Variable Annuities - Fidelity and TIAA

msf

These are two of the least expensive and most flexible VAs around. Fidelity charges 0.25% and 0.10% for over $1M in the VA. TIAA charges anywhere from 0.50% (under $100K) to 0.35% (up to $500K) and 0.25% (over $500K). But all those go down to 0.10% independent of value after ten years.

Fidelity tends to include the second cheapest share class of VA portfolios (think "retail") while TIAA tends to include the cheapest share class (think "institutional"). All in, the two have similar costs for the first ten years, then TIAA becomes much cheaper.

The real question, though, is how their underlying portfolios perform. I've looked up (via Financial Times search) all the portfolios open to new investors. Below is the table I built for myself (slightly edited for formatting here). Note: the M* ratings are for the portfolios themselves.

On the VAs' websites you'll find different ratings. That's because what you're seeing are there the ratings of the funds including the annuity fees. Since the annuity fees of both of these VAs are so low, those star ratings tend to be mostly 4s and 5s. The ratings of the funds themselves, included here, give a better picture of the funds' performance.

Since there are so many funds, I've split the table into two posts - broad equity in the first, sectors and fixed income in the second.

Fund					Class	ER	Ticker		M* 	Lipper	Annuity

Allocation Portfolios

	Conservative Allocation
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 20		Inv.	0.55%	0P00003EYS	4	3/2/5/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 30		Inv.	0.57%	0P0001Q617	-	-	Fidelity

	Moderately Conservative Allocation
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 40		Inv.	0.62%	0P0001Q618	-	-	Fidelity
Franklin Income VIP			Cl 1	0.46%	0P00003BNK	5	4/3/4/5	TIAA
Nuveen Life Funds Balanced			0.51%	TLBAX		5	4/4/4/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Conservative Alloc.		0.13%	0P0000TNLX	4	5/5/5/5	TIAA

	Moderate Allocation
Fidelity VIP Asset Manager		Inv.	0.61%	0P00003ESQ	2	3/3/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Balanced			Inv.	0.51%	0P00003ESS	5	5/5/2/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 50		Inv.	0.70%	0P00003EYT	3	4/3/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 60		Inv.	0.71%	0P00008YBH	3	2/2/3/4	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF Balanced Portfolio			0.21%	0P00003BRZ	4	5/5/3/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Moderate Alloc.			0.13%	0P0000TNLY	3	4/4/3/5	TIAA

	Moderately Aggressive Allocation
Fidelity VIP Asset Manager: Growth	Inv.	0.72%	0P00003ESP	3	3/3/2/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 70		Inv.	0.74%	0P00003EYU	3	4/4/2/4	Fidelity

	Aggressive Allocation
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 85		Inv.	0.78%	0P00003EYW	4	4/4/1/4	Fidelity

	Target Date
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2010		0.44%	0P00003ET2	3	x/x/5/x	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2015		0.48%	0P00003ET4	4	x/x/5/x	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2020		0.51%	0P00003ET3	5	4/4/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2025		0.54%	0P00003ET5	5	5/5/3/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2030		0.58%	0P00003ET6	5	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2035		0.63%	0P0001OWHR	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2040		0.68%	0P0001OWHT	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2045		0.69%	0P0001OWHU	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2050		0.69%	0P0001OWHV	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom Inc.		0.40%	0P00003ET8	3	2/2/5/5	Fidelity
						
	Tactical Allocation
Morgan Stanley VIF Global Strat.	Cl. I	0.90%	MIMPX		3	2/2/2/3	Fidelity
PIMCO VIT All Asset Portfolio		Inst.	2.04%	0P00003EXR	3	3/4/4/1	TIAA

	Global Allocation
BlackRock Global Allocation VI 		Cl. 2	0.92%	0P00003E89	4	3/3/3/3	Fidelity
DFA VA Global Moderate Allocation	Inst.	0.28%	0P0000XY87	5	5/5/4/5	TIAA

US Equity Portfolios

	Large Cap Blend					
ClearBridge Variable Growth Port.	Cl. I	0.85%	QLMGOX		1	1/2/2/3	TIAA
DFA Equity Allocation			Inst.	0.32%	0P00019RXP	2	5/5/4/5	TIAA
Fidelity VIP Growth & Income		Inv.	0.57%	0P00003ES4	4	5/5/5/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Index 500			Init.	0.09%	0P00003BWH	4	5/5/5/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Total Market Index		Init.	0.11%	FVIDX		3	4/4/4/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Life Core Equity Fund			0.52%	TLGWX		4	5/5/4/5	TIAA
Nuveen Life Large Cap Resp. Equity		0.22%	TLCHX		3	3/3/4/5	TIAA
Nuveen Life Stock Index Fund			0.08%	TLSTX		3	4/5/4/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Capital Growth Port.		0.34%	0P00003DVM	4	4/4/5/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Equity Index			0.14%	0P00003BS4	4	5/5/5/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Total Stock Mkt Index		0.13%	0P00003DVK	3	4/4/4/5	TIAA

	Large Cap Growth
Fidelity VIP Contrafund			Inv.	0.64%	0P00003ESR	4	4/4/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Dynamic Cap Apprec.	Inv.	0.70%	0P00003ESX	4	4/4/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Growth			Inv.	0.65%	0P00003ES7	5	5/5/4/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Growth Opportunities	Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ES3	4	5/5/1/5	Fidelity
Janus Henderson VIT Forty Port.		Inst.	0.55%	JACAX		3	3/4/3/5	TIAA
MFS VIT Mass. Inv. Growth Stock Port.	Init.	0.73%	0P00003CPY	3	3/3/4/4	TIAA
Nuveen Life Growth Equity Fund			0.52%	TLGQX		3	2/3/3/5	TIAA
PSF PGIM Jennison Blend Portfolio	Cl. II	0.86%	0P00003CBD	3	2/1/4/2	TIAA

	Large Cap Value
DFA VA Large Value Portfolio		Inst.	0.21%	0P00003CUU	2	2/2/3/5	TIAA
Fidelity VIP Equity-Income		Inv.	0.55%	0P00003ESO	4	4/5/5/5	Fidelity
Franklin Mutual Shares VIP		Cl. 1	0.68%	0P00003CBB	1	1/1/4/4	TIAA
Nuveen Life Large Cap Value Fund		0.52%	TLLVX		4	4/4/4/5	TIAA
PSF PGIM Jennison Value Portfolio	Cl. II	0.82%	0P00003DP6	3	3/4/5/2	TIAA
PVC Equity Income Account		Cl. 1	0.49%	0P00003CN9	3	3/2/4/5	TIAA

	Mid Cap Blend
Fidelity VIP Mid Cap			Inv.	0.65%	0P00003ESF	4	5/5/3/5	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF Mid-Cap Index			0.17%	0P00003C89	3	3/2/3/5	TIAA

	Mid Cap Growth
Franklin Small-Mid Cap Growth VIP	Cl. 1	0.83%	0P00003DB4	3	2/3/1/4	TIAA
PVC MidCap Account			Cl. 1	0.55%	0P00003BO4	5	5/3/3/5	TIAA
Wanger Acorn					0.95%	WUSAX		2	1/1/1/3	TIAA

	Mid Cap Value
Fidelity VIP Value			Inv.	0.68%	0P00003ESN	4	5/5/3/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Value Strategies		Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ESM	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
Janus Henderson VIT Mid-Cap Value	Inst.	0.68%	JAMVX		3	3/2/4/5	TIAA
Matson Money U.S. Equity VI Port.		0.98%	FMVUX		4	4/4/3/1	TIAA
N-B AMT Mid Cap Intrinsic Value		Cl. I	1.02%	0P00003CPW	1	1/1/2/3	TIAA

	Small Cap Blend
Fidelity VIP Disciplined  Small Cap 	Inv.	0.40%	0P00003EWG	3	5/5/2/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Extended Market Index	Init.	0.12%	FVIJX		3	3/3/1/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Life Small Cap Equity Fund		0.53%	TLEQX		4	5/5/2/5	TIAA

	Small Cap Growth
ClearBridge Variable Small Cap Gr	Cl. I	0.80%	QLMSIX		2	1/1/1/5	TIAA

	Small Cap Value
DFA VA U.S. Targeted Value Port.	Inst.	0.29%	0P00003D0Y	4	5/5/1/5	TIAA
Macquarie VIP Small Cap Value Ser.	Std.	0.78%	0P00003C1W	3	3/2/1/4	TIAA
Royce Capital Fund - Sm Cap Port.	Inv.	1.15%	RCPFX		3	3/3/1/1	TIAA
						
International Equity

	Diversified Emerging Markets						
Fidelity VIP Emerging Markets		Inv.	0.97%	0P0000A9FS	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
John Hancock Emerg Mkts Val Trust	NAV	1.03%	JHVTX		3	4/4/4/4	TIAA
Lazard Retir. Emerging Markets Port.	Inv.	1.15%	0P00005XR9	3	4/2/3/3	Fidelity
Morgan Stanley VIF Emerg. Mkts Eq.	Cl. I	1.25%	MEMEX		3	4/4/2/2	Fidelity
Templeton Developing Mkts VIP Fund	Cl. 1	1.10%	0P00003CRI	3	4/4/2/3	TIAA

	Foreign Large Blend	
Fidelity VIP International Index	Init.	0.16%	FVIGX		3	3/4/4/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Life International Equity		0.60%	TLINX		3	4/3/3/4	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Total Intl Stk Mkt Indx		0.11%	0P0001ANO3	3	3/3/4/5	TIAA

	Foreign Large Growth
Fidelity VIP International Cap Ap	Inv.	0.86%	0P00003ESC	5	5/5/3/3	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Overseas			Inv.	0.81%	0P00003ESH	4	5/5/3/5	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF International Port.		0.33%	0P00003CRA	3	4/2/1/5	TIAA

	Foreign Large Value
DFA VA International Value Port.	Inst.	0.27%	0P00003CY8	4	5/5/3/5	TIAA

	Foreign Small/Mid Blend
DFA VA International Small Port.	Inst.	0.40%	0P00003CN3	4	x/x/2/x	TIAA

	Foreign Small/Mid Growth
Wanger International				1.14%	WSCAX		2	x/x/1/x	TIAA

	Foreign Small/Mid Value
Matson Money Int'l Equity VI Port.		1.14%	FMVIX		3	3/3/3/1	TIAA

	Global Large Cap Blend
Invesco V.I. Global Core Equity		Ser. I	0.98%	0P00003CZL	2	2/2/3/2	Fidelity
MFS VIT Global Equities Series		Init.	0.92%	0P00003D4V	2	2/2/3/3	TIAA

msf

Fund					Class	ER	Ticker		M* 	Lipper	Annuity

Taxable Bonds

	Bank Loans						
Fidelity VIP Floating Rate High Inc.	Inv.	0.79%	0P00011U4F	5	5/4/5/3	Fidelity

	High Yield
Fidelity VIP High Income		Inv.	0.86%	0P00003ESA	2	1/1/2/4	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF High Yield Bond Port.		0.24%	0P00003DCW	3	3/3/3/5	TIAA
Western Asset Variable Gl HY Bond	Cl. I	0.83%	QLMYIX		1	5/5/1/3	TIAA

	Inflation-Protected
PIMCO VIT Real Return Portfolio		Inst.	0.69%	0P00003E0V	4	5/5/4/5	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Real Return Portfolio		Admin.	0.84%	0P00003CE4	3	4/4/4/3	Fidelity

	Intermediate Term Core
Fidelity VIP Bond Index			Init.	0.14%	FVIOX		2	2/2/3/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investment Grade Bond	Inv.	0.42%	0P00003ESB	5	5/5/3/4	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF Global Bond Index Port.		0.13%	0P0001ANO2	3	3/3/4/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Total Bond Mkt Index		0.14%	0P00003BSD	3	3/3/3/5	TIAA

	Intermediate Term Core Plus
LVIP Macquarie Diversified Income	Std.	0.54%	0P00003E8R	3	4/4/2/4	TIAA
Nuveen Life Core Bond Fund			0.35%	TLBDX		3	5/5/4/5	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Total Return			Admin.	0.75%	0P00003C9R	3	3/3/3/3	Fidelity

	Intermediate Term Government
Franklin U.S. Gov Securities VIP	Cl. 2	0.77%	0P00003CI6	3	2/2/4/2	Fidelity

	Multisector
Fidelity VIP Strategic Income		Inv.	0.68%	0P00003ESI	4	5/5/4/4	Fidelity

	Short Term
Matson Money Fixed Income VI Port.		0.86%	FMVFX		1	4/4/5/3	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Low Duration Portfolio	Admin.	0.69%	0P00003CIY	2	1/1/5/3	Fidelity
T Rowe Price Limited-Term Bond Port.		0.50%	0P00003CWU	3	3/3/5/4	TIAA

	Ultrashort Term
DFA VA Short-Term Fixed Port.		Inst.	0.12%	0P00003C66	2	4/4/5/5	TIAA

	Emerging Market Bonds
Morgan Stanley VIF Emrg. Mkts Debt	Cl. I	1.10%	MEMNX		3	3/3/1/2	Fidelity
PIMCO VIT Emerging Mkts Bond Port.	Inst.	1.12%	0P00005YP4	3	5/5/1/4	TIAA

	Global
PIMCO VIT Global Bond Opp. Unhedged	Inst.	0.86%	0P00003EXS	4	3/4/1/3	TIAA
Templeton Global Bond VIP Fund		Cl. 2	0.75%	0P00003C9Z	2	1/1/1/4	Fidelity

	Global - Hedged
DFA VA Global Bond Portfolio		Inst.	0.21%	0P00003D94	4	4/4/5/5	TIAA

Sector Funds

	Communications			
Fidelity VIP Communications Services	Inv.	0.70%	0P000087RM	5	2/2/3/4	Fidelity

	Consumer Cyclical
Fidelity VIP Consumer Discretionary	Inv.	0.69%	0P00003EST	3	4/4/2/4	Fidelity

	Consumer Defensive
Fidelity VIP Consumer Staples		Inv.	0.69%	0P000087RI	3	3/2/5/3	Fidelity

	Energy
Fidelity VIP Energy			Inv.	0.69%	0P00003ESD	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity

	Financials
Fidelity VIP Financials			Inv.	0.71%	0P00003ESV	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity

	Health
Fidelity VIP Health Care		Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ES9	3	1/1/4/5	Fidelity
T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Port.	Cl. I	0.86%	0P00003DWN	4	4/4/4/4	TIAA

	Industrials
Fidelity VIP Industrials		Inv.	0.70%	0P00003ESW	4	5/4/3/3	Fidelity

	Natural Resources
Fidelity VIP Materials			Inv.	0.72%	0P00008PZG	3	4/1/1/4	Fidelity
PSF Natural Resources Portfolio		Cl. II	0.91%	0P00003EKJ	3	3/4/2/3	TIAA

	Real Estate
Fidelity VIP Real Estate		Inv.	0.68%	0P00003ESG	2	1/1/1/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Real Estate Select Securities		0.57%	TLRSX		4	3/2/1/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Real Estate Index			0.26%	0P00003D31	3	2/2/1/5	TIAA

	Global Real Estate
VY CBRE Global Real Estate Port		Cl. I	0.90%	IRGIX		4	5/5/1/5	TIAA

	Technology
Fidelity VIP Technology			Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ESJ	4	5/5/2/5	Fidelity

	Utilities
Fidelity VIP Utilities			Inv.	0.69%	0P00003ESL	5	5/5/4/4	Fidelity
MFS VIT Utilities			Init.	0.79%	0P00003D2Y	3	2/2/4/3	TIAA

Commodities Funds
		Broad Basket				
Credit Suisse Comm Return Strategy	(base)	1.04%	CCRSX		2	1/1/4/2	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Comm Real Return Strat.	Inst.	1.33%	0P00003ERD	2	3/3/3/5	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Comm Real Return Strat.	Admin.	1.48%	0P00003EG0	2	2/3/3/3	Fidelity
						
Taxable Money Market Funds
		Government Money Market Funds
Fidelity VIP Government MM		Inv.	0.30%	0P00003ESE	-	-	Fidelity
		Prime Money Market Funds
Nuveen Life Money Market Fund			15.00%	TLMXX		-	-	TIAA

bee

Thanks @msf,

Those annuity flavor ticker symbols are a pain.

A family member has a VA annuity from Monument Advisors (Nationwide) which has a $20 / month flat fee and 350 mutual fund choices from DFA, Vanguard, Fidelity and others.

We self manage this annuity so no advisor fees.

https://nationwideadvisory.com/products/monument-advisor

Performance and fees of the 350 choices:

https://nationwideadvisory.com/tools/aboutfunds/annuityfundperformance.cfm

yogibearbull

MFO Premium also supports many VAs under "Insurance Funds or IFs" - use fund family names in Multisearch (Allianz, Fidelity, Pimco, Vanguard, Pimco, TIAA/CREF, etc). I have posted before on TIAA and CREF VAs within 403b, but @msf has posted above about commercial VAs.

msf

I looked into the Monument Annuity years ago. It looked like an interesting idea. Then it was sold to Nationwide and as I recall it became difficult to buy without an advisor. Glad to see one can buy it direct again.

All in costs are comparable to other low cost VAs. When one invests in DFA or Vanguard funds with Monument, there's an extra 0.35%/year. (look for Low Cost Platform in the prospectus.) The share class of Fidelity funds that are available include a 0.25% 12b-1 fee. For example, here's the Monument page for Fidelity VIP Balanced (0.69% net), and the page for Fidelity VIP Balanced through Fidelity (0.51% net).

The tickers I gave, despite their cryptic look, work on M*. You can add them to a portfolio. You can use them in a chart (pull up another fund and add the VA fund in the compare box). You can even do a search on these tickers in the "new" Morningstar.

What you can't do is pull up a page on most of these funds. The search box will find the fund and translate the name to English; it won't give you a link to a fund page.

catch22

Thank you @msf for your efforts. We've discussed these annuity types in the past; and it is important for some to be aware of these choices to expand their 'tax deferred' investment choices.

For those not familiar, the below link we take you to the Fidelity page of their investment choices. Select the investment type in the 'name' column for details of that particular choice.

FPRA (Fidelity Personal Retirement Annuity) LINK NO login required.

yogibearbull

Keep in mind that before 403b/401k, 457 and IRAs came along, annuities were the primary tax-deferral vehicles.

Today, if someone has max-ed out on all these (403b/401k, 457, IRAs), then annuities will make sense.

It may not be a good idea to chase fixed-rate annuities. They may offer higher rates than CDs, but one the money is in annuity, it's stuck there - almost captive money. If you withdraw that money before 59.5, there is 10% penalty + tax. You can do 1035 exchanges to switch to another vendor.

VAs operate almost like mutual funds or CITs except for the annuity wrapper restrictions. Many VAs are clones or cousins of mutual funds.