Apollo SP review

It depends on how the buyer reads the rate. If someone is comparing Apollo SP purely on the 6.40% headline number against true multi-year-locked competitors, this product loses that comparison once year two hits and the rate resets lower. But for a buyer who understands it as an annually-declared fixed annuity with a strong 2.50% floor, a top-rated carrier, and no fees, it's a reasonable — if unremarkable — accumulation vehicle. I don't think it's a bad product, but the marketing framing (a big year-one number) can mislead a shopper into thinking they've locked in 6.40% for seven years, which they have not.

The rational case for Apollo SP is carrier strength plus a decent guaranteed floor. Someone who wants to park money with an A++ insurer, isn't chasing indexed upside, and is comfortable with the surrender commitment might choose this over a lower-rated carrier's product, even knowing the rate resets annually. The lack of any base contract fee also means nothing is quietly eroding the account value in the background — whatever rate the carrier declares each year is what the buyer actually earns.

I think this fits a retirement-age or near-retirement saver — the wide 0-85 issue-age range accommodates that — who wants principal protection and a modest guaranteed floor, has non-qualified or qualified dollars they won't need for seven years, and is choosing the carrier's balance-sheet strength as the primary reason to buy. It's a weaker fit for anyone shopping specifically for a locked multi-year rate, since Apollo SP doesn't actually offer one past the first year.

Strip away the 6.40% headline and what's actually being purchased is a 7-year, fee-free fixed annuity with a single crediting strategy and a 2.50% guaranteed minimum. The 2.00% piece of that 6.40% is not money added to the account value — it's a temporary boost to the interest rate that applies only in the first contract year. Starting in year two, the base rate takes over, and the carrier reviews and redeclares that rate every year for the life of the contract. So the real product is a rate-reset fixed annuity wrapped in a 7-year surrender cage, not a locked-rate CD alternative.

Apollo SP has exactly one crediting option: a traditional declared fixed rate, with no indexed, structured, or variable strategies to choose from. As of the current Wink data (3/16/2026), the declared rate is 6.40%, made up of a base rate plus a 2.00% first-year interest rate enhancement. That enhancement is not credited to the account value as a lump sum — it simply raises the interest rate paid during year one. Beginning in contract year two, the rate drops by that same 2.00%, and from there the carrier declares a new rate annually for as long as the contract is in force. The only hard guarantee across the full 7-year term is the 2.50% Minimum Guaranteed Interest Rate — the floor the credited rate can never fall below, no matter what the carrier declares in any given year.

The nursing home confinement waiver is a built-in, no-additional-cost feature: if the annuitant was 74 or younger at issue and becomes confined to a qualified nursing home or hospital for 90+ consecutive days after the first contract year, up to 25% of the annuity value can be withdrawn each year without surrender charges. It won't be the reason someone buys this contract, but it's a meaningful backstop for a buyer worried about a long-term-care event during the surrender period, and it costs nothing extra to have in place.

The 7-year surrender schedule below is on the shorter side for a fixed annuity that resets its rate annually rather than locking it for the term — most true MYGAs pair a multi-year rate lock with a matching surrender period, so a 7-year commitment against a 1-year rate guarantee is worth noting. On the upside, the free-withdrawal design here is unusually generous: 10% is available penalty-free each year, unused amounts carry forward to the next year, and the cumulative allowance can build up to 30% of the original premium before it resets. That gives a buyer real flexibility for periodic income needs without breaking the surrender schedule, as long as no single withdrawal request drops below $500 and only one request is made per contract year.

There's no base contract fee, no M&E charge, no administrative fee, and no rider fee disclosed anywhere in the source materials — this is a clean, fee-free design as far as the account value is concerned. The real tradeoff isn't a fee, it's the rate mechanics: a buyer locks into 7 years of limited access in exchange for a rate that's only committed for the first of those seven years. Withdrawals taken within 12 months of the surrender anniversary can still trigger surrender charges even on otherwise penalty-free amounts (this exception doesn't apply in NJ or WA), which is a detail worth flagging for anyone timing a withdrawal near an anniversary date.

Legal Entity: Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company

Parent: Tokio Marine (Delphi Financial Group)

A.M. Best Rating: A++