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...
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.
Warring Watchdogs: NAIC and FIO
'The Federal Insurance Office conflicts with the states’ role as primary regulators, complicates their engagement with fellow insurance regulators globally, duplicates data collection from our industry,' said state...
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.
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...
ChatGPT: Social Security Is No ‘Ponzi Scheme’
'Ponzi schemes are private frauds that collapse when new investors stop joining. Social Security is managed by the U.S. government, backed by legal mandates and payroll tax revenues,' ChatGPT...
‘The Bailout State’ Explains the U.S. Money Mess
Over the past 50 years, the U.S. government has repeatedly used its deep financial resources to protect the interests of asset holders at the expense of wage earners, University...
Open Letters Call Out Tepid Insurance Regulation
Retirement Income Journal shares the concerns expressed in these open letters to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and thanks the authors for letting us publish them here.
‘Rated Note Feeders’ Attract NAIC Attention
Holding a rated note (instead of an unrated private equity fund) can reduce the extra capital that life insurers need to post when buying risky, unrated private assets. Insurance...
The French Just Want to Enjoy Their Retraite
This winter I'm in Marseille, France, talking to the French about their retirement system and watching groups of them play a game called pétanque in the parks.
The Dimming of Brighthouse—Or a New Dawn?
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....
Cannex puts 401(k) annuities to the test
'Insurance companies should all be thinking carefully about this,” said Ramsey Smith, CEO of ALEXIncome, with respect to the nascent 401(k) annuity market. 'They need to understand that this...
Where PRT Meets DC: The Agilis/Alight Plan
Agilis, an actuarial and risk management firm, and Alight, a retirement plan recordkeeper, have created an annuity purchase process, PensionBuilder, for participants in large 401(k) plans. Their process replicates...
A Flood of ‘Flow Reinsurance’
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...
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...
What RIJ Learned In 2024, and Expects in 2025
In 2025, Retirement Income Journal will be following new developments in the 'Bermuda Triangle' and in the ongoing push to embed annuities and other income-generating tools in 401(k) plans.
Post-Election Overhang
Despite recent court rulings, Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor leaves some room for uncertainty over the future of rollover-related ERISA regulation.
‘Reinsurance Sidecars’: A Capital Idea
Athene Annuity & Life sold the most fixed deferred annuities in the first three-quarters of 2024. Its parent, Athene Holdings, has attracted billions in just-in-time third-party capital through Bermuda...
‘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...
How ‘Demutualization’ Changed Everything, Part II
With demutualization, a life insurer went from being a cooperative aimed at providing its owner-customers with insurance at cost, to being a diversified financial corporation aimed at maximizing value...
