Bermuda Shorts
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.
Bermuda Triangle Story
‘Asset-intensive’ annuity reinsurance has NAIC’s attention
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...
Private assets, reinsurance pose systemic risks, research warns
Life insurers’ exposure to risky assets and reliance on reinsurance raises concerns about their interconnectedness and complexity, research from the Bank of International Settlements shows.
Briefs from the ‘Bermuda Triangle’
US insurers hold more private equity, but income on PE drops; State Street sued again for recommending Athene in PRT deals; State Street and Apollo to partner on distribution...
US life/annuity insurers cede $1.74 trillion to reinsurers, 2016-23
New capital keeps flowing into the reinsurance segment, primarily via reinsurers owned by investment managers focused on annuity business, AM Best analysts write. These newer entrants co-insure assets that...
British regulators scrutinize ‘FundedRe’ in pension deals
The Prudential Regulatory Authority, the Bank of England's financial regulatory arm, told UK life insurers in late July that it has concerns about the use of 'funded reinsurance' (FundedRe)...
Private credit holdings of US life/annuity firms reach $1.7 trillion: AM Best
Aside from providing new data, this article describes the 'Bermuda Triangle' strategy, and includes comments from an AM Best managing director.
Offshore Regulatory Arbitrage by US Insurers Explained
In a recent report, Moody's analysts showed that the accounting 'regime in Bermuda tends to allow for a higher discount rate than other jurisdictions' and this 'directly impacts the...
Bermuda Shorts
Nassau Financial gets $200 million from Golub Capital; AM Best affirms ratings of Aspida Group, backed by Ares Mgt; 3M swaps its $2.5bn DB pension for a MetLife group...
Athene’s group annuities not the ‘safest available,’ lawsuit charges
The suit against Athene may be a test case for the legitimacy of Bermuda Triangle strategy. In other news from the Bermuda Triangle: Annuity sales boom attracts private equity-backed...
For Ibexis Life, Cayman Outshines Bermuda
This Missouri-domiciled life insurer epitomizes the asset-manager-driven life/annuity companies that have been disrupting the U.S. life/annuity business since 2010 or so. In its first year selling fixed indexed annuities,...
Life Insurers as LEGO Monsters
Michael Gordon, CEO of Axonic Insurance, part of Axonic Capital, sees the future of the life/annuity/asset-management business as an increasingly a la carte affair, where the components of the...
MassMutual platform to distribute Aspida Life fixed-rate annuities
The platform, Flourish, is a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of MassMutual. It serves more than 750 wealth management firms managing some $1.5 trillion in financial assets.
Reinsurance on NAIC agenda this week
More news: Private ownership of life re/insurers may affect credit ratings, says Fitch; F&G issues its first RILA; American Equity Investment Life reports 2023 results; Global Atlantic closes $10bn...
This Year’s Legal Battles
The life/annuity industry faces three big legal issues this year. All stem from, or are complicated by, the patchwork regulation of financial products in the US, our out-of-date pension...
NAIC Urged to Limit ‘Bermuda Triangle’ Strategy
'The ability of insurers to significantly lower the total asset requirement for long-duration blocks of business that rely heavily on asset returns appears to be one of the drivers...
Of Athene, Pension Risk Transfers, and Fiduciaries
The ERISA Advisory Council recently heard comments on changing the criteria that fiduciaries use when vetting annuity providers in pension risk transfer deals. Athene's vice chairman defended his company's...
Why ‘Offshoring’ Annuity Risk Is Wrong
Many for-profit US life/annuity companies do not use independent reinsurers. They use an affiliated or captive reinsurer in a jurisdiction like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Vermont, or Arizona. This...
NAIC Reassures Congress on Private Equity-Led Insurers
Responding to Sen. Sherrod Brown's March inquiry, the association of state insurance commissioners gave high marks to their own oversight of PE-linked life/annuity companies. But the NAIC's 'nothing...
Fortitude Re’s expansion continues
Fortitude Re bought Rx Life Insurance Company from Heritage Life. Now named 'Fortitude US Reinsurance Company,' and domiciled in Arizona, it will enable Bermuda-based Fortitude Re to offer clients...
