 |
| Crediting Methods | Variable subaccounts, Fixed account (1-year guaranteed period), Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) |
| Free Withdrawal | No withdrawal charges; all or any portion of the contract may be withdrawn at any time prior to the income date. If contract value after withdrawal is less than $2,000 (for contracts without GMWB), withdrawal treated as total surrender. |
| MGSV | N/A |
| Death Benefit | Standard death benefit equals contract value on date of claim. Optional add-ons available: Return of Premium Death Benefit, Highest Anniversary Value (HAV) Death Benefit, Flex Death Benefit NY. Death benefit terminates if contract value falls to zero. |
| Income Rider | Optional |
| Income Rider Fee | Flex Suite: contact financial professional for charges; MarketGuard Stretch: 1.11% (benefit-based); AutoGuard 5: 0.87% (benefit-based) |
| Premium Bonus | None |
| Availability | Marketed exclusively in New York state. Not approved in: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY. Policy form numbers VA790NY, VA790NY-FB1. |
Carrier snapshot
Legal Entity: Jackson National Life Insurance Company of New York
Parent: Jackson Financial Inc.
AM Best Rating: A
Final take
Perspective Advisory II (NY) makes the most sense as a tool inside a fee-based advisory relationship, where the absence of commissions and surrender charges genuinely matters and an advisor can manage the deep fund menu and decide whether and when to add a guarantee. If you want tax deferral, broad investment choice, and full liquidity, and you intend to use one of the optional living benefits, this is a competitive contract with a sensibly priced base charge.
If you are not going to attach a living-benefit or death-benefit rider, think hard about whether you need the annuity wrapper at all, because you would be paying insurance fees for tax deferral a brokerage account or IRA might deliver more simply. And before you commit on the income side, insist on the current Flex Suite rider charges in writing, since they are not in the consumer brochure. For the right New York advisory client, this is a solid, flexible wrapper. For everyone else, it is a mixed case.