Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Login
  • My Account
  • Logout
  • Register For Free
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • CIOs
    • Consultants
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Partner Content
    • Private Credit
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Regulation
    • Special Reports
    • Washington
    • White Papers
  • International
    • U.K.
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Australia - New Zealand
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
    • Africa
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2024
    • Eddy Awards
  • Resource Guides
    • Active Thematic Global Equities
    • Retirement Income
    • Fixed Income
    • Pension Risk Transfer
    • Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs)
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
    • Innovation in ESG Investing
    • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Divestment Database
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Research Center
    • The P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
  • Print
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. PENSION RISK TRANSFER
July 21, 2023 02:31 PM

Apollo is opposing push to tighten PRT rule for key insurance business

Bloomberg
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Apollo_1550_i.jpg
    Bloomberg

    Apollo Global Management is combating a campaign to toughen rules for corporate pension plans that want to offload their obligations to insurers, a crucial growth area for its Athene retirement annuities business.

    The U.S. Department of Labor has until December to tell Congress whether to update a policy advising pension plans to choose the "safest" option when transferring obligations — unless doing otherwise would be in the interest of participants.

    Related Article
    Apollo Global Management's AUM rises in quarter, year

    Unions and pension watchdogs want to strengthen the directive, known as IB 95-1, warning that insurers tied to alternative-asset managers such as New York-based Apollo could expose retirees to greater risk. Athene counters that it's well capitalized and that private equity fills a need in the insurance industry, telling the Labor Department that the directive doesn't need to be revised.

    Athene's investment in Apollo-issued securities is a "source of strength," Bill Wheeler, an executive for the insurer, said Tuesday at a public meeting held by an advisory council for the Labor Department.

    Apollo's insurance arm is the largest provider of retirement annuities in the U.S. and a leading player in pension risk transfers. It has completed 43 transactions covering 430,000 participants worth $41.5 billion as of the end of March, including deals with AT&T and Lockheed Martin. It also took over $2.8 billion of pension obligations for 30,000 JCPenney retirees after the retailer filed for bankruptcy.

    Protecting Retirees
    The Labor Department is studying whether the pension directive needs an overhaul under a mandate contained in a retirement-reform law Congress passed last year known as the SECURE 2.0 Act.

    The department has conducted more than 25 stakeholder meetings and is analyzing industry practices and trends "with an eye toward ensuring that the hard-earned retirement savings of America's workers are safeguarded," agency spokesman Grant Vaught said.

    Athene welcomes the discussion and supports upholding the directive's principles, which are "focused on selecting the safest available annuity providers for retirees' pensions," the insurer said in a statement. A "fair assessment of the facts" will confirm that Athene is "among the most transparent, well capitalized, and customer-focused providers in the market."

    The debate over the directive reflects the growth of the pension-risk transfer market, with companies offloading defined-benefit plans to insurers such as Athene — which, in turn, sell annuities to the companies while taking on the risk to make payments to retirees.

    Apollo, which co-founded and later merged with Athene, has been spending more time in Washington to get Congress's buy-in for its insurance business. Athene hired advisers including Preston Rutledge — who worked in the Labor Department during the Trump administration — to lobby Congress on insurance regulation and last year's retirement law.

    The firm also argued in a letter to a Labor Department advisory council this month that the guidance as it stands gives pension administrators flexibility. Any changes could limit the number of products available to participants, reduce competition and raise the cost of plans, Sean Brennan, executive vice president for Athene's group that handles pension-risk transfer transactions, said in the letter.

    Related Articles
    Pension risk transfer market off to strong start this year
    Apollo's AUM grows 10% in 2022 fueled by asset management, retirement services inflows
    Recommended for You
    Close-up of hands drawing lines on a laptop screen.
    Pension risk transfer premiums rise in March due to hike in discount rates — Milliman
    Person walking in front of the entrance to The Dallas Morning News building.
    DallasNews completes pension buyout, sends all assets to insurer
    Bank of England building with man-on-horse statue in the foreground.
    Aon thinks insurers will support U.K. government’s ‘accelerator’ plans for pension risk transfers
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    The State of Lifetime Income Report
    The Next Wave of LDI Evolution
    Retirement security to future income wins, TIAA brings you the latest financial…
    U.S. Public Funds Top Performers: Q2 2024
    Generative AI Investing: Opportunities at a Key Tech Inflection Point
    Research for Institutional Money Management: Advancing Physical Risk Modelling,…
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    October 23, 2023 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Custom Content
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2025. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • CIOs
      • Consultants
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Partner Content
      • Private Credit
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Regulation
      • Special Reports
      • Washington
      • White Papers
    • International
      • U.K.
      • Canada
      • Europe
      • Asia
      • Australia - New Zealand
      • Middle East
      • Latin America
      • Africa
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2024
      • Eddy Awards
    • Resource Guides
      • Active Thematic Global Equities
      • Retirement Income
      • Fixed Income
      • Pension Risk Transfer
      • Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs)
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
      • Innovation in ESG Investing
      • ESG Rated ETFs
      • Divestment Database
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Research Center
      • The P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
    • Print