7 May 2021Operations

Global Atlantic eyes growth in pension risk transfer with hire

Global Atlantic Financial Group, the annuity and life insurance company, has appointed Edward Root as managing director to lead its pension risk transfer (PRT) reinsurance business.

Root was previously managing director at Willis Towers Watson and head of its PRT group. He has over 20 years of experience advising large pension plan sponsors and has worked on more than 1,000 PRT transactions, including recent large transactions such as JC Penney, Lockheed Martin, GE, Baxter and Weyerhaeuser.

In his new role he reports to Manu Sareen, president of institutional markets at Global Atlantic and chief executive officer of Global Atlantic Re.

Global Atlantic’s institutional markets team has completed over $75 billion in mergers and acquisitions and reinsurance transactions across block, flow and PRT reinsurance since inception.

Root said: “The company’s focus on tailored solutions coupled with its financial strength and transaction expertise, make it an appealing business partner for companies seeking options to free capital by lowering expenses or de-risk their exposure to future pension liabilities.”

Sareen said the hire was a reaffirmation of Global Atlantic’s commitment to the PRT business. “With [Root’s] addition and the recent promotions of Darryl Herrick and Jason Kao as co-heads of block and flow reinsurance, we continue to invest in and grow our leading block, flow and PRT reinsurance franchise,” he said.

As a majority-owned subsidiary of KKR, Global Atlantic’s institutional business has even greater access to capital, the company said. “The relationship with KKR also provides complementary investment management expertise that supports and expands the company’s ability to deliver institutional solutions tailored specifically to client needs,” it added.




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