Bermuda Triangle Story Archives - Retirement Income Journal

Cayman Islands seeks ‘qualified jurisdiction status’

By Editorial Staff Tue, Jun 2, 2026

'QJS would formally recognize the Cayman Islands’ reinsurance regulatory framework within the NAIC process and further align it with U.S. supervisory expectations. About 90% of the jurisdiction’s business is...

Published June 2026

News from the Bermuda Triangle

By Editorial Staff Mon, Jun 1, 2026

Prismic Life raises $1.9 billion in new capital; Japanese insurance giant commits $19 billion to Barings; MassMutual sells $6 billion block of life insurance to Nationwide; Augustar Retirement launches...

Published June 2026

Former American Equity CEO partners with Agam Capital

By Editorial Staff Mon, May 4, 2026

A new RIA formed by Anant Bhalla (right), the CEO of American Equity Investment Life from 2020 to 2024, is partnering with Agam Capital, a global asset manager that...

Published May 2026

Bermuda Short-Sellers

By Kerry Pechter Sun, May 3, 2026

Short-sellers, including hedge funds, sense that the bespoke loans that asset managers have sold to life insurers could fail in the next financial crisis. They may not know it,...

Published May 2026

Corebridge-Equitable Merger: An Aftershock of 2008

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Apr 1, 2026

In 2008, Corebridge was still AIG’s retirement business and Equitable had not yet separated from French insurance giant AXA. (Back then, ING-US hadn’t become Voya and MetLife hadn’t yet...

Published April 2026

News from around the Bermuda Triangle

By Editorial Staff Tue, Jan 6, 2026

Corebridge moves the last of American General's variable annuity business to Venerable, which is partly owned by Apollo and Athene. AM Best confirmed the ratings of Bermuda reinsurers of...

Published January 2026

A Bridge from Private Markets to 401(k)s?

By Editorial Staff Sun, Nov 2, 2025

Secondaries are to private markets what repo markets once were to banking —a critical but sometimes invisible layer of leverage and liquidity.

Published November 2025

Axonic Insurance gets $210 million from new investors

By Editorial Staff Fri, Oct 31, 2025

'We’re decomposing the insurance industry into its parts,” Axonic Insurance CEO Michael Gordon told RIJ in 2024. “We want to make Lego sets, and put pieces together.'

Published November 2025

Third Point Joins the Triangle, Cayman-Style

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Oct 30, 2025

Another asset manager goes subtropical. Third Point Investors Ltd. established Malibu Re in the Cayman Islands, bought a Texas life insurer from Mutual of America, acquired a private credit...

Published November 2025

ChatGPT on Equitable, Solvency II and the Bermuda Triangle

By Editorial Staff Wed, Sep 3, 2025

Equitable's corporate journey since 2010 involved its separation from AXA of France. ChatGPT explains that Europe's 2016 "Solvency II" regulations accelerated the split.

Published September 2025

Corebridge sheds the risks of its $51 billion VA business

By Editorial Staff Tue, Jul 1, 2025

The transaction will generate about $2.1 billion of net distributable proceeds after-tax for Corebridge, whose board authorized a $2 billion increase in share repurchases, said president and CEO Kevin...

Published July 2025

RIJ and ChatGPT Discuss ‘Funding Short’

By Kerry Pechter Wed, May 28, 2025

Life insurers used to be known as champions of 'asset-liability matching,' or ALM. Today, many of them are doing the opposite by 'funding short.' Here's a transcript of RIJ's...

Published June 2025

The NAIC, the FIO and the ‘Bermuda Triangle’

By Kerry Pechter Tue, May 6, 2025

The Federal Insurance Office has issued warnings about the ties of private equity-led life insurers to 'shadow banking' and 'shadow insurance.' Why do state insurance commissioners want to shoot...

Published May 2025

CLOs: The 4th Leg of the ‘Bermuda Triangle’

By Kerry Pechter

Ownership of life/annuity companies has given PE companies a tool for tapping the virtually bottomless pool of tax-deferred U.S. retirement savings for their high-profit, lightly-regulated private credit businesses.

Published May 2025

The Dimming of Brighthouse—Or a New Dawn?

By Kerry Pechter Mon, Feb 3, 2025

The Financial Times reported last week that Brighthouse Financial wanted to sell itself. A major seller of RILAs, Brighthouse has a general account worth more than $100 billion....

Published February 2025

A Flood of ‘Flow Reinsurance’

By Kerry Pechter Sat, Feb 1, 2025

Flow reinsurance involves the ongoing, immediate transfer of risks from a life insurer to a reinsurer as soon as annuities are issued. Life/annuity companies have used flow reinsurance for...

Published February 2025

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff

Merit Life reincarnated as Knighthead Life; Morgan Stanley to distribute five Allianz Life index annuities; BlackRock’s LifePath Paycheck reaches $16 billion in AUM.

Published February 2025

MetLife and General Atlantic create ‘Chariot Re’ sidecar

By Editorial Staff Fri, Jan 3, 2025

A flurry of news from MetLife regarding its Chariot Re 'sidecar' deal, its acquisition of PineBridge Investments and $100 billion in AUM, and its agreement to reinsure a $569...

Published January 2025

Bermuda Shorts

By Editorial Staff Mon, Dec 2, 2024

Corebridge loses $1.2 billion on Fortitude Re derivative; Brighthouse turns to reinsurance for capital support; Kuvare-owned life insurer enhances FIA; RGA sidecar raises $480 million in capital.

Published December 2024

‘Asset-intensive’ annuity reinsurance has NAIC’s attention

By Kerry Pechter Mon, Nov 4, 2024

At an Oct. 24 meeting, the NAIC's Life Actuarial Task Force (LATF) continued to hammer out a new guideline for 'asset adequacy testing' of offshore reinsurance reserves. Starting in...

Published November 2024