Conning is Pleased to Announce its Newest Focus Series - Asset Manager Re/Insurers: What’s so Different?

December 13, 2021


 

HARTFORD, CT –December 13, 2021 –  Over the past ten years, numerous asset managers and private equity firms have actively been forming strategic partnerships, or acquiring, annuity insurers.  Within the broader context of the life insurance industry, these affiliations are not unusual. Many of the largest life insurers have their own asset management subsidiaries. Similarly, having an insurance platform is not unusual among the large asset managers.


What is new is the order of involvement. Among established insurers, asset management subsidiaries evolved over time from their insurance business. For these new AM (asset manager) affiliated annuity insurers and reinsurers, the order was reversed. This reversal raised questions about the asset manager’s motivation in affiliating with an annuity insurer, and the potential risks they might introduce into the annuity market.


The Conning Focus Series report, “Asset Manager Re/Insurers: What’s so Different?” is the third in a four-part series that Conning is releasing in 2021 to examine the role new asset managers and private equity firms are playing in shifting the annuity market’s competitive landscape.


“It is widely assumed that these AM-affiliated annuity insurers are reallocating insurer assets, and that reallocation could differ from other annuity insurers. In this report we tested that assumption by comparing the asset allocations of these new entrants against similar annuity insurers,” said Scott Hawkins, a Director with Insurance Research at Conning.


“As we discussed in our prior annuity market series pieces, the symbiotic relationship between the asset manager and the life-annuity insurer makes a lot of sense, arguably more so with today’s low interest rates,” added Steve Webersen, Head of Insurance Research. “Understanding how their asset allocation strategies differ from other annuity insurers is crucial to evaluating the full benefits of these new relationships.”



Asset Manager Re/Insurers: What’s so Different? Focus Series is available for purchase from Conning by calling (888) 707-1177 or by visiting www.conning.com/insurance-research.

 

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ABOUT CONNING
Conning (www.conning.com) is a leading investment management firm with a long history of serving the insurance industry. Conning supports institutional investors, including insurers and pension plans, with investment solutions, risk modeling software, and industry research. Founded in 1912, Conning has investment centers in Asia, Europe and North America.

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Media Contacts
Becky Humphrey
Conning
860-299-2341
Rebekah.humphrey@conning.com