Agam and 26North collaborate on second Bermuda life re/insurer

Agam Capital and 26North Reinsurance Holdings have joined forces to form a Bermuda-based life re/insurer which will reinsurer $4.9 billion worth of annuities written by a US life insurer.

Agam, which has a Bermuda-based reinsurance subsidiary, Agam ISA, will leverage its pALM analytical platform and differentiated Bermuda capabilities to support 26North in the development and establishment of a new entrant into the fast-growing market for life and retirement reinsurance solutions in Bermuda. As part of the launch, AeCe will leverage Agam’s Bermuda ISAC structure which offers a comprehensive suite of operational, management and governance services to Bermuda based reinsurers.

AeCE ISA will reinsure single premium deferred annuities written by National Life Group’s Life Insurance Company of the Southwest. National Life Group, through one of its companies, is a minority owner in AeCe.

26North Reinsurance was begun by Josh Harris, who was one of the founders of private equity giant Apollo. 

26North said the deal brings its reinsurance assets under management to $10 billion, and total AUM to approximately $22bn. 

"This transaction underscores our commitment to partnering with the insurance industry to provide best-in-class asset management capabilities, and ultimately deliver attractive solutions to help policyholders save for retirement," the company said.

Separately, Agam and AeCe have entered into a long-term Management Services Agreement (“MSA”) whereby Agam will continue to leverage its industry-leading asset and liability management and enterprise risk management expertise to support AeCe and its future growth.

Agam’s Co-Founders, Chak Raghunathan and Avi Katz, said: “We are thrilled to be supporting the talented National Life Group and 26North teams as they launch, develop and grow their new reinsurance platform.”

“This transaction illustrates how 26N Re’s strategic partnership with Agam continues to yield positive results as we scale our reinsurance business and diversify our platform,” said Josh Harris, Founder of 26North. “Agam’s innovative, analytics-driven platform aligns with our vision for building a next-generation firm. We are pleased to deepen our partnership with Agam through the launch of AeCe, and together deliver attractive solutions to our insurance partners and ultimately, policyholders.”

“We expect this strategic arrangement to allow us to continue to grow with purpose,” said Mehran Assadi, Chairman, CEO and President of National Life Group. “Our focus on serving Middle America, the most underserved segment of the market, will be enhanced by the added capacity AeCe provides.”

Agam and 26North previously collaborated to form AeBe ISA, which reinsured approximately $4.3bn of GAAP reserves of American Equity Life fixed indexed annuity policies from 2008 and 2010. AEL was recently bought by Bermuda-based Brookfield Re.

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