September 16, 2026 Newswires

New York Life Enhances Survivorship Variable Universal Life with Guaranteed Death Benefit Option

Business Wire

New Extended No Lapse Guarantee Rider lets policyholders lock in a guaranteed death benefit while keeping market-linked growth potential, addressing a growing need

AT A GLANCE

New York Life has added an optional Extended No Lapse Guarantee Rider (ENLG) to its survivorship variable universal life (SVUL) insurance solution, making a guaranteed protection option available for an additional charge to families looking to protect, preserve, and ultimately transfer the wealth they have built.
The new option preserves a guaranteed death benefit after the death of the second insured, regardless of market performance, while the policy’s cash value remains invested across market-based options.
New York Life’s Wealth Watch 2026 Midyear Outlook consumer survey found that 84% of Americans believe a financial strategy should address both growth and protection. Survivorship variable universal life is designed to support both priorities, and adding a guaranteed death benefit gives families greater certainty around the protection outcome while preserving the policy’s growth potential.
The guaranteed death benefit option is available to clients in most states as of August 2026, through New York Life financial professionals.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
New York Life today added an optional Extended No Lapse Guarantee Rider to SVUL Accumulator II, its survivorship variable universal life (SVUL) insurance solution. The new option enables clients, typically spouses or business partners, to lock in a death benefit that is guaranteed against lapse. It pays out after the death of the second insured, regardless of how markets perform, while keeping the policy’s cash value invested across a range of market-based options. The product is available in most states through New York Life financial professionals.

“Families and business owners are not only asking how to build wealth. They are asking how to protect it, how to transfer it efficiently, and how to make sure their plans hold up over time,” said Ramon Casanova, head of Life Insurance Solutions at New York Life. "SVUL and our new Extended No Lapse Guarantee Rider option give them a solution that combines long-term protection, market exposure, wealth transfer potential and estate planning flexibility.”

Balancing Growth Potential and Protection

How SVUL Accumulator II Works

SVUL Accumulator II is a permanent life insurance policy that covers two lives under a single contract, paying a death benefit after the death of the second insured. Because the policy's cash value can be allocated across a range of market-based investment options, clients can participate in market growth over a multi-decade planning horizon, a relevant feature for legacy strategies that may span generations.

Market exposure, however, means policy values can fluctuate. This new rider protects the death benefit: as long as the rider’s premium test is met, the rider allows clients to maintain a specified guaranteed death benefit even if investment performance changes, decoupling the legacy goals from market outcomes.

Why a Guaranteed Option, and Why Now?

For families and business owners using survivorship life insurance as a legacy planning tool, the ability to guarantee the death benefit against lapse offers certainty and clarity within a legacy strategy. The New York Life Wealth Watch 2026 Midyear Outlook found that 84% of Americans believe a financial strategy should address both growth and protection. Survivorship variable universal life is designed to support both priorities, and adding a guarantee against lapse of the policy gives families greater certainty around the protection outcome while preserving the policy’s growth potential.

Though market conditions and financial needs may change over a multi-decade planning horizon, the long-term objectives behind a legacy strategy often do not. Combining SVUL with the new option provides clients both certainty and growth potential.

Availability and Access

SVUL Accumulator II and the Extended No Lapse Guarantee rider are available in most states as of August 2026. Clients can learn more or connect with a New York Life financial professional at newyorklife.com/products/insurance/variable-universal-life.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is SVUL Accumulator II?

SVUL Accumulator II is a survivorship variable universal life insurance policy from New York Life that covers two lives, typically spouses or business partners, under a single contract and pays a death benefit after the death of the second insured.

What does the new Extended No Lapse Guarantee rider do?

The new Extended No Lapse Guarantee rider allows policyholders to lock in a specified death benefit that will be paid regardless of market performance. It is available as an addition to SVUL Accumulator II. The rider does not eliminate market risk in the underlying investments of the VUL policy during the period in which assets can accumulate.

Who is SVUL Accumulator II designed for?

The product is designed for clients with long-term legacy and estate planning needs, including married couples and business partners who want to provide for heirs or fund buy-sell arrangements across a multi-decade time horizon.

Where is SVUL Accumulator II with the Extended No Lapse Guarantee rider available?

The product is available in most states as of August 2026 through New York Life financial professionals.

Why is this relevant now?

New York Life’s Wealth Watch 2026 Midyear Outlook found that 84% of Americans believe it is important for a financial strategy to address both growth and protection. For families with long-term commitments, that can mean wanting assets to retain market-linked growth potential while also seeking greater certainty around what will ultimately be available for beneficiaries. A guaranteed death benefit allows those two priorities to coexist within the same policy.

ABOUT NEW YORK LIFE

New York Life Insurance Company (www.newyorklife.com), a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest¹ mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world. Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, disability income insurance, retirement income, investments, and long-term care insurance. New York Life has the highest financial strength ratings currently awarded to any U.S. life insurer from all four of the major credit rating agencies.²

¹Any guarantees are based on the claims-paying ability of the issuer.

² Based on revenue as reported by “Fortune 500 ranked within Industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual),” Fortune magazine, 6/3/2026. For methodology, please see https://fortune.com/ranking/fortune500/#methodology .

³ Individual independent rating agency commentary as of 10/28/2025: A.M. Best (A++), Fitch (AAA), Moody’s Investors Service (Aa1), Standard & Poor’s (AA+).