Securian Reworks VUL Defender: What It Means for PPLI Buyers

Securian Financial has overhauled VUL Defender, its flagship variable universal life contract, adding a longevity-focused no-lapse rider, a wider shelf of investment options and reworked underwriting, according to a Business Wire release corrected and reissued on October 12, 2026, with trade coverage from FinTech Global and tmcnet. For advisers who sit between retail VUL and PPLI when designing a policy for a wealthy client, the update is worth reading closely, because it resets the comparison both products get judged against.

What changed

Securian says the rebuilt VUL Defender combines "greater cash value potential and investment flexibility with improvements to underwriting, digital capabilities and policy servicing." The contract keeps what the company calls one of the market's most competitive guaranteed death benefits, but now carries more competitive premiums and a new optional feature: a No-Lapse Guarantee Agreement, available for an additional charge, designed to keep coverage in force to age 100 and beyond, subject to its terms.

Investment choice has also widened. The product now offers more than 75 investment allocation options, and Securian removes investment allocation restrictions entirely when a client adds the no-lapse rider. Optional acceleration benefits for terminal illness, chronic illness and long-term care round out the living-benefits package. None of this is framed around artificial intelligence; the digital and underwriting upgrades are described as process improvements rather than new technology claims, and FinTech Global's reporting is explicit that the company has not attributed the changes to AI.

VUL Defender was first launched in 2015 built around a guaranteed death benefit. The 2026 version keeps that core promise but adds the cash-value and flexibility features UHNW households and their advisers increasingly ask for when a policy is meant to run for decades rather than a fixed term.

Who it touches

The updated contract is issued by Minnesota Life Insurance Company outside New York and by Securian Life Insurance Company in New York. It is available in most US states and the District of Columbia, but not in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Nevada, Oregon or Wyoming, which matters immediately for any multi-state family deciding where to apply.

Securian's head of life and annuity product development, Ben Roth, put the thinking behind the rider plainly: "Life expectancy has evolved, and the way we help clients plan needs to evolve with it. Permanent life insurance is often purchased with a very long-term objective, to provide protection and ultimately leave a legacy. If that's the goal, financial professionals should ask themselves a simple question: Is the protection strategy guaranteed to last as long as the client might?" He added that securing a no-lapse guarantee to age 100 and beyond "leads to a better planning conversation" and spares clients a coverage lapse at the point they are least able to deal with it.

That framing is aimed squarely at the audience this edition covers: families who bought permanent life insurance years ago for estate liquidity, equalization among heirs, or legacy funding, and whose original illustrations assumed mortality tables that no longer match how long they are actually likely to live.

What it means for policyholders weighing VUL against PPLI

For a US-connected UHNW family, the honest comparison is not whether VUL Defender is a good contract on its own terms; it plainly targets a real gap, the risk of a retail VUL lapsing in old age because cost of insurance charges outrun cash value. The comparison that matters is structural, and it has not changed. VUL Defender remains a retail, FINRA-registered product with subaccounts chosen from a fixed menu, no accredited investor or qualified purchaser gate, and state premium tax and mortality and expense charges baked into a standardized chassis. A no-lapse rider that guarantees coverage to 100-plus is valuable, but it is also, in effect, a reinsurance-style promise priced into an additional charge, and advisers should model what that charge does to net cash value over 20 or 30 years before assuming it is cheaper than simply overfunding the base contract.

PPLI sits in a different place entirely. It is built for policyholders who can meet accredited investor and qualified purchaser thresholds, who want a dedicated separate account or an insurance-dedicated fund managed to the policyholder's own mandate rather than a menu of pooled subaccounts, and who are optimizing for after-tax growth on illiquid or alternative assets more than for a guaranteed death benefit floor. The 75-plus allocation options Securian is adding to VUL Defender sound expansive next to a traditional VUL shelf, but they are still a fraction of what a PPLI separate account can hold once a client clears the investor control line under PPLI's investor control rules, and the cost of insurance and rider charges inside a retail no-lapse guarantee are not the same economics as the lower, often negotiated insurance charges carriers offer in a private placement separate account.

Where VUL Defender genuinely narrows the gap is for families who do not clear PPLI's suitability bar, whose premium is modest relative to what carriers require for a dedicated account, or who want FINRA oversight and a simpler servicing relationship rather than a bespoke offshore or domestic private placement structure. For that segment, a better-funded, better-underwritten retail VUL with a credible no-lapse guarantee is a legitimate upgrade over what was on the shelf a year ago.

What to do or watch

Three things are worth checking before anyone treats this as a reason to act. First, run the in-force illustration on any existing VUL Defender or comparable retail VUL policy against the new chassis; if the original contract was priced on older mortality assumptions, a 1035 exchange into the updated product, or into a PPLI structure if the client now qualifies, may be worth quantifying even after surrender charges, in the spirit of the trade-offs this edition flagged in Previously on PPLI.com: PPLI Briefing: 1035 Swap Rules, IRS Insurer Filings, WSJ Fallout. Second, confirm the seven-pay test implications before adding premium to fund a no-lapse rider; advisers should revisit the mechanics in PPLI.com's explainer on MEC rules and the seven-pay test, since the same test governs both VUL and PPLI contracts and an aggressive funding strategy can still convert a policy into a modified endowment contract. Third, if the client's net worth or liquidity profile has grown since the original policy was underwritten, it is worth asking whether PPLI eligibility has changed; the comparison framework in PPLI vs VUL: How Private Placement Differs from Retail Variable Universal Life and the carrier screening questions in PPLI Carrier Due Diligence are the right starting points for that conversation.

None of this makes VUL Defender a PPLI substitute, and Securian is not pitching it as one. It is a sign that retail carriers are responding to the same longevity pressure that drives PPLI demand among families who want permanent coverage that does not quietly erode in year 25.

Sources and authorities

• CORRECTING and REPLACING Securian Financial Evolves VUL Defender for a New Era of Longevity, Business Wire, October 12, 2026
• Securian improves life cover with underwriting upgrades, FinTech Global, October 13, 2026
• Securian Financial Evolves VUL Defender for a New Era of Longevity, tmcnet.com, October 11, 2026

This article was checked against the primary sources listed above and is provided as information, not advice. Readers should consult their own tax, legal and insurance professionals before acting on any product or policy change described here.

Questions readers ask

Does the Securian VUL Defender update affect existing policyholders?

The enhancements apply to new issue; existing contracts keep the terms in force when they were issued, though advisers should check whether an in-force policy could benefit from a 1035 exchange.

Is VUL Defender a substitute for PPLI?

No. It is a retail product with FINRA-registered subaccounts and no accredited investor or qualified purchaser requirement, which puts different limits on investment choice and cost structure than PPLI.