American Funds Insurance Series® American High-Income Trust® Summary prospectus Class 1 shares May 1, 2024

Investment objectives The fund’s primary investment objective is to provide you with a high level of current income. Its secondary investment objective is capital appreciation.

Fees and expenses of the fund This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell an interest in Class 1 shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as insurance contract fees and expenses, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If insurance contract fees and expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher.

* The investment adviser is currently waiving a portion of its management fee equal to .12% of the fund's net assets. This waiver will be in effect through at least May 1, 2025. The waiver may only be modified or terminated with the approval of the fund’s board.

Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in Class 1 shares of the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example does not reflect insurance contract expenses. If insurance contract expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher. The example reflects the fee waiver described above through the expiration date of such waiver and total annual fund operating expenses thereafter. No sales charge (load) or other fees are charged by the fund upon redemption, so you would incur these hypothetical costs whether or not you were to redeem your shares at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s investment results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 40% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies The fund invests primarily in higher yielding and generally lower quality debt securities (rated Ba1 / BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or unrated but determined by the fund’s investment adviser to be of equivalent quality), including corporate loan obligations. Such securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.” The fund may also invest a portion of its assets in securities tied economically to countries outside the United States.

The fund may also invest in futures contracts and swaps, which are types of derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which is based on the value of an underlying financial asset (such as a stock, bond or currency), a reference rate or a market index.

The fund is designed for investors seeking a high level of current income and who are able to tolerate greater credit risk and price fluctuations than those that exist in funds investing in higher quality debt securities.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing the fund’s assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into segments managed by individual managers.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively priced securities that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.

1     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Principal risks This section describes the principal risks associated with investing in the fund. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The likelihood of loss may be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time.

Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the securities held by the fund may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.

Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the fund may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.

Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by the fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.

Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.

Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the fund’s securities could cause the value of the fund’s shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The fund’s investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks.

Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in junk bonds.

Liquidity risk — Certain fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.

American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus     2

Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the fund’s returns and increase the fund’s price volatility. The fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).

Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by the fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Management — The investment adviser to the fund actively manages the fund’s investments. Consequently, the fund is subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. You should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment program.

3     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Investment results The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class 1 shares of the fund have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compare with a broad measure of securities market results and other applicable measures of market results. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The Lipper High Yield Funds Average includes mutual funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to those of the fund. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Figures shown reflect fees and expenses associated with an investment in the fund, but do not reflect insurance contract fees and expenses. If insurance contract fees and expenses were included, results would have been lower. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting capitalgroup.com/afis.

Management

Investment adviser Capital Research and Management Company
Portfolio managers The individuals primarily responsible for the portfolio management of the fund are:

Purchase and sale of fund shares Shares of the fund are not sold directly to the general public. The fund is offered only as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts, and insurance company separate accounts and qualified feeder funds — and not the holders of variable insurance contracts — are the shareholders of the fund. Although the fund does not require a minimum amount for initial or subsequent purchases from insurance companies, your insurance company may impose investment minimums for your purchase of the fund.

You may sell (redeem) shares on any business day. You must sell (redeem) shares through your insurance company.

Tax information See your variable insurance contract prospectus for information regarding the federal income tax treatment of your variable insurance contract and related distributions.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries The fund is not sold directly to the general public but instead is offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) for distribution and/or other services. These payments may be a factor that the insurance company considers in including the fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.

American Funds Insurance Series® American High-Income Trust® Summary prospectus Class 1A shares May 1, 2024

Investment objectives The fund’s primary investment objective is to provide you with a high level of current income. Its secondary investment objective is capital appreciation.

Fees and expenses of the fund This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell an interest in Class 1A shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as insurance contract fees and expenses, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If insurance contract fees and expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher.

* The investment adviser is currently waiving a portion of its management fee equal to .12% of the fund's net assets. This waiver will be in effect through at least May 1, 2025. The waiver may only be modified or terminated with the approval of the fund’s board.

Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in Class 1A shares of the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example does not reflect insurance contract expenses. If insurance contract expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher. The example reflects the fee waiver described above through the expiration date of such waiver and total annual fund operating expenses thereafter. No sales charge (load) or other fees are charged by the fund upon redemption, so you would incur these hypothetical costs whether or not you were to redeem your shares at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s investment results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 40% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies The fund invests primarily in higher yielding and generally lower quality debt securities (rated Ba1 / BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or unrated but determined by the fund’s investment adviser to be of equivalent quality), including corporate loan obligations. Such securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.” The fund may also invest a portion of its assets in securities tied economically to countries outside the United States.

The fund may also invest in futures contracts and swaps, which are types of derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which is based on the value of an underlying financial asset (such as a stock, bond or currency), a reference rate or a market index.

The fund is designed for investors seeking a high level of current income and who are able to tolerate greater credit risk and price fluctuations than those that exist in funds investing in higher quality debt securities.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing the fund’s assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into segments managed by individual managers.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively priced securities that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.

1     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Principal risks This section describes the principal risks associated with investing in the fund. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The likelihood of loss may be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time.

Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the securities held by the fund may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.

Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the fund may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.

Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by the fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.

Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.

Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the fund’s securities could cause the value of the fund’s shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The fund’s investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks.

Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in junk bonds.

Liquidity risk — Certain fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.

Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the fund’s returns and increase the fund’s price volatility. The fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).

American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus     2

Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by the fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Management — The investment adviser to the fund actively manages the fund’s investments. Consequently, the fund is subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. You should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment program.

Investment results The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class 1A shares of the fund have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compare with a broad measure of securities market results and other applicable measures of market results. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The Lipper High Yield Funds Average includes mutual funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to those of the fund. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Figures shown reflect fees and expenses associated with an investment in the fund, but do not reflect insurance contract fees and expenses. If insurance contract fees and expenses were included, results would have been lower. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting capitalgroup.com/afis.

* Lifetime returns are from February 8, 1984, the date the fund began investment operations. Class 1A shares began investment operations on January 6, 2017; therefore, returns for the fund prior to that date assume a hypothetical investment in Class 1 shares, but reflect the .25% annual expense that applies to Class 1A shares and is described in the “Fund expenses” section of the prospectus. Returns for Class 1 shares are comparable to those of Class 1A shares because both classes invest in the same portfolio of securities.

3     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Management

Investment adviser Capital Research and Management Company
Portfolio managers The individuals primarily responsible for the portfolio management of the fund are:

Purchase and sale of fund shares Shares of the fund are not sold directly to the general public. The fund is offered only as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts, and insurance company separate accounts and qualified feeder funds — and not the holders of variable insurance contracts — are the shareholders of the fund. Although the fund does not require a minimum amount for initial or subsequent purchases from insurance companies, your insurance company may impose investment minimums for your purchase of the fund.

You may sell (redeem) shares on any business day. You must sell (redeem) shares through your insurance company.

Tax information See your variable insurance contract prospectus for information regarding the federal income tax treatment of your variable insurance contract and related distributions.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries The fund is not sold directly to the general public but instead is offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) for distribution and/or other services. These payments may be a factor that the insurance company considers in including the fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.

American Funds Insurance Series® American High-Income Trust® Summary prospectus Class 2 shares May 1, 2024

Investment objectives The fund’s primary investment objective is to provide you with a high level of current income. Its secondary investment objective is capital appreciation.

Fees and expenses of the fund This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell an interest in Class 2 shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as insurance contract fees and expenses, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If insurance contract fees and expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher.

^* The investment adviser is currently waiving a portion of its management fee equal to .12% of the fund's net assets. This waiver will be in effect through at least May 1, 2025. The waiver may only be modified or terminated with the approval of the fund’s board.

Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in Class 2 shares of the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example does not reflect insurance contract expenses. If insurance contract expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher. The example reflects the fee waiver described above through the expiration date of such waiver and total annual fund operating expenses thereafter. No sales charge (load) or other fees are charged by the fund upon redemption, so you would incur these hypothetical costs whether or not you were to redeem your shares at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s investment results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 40% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies The fund invests primarily in higher yielding and generally lower quality debt securities (rated Ba1 / BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or unrated but determined by the fund’s investment adviser to be of equivalent quality), including corporate loan obligations. Such securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.” The fund may also invest a portion of its assets in securities tied economically to countries outside the United States.

The fund may also invest in futures contracts and swaps, which are types of derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which is based on the value of an underlying financial asset (such as a stock, bond or currency), a reference rate or a market index.

The fund is designed for investors seeking a high level of current income and who are able to tolerate greater credit risk and price fluctuations than those that exist in funds investing in higher quality debt securities.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing the fund’s assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into segments managed by individual managers.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively priced securities that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.

1     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Principal risks This section describes the principal risks associated with investing in the fund. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The likelihood of loss may be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time.

Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the securities held by the fund may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.

Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the fund may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.

Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by the fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.

Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.

Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the fund’s securities could cause the value of the fund’s shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The fund’s investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks.

Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in junk bonds.

Liquidity risk — Certain fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.

Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the fund’s returns and increase the fund’s price volatility. The fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).

American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus     2

Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by the fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Management — The investment adviser to the fund actively manages the fund’s investments. Consequently, the fund is subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. You should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment program.

3     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Investment results The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class 2 shares of the fund have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compare with a broad measure of securities market results and other applicable measures of market results. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The Lipper High Yield Funds Average includes mutual funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to those of the fund. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Figures shown reflect fees and expenses associated with an investment in the fund, but do not reflect insurance contract fees and expenses. If insurance contract fees and expenses were included, results would have been lower. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting capitalgroup.com/afis.

* Lifetime returns are from February 8, 1984, the date the fund began investment operations. Class 2 shares began investment operations on April 30, 1997; therefore, returns for the fund prior to that date assume a hypothetical investment in Class 1 shares, but reflect the .25% annual expense that applies to Class 2 shares and is described in the “Plan of distribution” section of this prospectus. Returns for Class 1 shares are comparable to those of Class 2 shares because both classes invest in the same portfolio of securities.

Management

Investment adviser Capital Research and Management Company
Portfolio managers The individuals primarily responsible for the portfolio management of the fund are:

Purchase and sale of fund shares Shares of the fund are not sold directly to the general public. The fund is offered only as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts, and insurance company separate accounts and qualified feeder funds — and not the holders of variable insurance contracts — are the shareholders of the fund. Although the fund does not require a minimum amount for initial or subsequent purchases from insurance companies, your insurance company may impose investment minimums for your purchase of the fund.

You may sell (redeem) shares on any business day. You must sell (redeem) shares through your insurance company.

Tax information See your variable insurance contract prospectus for information regarding the federal income tax treatment of your variable insurance contract and related distributions.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries The fund is not sold directly to the general public but instead is offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) for distribution and/or other services. These payments may be a factor that the insurance company considers in including the fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.

American Funds Insurance Series® American High-Income Trust® Summary prospectus Class 3 shares May 1, 2024

Investment objectives The fund’s primary investment objective is to provide you with a high level of current income. Its secondary investment objective is capital appreciation.

Fees and expenses of the fund This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell an interest in Class 3 shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as insurance contract fees and expenses, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If insurance contract fees and expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher.

* The investment adviser is currently waiving a portion of its management fee equal to .12% of the fund's net assets. This waiver will be in effect through at least May 1, 2025. The waiver may only be modified or terminated with the approval of the fund’s board.

Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in Class 3 shares of the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example does not reflect insurance contract expenses. If insurance contract expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher. The example reflects the fee waiver described above through the expiration date of such waiver and total annual fund operating expenses thereafter. No sales charge (load) or other fees are charged by the fund upon redemption, so you would incur these hypothetical costs whether or not you were to redeem your shares at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s investment results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 40% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies The fund invests primarily in higher yielding and generally lower quality debt securities (rated Ba1 / BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or unrated but determined by the fund’s investment adviser to be of equivalent quality), including corporate loan obligations. Such securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.” The fund may also invest a portion of its assets in securities tied economically to countries outside the United States.

The fund may also invest in futures contracts and swaps, which are types of derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which is based on the value of an underlying financial asset (such as a stock, bond or currency), a reference rate or a market index.

The fund is designed for investors seeking a high level of current income and who are able to tolerate greater credit risk and price fluctuations than those that exist in funds investing in higher quality debt securities.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing the fund’s assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into segments managed by individual managers.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively valued securities that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.

1     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Principal risks This section describes the principal risks associated with investing in the fund. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The likelihood of loss may be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time.

Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the securities held by the fund may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.

Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the fund may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.

Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by the fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.

Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.

Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the fund’s securities could cause the value of the fund’s shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The fund’s investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks.

Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in junk bonds.

Liquidity risk — Certain fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.

American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus     2

Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the fund’s returns and increase the fund’s price volatility. The fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).

Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by the fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Management — The investment adviser to the fund actively manages the fund’s investments. Consequently, the fund is subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. You should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment program.

3     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Investment results The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class 3 shares of the fund have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compare with a broad measure of securities market results and other applicable measures of market results. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The Lipper High Yield Funds Average includes mutual funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to those of the fund. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Figures shown reflect fees and expenses associated with an investment in the fund, but do not reflect insurance contract fees and expenses. If insurance contract fees and expenses were included, results would have been lower. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting capitalgroup.com/afis.

* Lifetime returns are from February 8, 1984, the date the fund began investment operations. Class 3 shares began investment operations on January 16, 2004; therefore, returns for the fund prior to that date assume a hypothetical investment in Class 1 shares, but reflect the .18% annual expense that applies to Class 3 shares and is described in the “Plan of distribution” section of this prospectus. Returns for Class 1 shares are comparable to those of Class 3 shares because both classes invest in the same portfolio of securities.

Management

Investment adviser Capital Research and Management Company
Portfolio managers The individuals primarily responsible for the portfolio management of the fund are:

Purchase and sale of fund shares Shares of the fund are not sold directly to the general public. The fund is offered only as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts, and insurance company separate accounts and qualified feeder funds — and not the holders of variable insurance contracts — are the shareholders of the fund. Although the fund does not require a minimum amount for initial or subsequent purchases from insurance companies, your insurance company may impose investment minimums for your purchase of the fund.

You may sell (redeem) shares on any business day. You must sell (redeem) shares through your insurance company.

Tax information See your variable insurance contract prospectus for information regarding the federal income tax treatment of your variable insurance contract and related distributions.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries The fund is not sold directly to the general public but instead is offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) for distribution and/or other services. These payments may be a factor that the insurance company considers in including the fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.

American Funds Insurance Series® American High-Income Trust® Summary prospectus Class 4 shares May 1, 2024

Investment objectives The fund’s primary investment objective is to provide you with a high level of current income. Its secondary investment objective is capital appreciation.

Fees and expenses of the fund This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell an interest in Class 4 shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as insurance contract fees and expenses, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. If insurance contract fees and expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher.

* The investment adviser is currently waiving a portion of its management fee equal to .12% of the fund's net assets. This waiver will be in effect through at least May 1, 2025. The waiver may only be modified or terminated with the approval of the fund’s board.

Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in Class 4 shares of the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example does not reflect insurance contract expenses. If insurance contract expenses were reflected, expenses shown would be higher. The example reflects the fee waiver described above through the expiration date of such waiver and total annual fund operating expenses thereafter. No sales charge (load) or other fees are charged by the fund upon redemption, so you would incur these hypothetical costs whether or not you were to redeem your shares at the end of the given period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s investment results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 40% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies The fund invests primarily in higher yielding and generally lower quality debt securities (rated Ba1 / BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or unrated but determined by the fund’s investment adviser to be of equivalent quality), including corporate loan obligations. Such securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.” The fund may also invest a portion of its assets in securities tied economically to countries outside the United States.

The fund may also invest in futures contracts and swaps, which are types of derivatives. A derivative is a financial contract, the value of which is based on the value of an underlying financial asset (such as a stock, bond or currency), a reference rate or a market index.

The fund is designed for investors seeking a high level of current income and who are able to tolerate greater credit risk and price fluctuations than those that exist in funds investing in higher quality debt securities.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing the fund’s assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into segments managed by individual managers.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively priced securities that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.

1     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Principal risks This section describes the principal risks associated with investing in the fund. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The likelihood of loss may be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time.

Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the securities held by the fund may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.

Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.

Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the fund may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.

Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by the fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.

Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.

Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the fund’s securities could cause the value of the fund’s shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The fund’s investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks.

Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in junk bonds.

Liquidity risk — Certain fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.

American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus     2

Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the fund’s returns and increase the fund’s price volatility. The fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).

Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by the fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Management — The investment adviser to the fund actively manages the fund’s investments. Consequently, the fund is subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. You should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment program.

3     American Funds Insurance Series – American High-Income Trust / Summary prospectus

Investment results The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class 4 shares of the fund have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compare with a broad measure of securities market results and other applicable measures of market results. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The Lipper High Yield Funds Average includes mutual funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to those of the fund. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Figures shown reflect fees and expenses associated with an investment in the fund, but do not reflect insurance contract fees and expenses. If insurance contract fees and expenses were included, results would have been lower. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting capitalgroup.com/afis.

* Lifetime returns are from February 8, 1984, the date the fund began investment operations. Class 4 shares began investment operations on December 14, 2012; therefore, returns for the fund prior to that date assume a hypothetical investment in Class 1 shares, but reflect the .50% annual expense that applies to Class 4 shares, .25% of which is described in the “Plan of distribution” section of this prospectus and .25% of which is described in the “Fund expenses” section of this prospectus. Returns for Class 1 shares are comparable to those of Class 4 shares because both classes invest in the same portfolio of securities.

Management

Investment adviser Capital Research and Management Company
Portfolio managers The individuals primarily responsible for the portfolio management of the fund are:

Purchase and sale of fund shares Shares of the fund are not sold directly to the general public. The fund is offered only as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts, and insurance company separate accounts and qualified feeder funds — and not the holders of variable insurance contracts — are the shareholders of the fund. Although the fund does not require a minimum amount for initial or subsequent purchases from insurance companies, your insurance company may impose investment minimums for your purchase of the fund.

You may sell (redeem) shares on any business day. You must sell (redeem) shares through your insurance company.

Tax information See your variable insurance contract prospectus for information regarding the federal income tax treatment of your variable insurance contract and related distributions.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries The fund is not sold directly to the general public but instead is offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) for distribution and/or other services. These payments may be a factor that the insurance company considers in including the fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.