American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. on Thursday reported mixed financial results for the fourth quarter and full year. The West Des Moines-based company, an issuer of fixed index annuities, said non-GAAP operating income available to common stockholders excluding notables for the fourth quarter was $97.1 million, or $1.04 per diluted common share, compared with $71.7 million, or 77 cents per common share, for the fourth quarter of 2020. Net income for the fourth quarter was $82.2 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $6.3 million. For the year ended Dec. 31, net income was $430.3 million, or $4.58 per share, compared with $637.9 million, or $6.93 per share, for 2020. Policyholder funds under management at year-end 2021 were $53.2 billion, an increase of $253 million, or 0.5%, from Sept. 30. Fourth-quarter sales were $1,05 billion, reflecting a significant shift in product mix to 94% fixed index annuities, compared with 33% fixed index annuities in the fourth quarter of 2020. American Equity’s president and CEO, Anant Bhalla, said the company has had “tremendous successes” in implementing its AEL 2.0 strategy: “Over the next few years, we intend to further scale up the following three areas: allocation to private assets, total assets earning fees or investment spread, and bringing in third party capital through reinsurance to fuel growth,” Bhalla said. “This should result in the realization of the full potential of our business strategy and continue to grow shareholder returns by migration to the capital-light model we envision.”