Life insurers Archives - Retirement Income Journal

Shorts Reveal Jackson National’s Journey toward ‘Bermuda Triangle’

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Oct 1, 2026

QVT is shorting Jackson Financial's stock. The investment firm thinks Jackson National Life is using affiliated reinsurance to release capital for share buybacks. To me, Jackson National is playing...

Published October 2026

Annuity issuers borrowed $153B from FHLBs in 2025: AM Best

By Editorial Staff Wed, Jul 1, 2026

Sixteen large life/annuity companies, led by Athene Annuity and Life's $23B, received advances totaling almost $90 billion from the Federal Home Loan Bank in 2025 (see chart at right)....

Published July 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

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

Pacific Life’s Motion to Dismiss the Busch’s Suit: Excerpts

By Editorial Staff Tue, Feb 3, 2026

Pacific Life's motion to dismiss the Busches' complaint against it was filed January 22, 2026 in U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina, by the law firms of...

Published February 2026

Kyle Busch’s Crash Course in IUL

By Kerry Pechter

An indexed universal life policy demands about as little maintenance as an eight-cylinder, 750-horsepower, 200-mph NASCAR stock car. And in the hands of an unskilled, or untrustworthy driver, or...

Published February 2026

When Private Equity Owns Both Sides of Your Transaction

By Peter Dziedzic

'We’re not just watching private equity invest in carriers. We’re watching capital buy carriers, distribution, advisor platforms, and the technology layer, all at the same time,' warns the president...

Published February 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

How Life Insurers Changed Alt-Asset Managers

By Kerry Pechter Fri, Oct 3, 2025

A new research paper from Harvard Business School and State Street documents how publicly-traded alternative asset managers have channeled hundreds of billions of dollars from annuity issuers into their...

Published October 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

TPG and Aquarian Holdings Vie to Acquire Brighthouse

By Editorial Staff Tue, Jul 1, 2025

Brighthouse is a top-10 annuity issuer, with over $100 billion in assets. But neither Brighthouse (or its predecessor, MetLife) ever sold many of the fixed indexed deferred annuities whose...

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

A Primer on Collateralized Loan Obligations, from ChatGPT

By Kerry Pechter Sat, Apr 26, 2025

CLOs have boosted the yield of the general accounts of private equity-led life/annuity companies over the past decade. ChatGPT explains CLOs, using Apollo/Athene as an example.

Published May 2025

Slow-Walking the Oversight of Insurers and CLOs: 2010 – 2025

By Editorial Staff

Committees at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners since 2014 have been studying how best to regulate the purchase of collateralized loan obligation tranches by life/annuity companies from asset...

Published May 2025

Cross-Fire: NAIC and Fed Economists Release Same-Day Zingers

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Mar 26, 2025

On March 21, Federal Reserve economists published research warning about increases in high-risk lending by U.S. life insurers. On the same day, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners asked...

Published April 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

Nut Case: Prudential and Brighthouse’s Bets on Pistachios

By Kerry Pechter Fri, Jan 3, 2025

A California pistachio grower defaulted on $1 billion in loans from Prudential, Brighthouse Life, and U.S. Bank this year. Their legal efforts to seize the collateral offer a glimpse...

Published January 2025

Middleware is Central to In-Plan Annuities

By Kerry Pechter Sat, Nov 2, 2024

Middleware is hub-and-spoke software that lets retirement plan recordkeepers and life insurers talk to each other. Steve McCoy of iJoin, a provider of managed account user interfaces, and Bill...

Published November 2024

Sen. Warren Speaks Up for ‘Fiduciary Rule,’ Puts Down Annuity Sales Perks

By Editorial Staff Tue, Oct 1, 2024

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) new white paper details the sales incentives that annuity issuers offer insurance agents; the incentives, she says, show that the DOL's long-denied 'fiduciary rule' is...

Published October 2024

The Feeling Was De-Mutual

By Kerry Pechter Sun, Sep 29, 2024

In the 1990s and early 2000s, a wave of household-name mutual life insurers “demutualized” and become stock companies. The conversion was driven by fundamental changes in the U.S. economy...

Published October 2024

Life insurers

Shorts Reveal Jackson National’s Journey toward ‘Bermuda Triangle’

Annuity issuers borrowed $153B from FHLBs in 2025: AM Best

Former American Equity CEO partners with Agam Capital

Corebridge-Equitable Merger: An Aftershock of 2008

Pacific Life’s Motion to Dismiss the Busch’s Suit: Excerpts

Kyle Busch’s Crash Course in IUL

When Private Equity Owns Both Sides of Your Transaction

News from around the Bermuda Triangle

How Life Insurers Changed Alt-Asset Managers

ChatGPT on Equitable, Solvency II and the Bermuda Triangle

TPG and Aquarian Holdings Vie to Acquire Brighthouse

RIJ and ChatGPT Discuss ‘Funding Short’

A Primer on Collateralized Loan Obligations, from ChatGPT

Slow-Walking the Oversight of Insurers and CLOs: 2010 – 2025

Cross-Fire: NAIC and Fed Economists Release Same-Day Zingers

The Dimming of Brighthouse—Or a New Dawn?

Nut Case: Prudential and Brighthouse’s Bets on Pistachios

Middleware is Central to In-Plan Annuities

Sen. Warren Speaks Up for ‘Fiduciary Rule,’ Puts Down Annuity Sales Perks

The Feeling Was De-Mutual

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