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Class P1 Prospectus | Managed Risk Growth Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading Managed Risk Growth Fund
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading Investment objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The fund’s investment objective is to provide growth of capital while seeking to manage volatility and provide downside protection.

Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading Fees and expenses of the fund
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell an interest in Class P1 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.
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination May 01, 2023
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading Portfolio turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities and other instruments (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 32% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 32.00%
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in Class P1 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 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.

Expense Example by, Year, Caption [Text] rr_ExpenseExampleByYearCaption Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading Principal investment strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in shares of two underlying funds, the American Funds Insurance Series – Growth Fund (the “Growth Fund”) and the American Funds Insurance Series – The Bond Fund of America (“The Bond Fund of America”) – while seeking to manage portfolio volatility and provide downside protection primarily through the use of exchange-traded options and futures contracts.

The fund normally seeks to invest 85% of its assets in the Growth Fund, the investment objective of which is to provide growth of capital. The Growth Fund invests primarily in common stocks and seeks to invest in companies that appear to offer superior opportunities for growth of capital. The Growth Fund may invest up to 25% of its assets in common stocks and other securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States. The fund invests the remainder of its assets in The Bond Fund of America and in cash, financial futures and options as part of the managed risk strategy. The Bond Fund of America’s investment objective is to provide as high a level of current income as is consistent with the preservation of capital. The Bond Fund of America seeks to maximize your level of current income and preserve your capital by investing primarily in bonds. Normally, The Bond Fund of America invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds and other debt securities, which may be represented by derivatives. The Bond Fund of America invests at least 60% of its assets in debt securities (excluding derivatives) rated A3 or better or A- or better by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations designated by the fund’s investment adviser, or in debt securities that are unrated but determined to be of equivalent quality by the fund's investment adviser, and in U.S. government securities, money market instruments, cash or cash equivalents.

The fund’s investment in The Bond Fund of America seeks to provide a level of diversification across multiple asset classes. Because different asset classes often react differently to changes in market conditions, such diversification seeks to manage the fund's risk to market changes, including stock market declines. Additionally, the fund employs a risk-management overlay referred to in this prospectus as the managed risk strategy. The managed risk strategy consists of using hedge instruments — primarily exchange-traded futures contracts and/or exchange-traded put options — to attempt to stabilize the volatility of the fund around a target volatility level and to seek to reduce the downside exposure of the fund. The fund employs a subadviser to select individual put options and futures contracts on equity indexes of U.S. markets and markets outside the United States that the subadviser believes are correlated to the underlying fund’s equity exposure. These instruments are selected based on the subadviser’s analysis of the relation of various equity indexes to the underlying fund’s portfolio. In addition, the subadviser will monitor liquidity levels of relevant options and futures contracts and transparency provided by exchanges as the counterparties in hedging transactions. The target volatility level will be set from time to time by the investment adviser and the subadviser and may be adjusted if deemed advisable in the judgment of the investment adviser and the subadviser. The

subadviser may also seek to hedge the fund’s currency risk related to its exposure to equity index options and futures denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

A futures contract on an index is an agreement pursuant to which two parties agree to take or make delivery of an amount of cash linked to the value of the index at the close of the last trading day of the contract. Though similar, an option on an index gives one party the contractual right (but not the obligation) to take or make delivery of an amount of cash linked to the value of the underlying index. Because such instruments derive their respective values from the price of an underlying index, both options and futures contracts are considered derivatives. A long position in an equity index put option and a short position in an equity index futures contract are both expected to gain in value when the underlying index declines, and lose value when the underlying index rises.

The subadviser regularly adjusts the level of exchange-traded options and futures contracts held by the fund to seek to manage the fund’s overall net risk level. In situations of extreme market volatility, the subadviser will tend to use exchange-traded equity index options and/or futures more heavily, as such investments could significantly reduce the fund’s net economic exposure to equity securities. Even in periods of low volatility in the equity markets, however, the subadviser will continue to employ exchange-traded equity index put options to seek to preserve gains after favorable market conditions and to reduce losses in adverse market conditions. During such periods of low equity market volatility, the subadviser may also continue to use exchange-traded equity index futures contracts for hedging purposes, though it need not necessarily do so. In certain market conditions, the fund may also purchase exchange-traded equity index call options, write or sell exchange-traded equity index put and call options and/or take net long positions in exchange-traded equity index futures contracts.

The fund is nondiversified, which allows it to invest a greater percentage of its assets in any one issuer than would otherwise be the case. However, through the underlying funds, the fund owns a diversified mix of securities.
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading Principal risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

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. Investors in the fund should have a long-term perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value. Investors in the fund should also understand that the fund’s objective of protecting against downside losses may result in the fund not realizing the full gains of the underlying funds. In addition, the managed risk strategy may not effectively protect the fund from market declines.

Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to those underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the managed risk strategy. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser did not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.

Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of investments in underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of those underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing both in the fund and in each of the underlying funds.

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 expose the fund or an underlying fund to losses in excess of its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the fund or an underlying fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. A 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. A 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 or an underlying fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses.

Investing in options and futures contracts — In addition to the risks generally associated with investing in derivative instruments, options and futures contracts are subject to the creditworthiness of the clearing organizations, exchanges and, in the case of futures, futures commission merchants with which the fund transacts. While both options and futures contracts are generally liquid instruments, under certain market conditions, options and futures may be deemed to be illiquid. For example, the fund may be temporarily prohibited from closing out its position in an options or futures contract if intraday price change limits or limits on trading volume imposed by the applicable exchange are triggered. If the fund is unable to close out a position on an options or futures contract, the fund would remain subject to the risk of adverse price movements until the fund is able to close out the position in question. The ability of the fund to successfully utilize options and futures contracts may depend in part upon the ability of the fund’s investment adviser or subadviser to accurately forecast interest rates and other economic factors and to assess and predict the impact of such economic factors on the options and futures in which the fund invests. If the investment adviser or subadviser incorrectly forecasts economic developments or incorrectly predicts the impact of such developments on the options and futures in which it invests, the fund could be exposed to the risk of loss. Whereas the risk of loss on a put option purchased by the fund is limited to the initial cost of the option, the amount of a potential loss on a futures contract could greatly exceed the relatively small initial amount invested in entering the futures position.

Hedging — There may be imperfect or even negative correlation between the prices of the options and futures contracts in which the fund invests and the prices of the underlying securities or indexes which the fund seeks to hedge. For example, options and futures contracts may not provide an effective hedge because changes in options and futures contract prices may not track those of the underlying securities or indexes they are intended to hedge. In addition, there are significant differences between the securities market, on the one hand, and the options and futures markets, on the other, that could result in an imperfect correlation between the markets, causing a given hedge not to achieve its objectives. The degree of imperfection of correlation depends on circumstances such as variations in speculative market demand for options and futures, including technical influences in options and futures trading, and differences between the financial instruments being hedged and the instruments underlying the standard contracts available for trading. A decision as to whether, when and how to hedge involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived hedge may be unsuccessful to some degree because of market behavior or unexpected interest rate trends. In addition, the fund’s investment in exchange-traded options and futures and their resulting costs could limit the fund’s gains in rising markets relative to those of the underlying funds, or to those of unhedged funds in general.

Short positions — The fund may suffer losses from short positions in futures contracts. Losses from short positions in futures contracts occur when the underlying index increases in value. As the underlying index increases in value, the holder of the short position in the corresponding futures contract is required to pay the difference in value of the futures contract resulting from the increase in the index on a daily basis. Losses from a short position in an index futures contract could potentially be very large if the value of the underlying index rises dramatically in a short period of time.

Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the securities held by an underlying fund may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; 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) 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 an underlying fund invests in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of an underlying 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 an underlying 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 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.

Investing in growth-oriented stocks — Growth-oriented common stocks and other equity-type securities (such as preferred stocks, convertible preferred stocks and convertible bonds) may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks.

Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States, or with significant operations or revenues 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 operate or generate revenue. 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 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 accounting and auditing practices and standards and different regulatory, legal and reporting 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 an underlying fund. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

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

Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. A general rise 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 failing to recoup the full amount of its initial investment and 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. 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 an underlying 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 seeking to assess credit and default risks.

Nondiversification risk — As a nondiversified fund, the fund has the ability to invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. To the extent that the fund invests a larger percentage of its assets in securities of one or more issuers, poor performance by these securities could have a greater adverse impact on the fund’s investment results.

Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, each underlying 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. In addition, the fund is subject to the risk that the managed risk strategy or the methods employed by the subadviser in implementing the managed risk strategy may not produce the desired results. The occurrence of either or both of these events 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.
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney You may lose money by investing in the fund.
Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus As a nondiversified fund, the fund has the ability to invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund. To the extent that the fund invests a larger percentage of its assets in securities of one or more issuers, poor performance by these securities could have a greater adverse impact on the fund’s investment results.
RIsk Not Insured [Text] rr_RiskNotInsured 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.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading Investment results
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class P1 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. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in 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.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class P1 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.
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress capitalgroup.com/afis
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading Calendar year total returns
Bar Chart Narrative [Text Block] rr_BarChartNarrativeTextBlock

The following bar chart shows how the investment results of the Class P1 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.
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Highest/Lowest quarterly results during this period were:

 

Highest  13.17% (quarter ended June 30, 2020)

 

Lowest  -9.29% (quarter ended December 31, 2018)
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel Highest
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Jun. 30, 2020
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 13.17%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Lowest
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Dec. 31, 2018
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (9.29%)
Average Annual Return, Caption rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption Average annual total returns For the periods ended December 31, 2021:
Class P1 Prospectus | Managed Risk Growth Fund | S&P 500 Managed Risk Index – Moderate Aggressive (reflects no deduction for sales charges, account fees, expenses or U.S. federal income taxes)  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 20.66%
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 12.31%
Average Annual Returns, Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 10.66%
Average Annual Returns, Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate May 01, 2013
Class P1 Prospectus | Managed Risk Growth Fund | Class P1  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.15%
Distribution fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.27%
Acquired (underlying) fund fees and expenses rr_AcquiredFundFeesAndExpensesOverAssets 0.32%
Total annual fund operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.74%
Fee waiver rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets 0.05% [1]
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.69%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 70
Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 232
Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 407
Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 914
Annual Return 2014 rr_AnnualReturn2014 2.18%
Annual Return 2015 rr_AnnualReturn2015 1.06%
Annual Return 2016 rr_AnnualReturn2016 2.89%
Annual Return 2017 rr_AnnualReturn2017 26.23%
Annual Return 2018 rr_AnnualReturn2018 (0.04%)
Annual Return 2019 rr_AnnualReturn2019 22.01%
Annual Return 2020 rr_AnnualReturn2020 32.45%
Annual Return 2021 rr_AnnualReturn2021 13.08%
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 13.08%
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 18.19%
Average Annual Returns, Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 12.70%
Average Annual Returns, Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate May 01, 2013
[1] The investment adviser is currently waiving a portion of its management fee equal to .05% of the fund’s net assets. This waiver will be in effect through at least May 1, 2023. The waiver may only be modified or terminated with the approval of the fund’s board.