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With the backing of a group of institutional investors led by Apollo Global Management LLC, Bermuda-based Athene Holding Ltd. is aggressively pursuing acquisitions in the fixed annuity space.
In April, Athene, incorporated just three years ago, made a big splash when it acquired Liberty Life Insurance Co., an insurer with a $2.8 billion block of fixed annuities, from an affiliate of Royal Bank of Canada. It quickly followed that transaction up in July with the purchase of Investors Insurance Corp., a Delaware-domiciled carrier with $1.5 billion in invested assets, nearly all fixed annuities.
In an exclusive interview, Athene's chairman and CEO, James Belardi, formerly president of SunAmerica Life Insurance Co. and chief investment officer of AIG Retirement Services, told SNL that the company is looking to make more acquisitions domestically and internationally.
''We think we are a very a nimble organization that can react quickly to different opportunities, and we believe we have a very healthy risk-return profile,'' said Belardi, who founded the company with Chip Gillis, CEO of Athene Life Re Ltd.
Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
SNL Financial: Can you talk about the Liberty Life transaction and why you think it is an attractive buy?
James Belardi: First of all, it is a very clean company with very good management. The company has been in business for more than 100 years and is licensed in 49 states. They have a significant block of fixed annuities, nearly $3 billion. That was certainly of interest to us. They also had some mortality business that we weren't interested in keeping, so we reinsured that business to...