The NAIC, the FIO and the ‘Bermuda Triangle’
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...
Private credit
CLOs: The 4th Leg of the ‘Bermuda Triangle’
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.
A Primer on Collateralized Loan Obligations, from ChatGPT
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.
Slow-Walking the Oversight of Insurers and CLOs: 2010 – 2025
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...
Cross-Fire: NAIC and Fed Economists Release Same-Day Zingers
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...
Open Letter to NAIC’s Life Actuarial Task Force
'You encourage and abet the whack-a-mole behavior of insurers that regulators have tolerated in the industry—to the detriment of consumers... I don't want to be left holding the (empty)...
Private Credit AUM to Double by 2028: Moody’s
The Moody’s report showed that, as of the end of the third quarter of 2024, private credit and insurance assets accounted for 52% the AUM of the four largest...
Nut Case: Prudential and Brighthouse’s Bets on Pistachios
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...
