Athene doubles its PRT business in 2019 compared to previous year

Athene Holding has reached approximately $6 billion in total pension risk transfer (PRT) transactions for 2019, more than twice the volume transacted in 2018.

The figure includes approximately $800 million from Athene’s inaugural transaction in the UK market, a funded reinsurance transaction with a UK-based insurance company, which closed on December 19. That deal sees Athene reinsure a block of pension benefit liabilities through its wholly owned subsidiary Athene Life Re International.

Athene has been increasingly active in the PRT business in recent years, and says it manages pension payments for more than 168,000 annuitants. Since 2017, Athene has closed 16 PRT transactions, totaling nearly $11 billion.

Bill Wheeler, president of Athene, said: “As a leader in the US PRT market, we are now pleased to bring our strength and expertise to offer solutions to companies in the UK pension market as a reinsurance partner to domestic insurers,” he said.

Sean Brennan, EVP of PRT and flow reinsurance at Athene, drew comparisons between the US and UK PRT markets, predicting the UK market will present a long-term growth opportunity for the group.

“Our differentiated investment, actuarial, risk-management, and operational capabilities, combined with our strong balance sheet, position us well to serve the £2.3 trillion (approximately $3 trillion) UK defined benefit marketplace,” said Brennan.

Athene had total assets of $144.2 billion as of September 30, 2019.