‘Rated Note Feeders’ Attract NAIC Attention

Holding a rated note (instead of an unrated private equity fund) can reduce the capital that life insurers need to reserve when buying risky, unrated private assets. Insurance regulators have taken interest in the strategy but are responding at a crawl.

Open Letter to Scott O’Neal, Actuary, NAIC

By Larry Rybka
A prominent insurance and annuity industry veteran asserts that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' latest effort to regulate offshore reinsurance and 'capital light' strategies, called AG ReAAT, is not helpful. Such public criticism of the NAIC, which dominates insurance regulation in the US without being a regulator, is rare.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

February 2025

A Flood of ‘Flow Reinsurance’

By Kerry Pechter
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 at least 15 years, but...
January 2025

Nut Case: Prudential and Brighthouse’s Bets on Pistachios

By Kerry Pechter
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 into the potential risks of...
December 2024

‘Reinsurance Sidecars’: A Capital Idea

By Kerry Pechter
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 'reinsurance sidecars.' Coincidence? Not likely....