Brighthouse Financial

Brighthouse Financial traces its origins back to Travelers Insurance Company, founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1863. Travelers Insurance initially sold life insurance policies but began selling annuities in 1938.

Through a series of acquisitions and mergers in the 1990s, the company transformed into Brighthouse Financial, which was a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. until 2016. By 2017, Brighthouse was licensed to sell life insurance and annuity products in all 50 states and began trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “BHF”.

In 2021, Brighthouse Financial was number 353 on the Fortune 500 list. As one of the largest annuity and life insurance providers in the nation, Brighthouse manages over $250 billion in total assets.

An annuity provider’s credit ratings, also known as financial strength ratings, give consumers a picture of the company’s overall financial stability. These ratings are issued by independent credit rating agencies to help customers make an informed choice when purchasing an annuity. The higher the company’s credit ratings are, the more likely they are to meet their financial obligations.

Brighthouse Financial has received strong scores from all four of the major credit rating agencies: AM Best, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.

Brighthouse Financial offers a wide variety of annuity products to suit the unique needs of their customers. The annuities offered can be sorted into four categories: income annuities, fixed annuities, indexed annuities and variable annuities.

Income annuities are different from other types of annuities in that the premium used to purchase the annuity does not go through an accumulation period. Instead, the principal is immediately converted into a stream of income payments.

Brighthouse offers two types of income annuities. Customers can choose an immediate income annuity, which allows them to begin receiving payments as soon as the contract starts and continue receiving payments for the rest of their life or the rest of theirs and another person’s life.

The Guaranteed Income Builder® is the other type of income annuity Brighthouse offers. This product is a deferred income annuity, meaning that it provides future guaranteed income down the road.

A fixed rate annuity offers guaranteed growth of an initial premium over time. The premium earns interest based on a fixed rate that’s guaranteed for part of the accumulation period, and then can be renewed for a subsequent period at the same or a different rate.

Brighthouse sells a single premium deferred fixed annuity product. This product is purchased with a single lump sum payment, called the premium. The premium accumulates interest at a fixed rate for three, five or seven years. Then, the annuity holder can choose to renew the contract or start receiving income payments for the rest of his or her life.

Indexed annuities accumulate interest based on two factors: a fixed rate that remains constant and a rate based on the growth of an equity market index. This type of annuity offers principal protection and guaranteed growth with the potential to earn even more in strong market years.

Brighthouse Financial’s Shield Level annuity is tied to the growth of the holder’s choice of market index. Annuity customers can choose from the S&P 500 Index, the Russell 2000 Index and the MSCI EAFE Index.

A variable annuity is similar to an indexed annuity in that both products are linked to the growth of an equity market index. Unlike an indexed annuity, a variable annuity’s value is determined by the index’s performance with no additional fixed growth rate and no cap on how much the annuity’s value can grow. This means that variable annuities have the potential for higher returns than an indexed annuity, but also the potential to lose some of the annuity’s value due to weak market performance.

The variable annuity product Brighthouse offers features guaranteed income payments for life with the option for spousal income continuation. Brighthouse allows you to build a customized investment portfolio to determine where your annuity’s value will be allocated.

Brighthouse Financial’s online Help Center provides customers with answers to frequently asked questions and guidance on account management and servicing issues. Customers can also call the company’s Customer Service Center to obtain annuity forms and ask any questions not answered on the site.

Brighthouse also serves its community through its charitable organization, the Brighthouse Foundation. This organization provides grants to nonprofit groups that support women, children, veterans and the arts. In 2020, the Foundation’s reach expanded to include support for COVID-19 relief and social justice advocates.

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