Conseco Clears Hurdles To Coinsuring Annuity Blocks

By Staff Writer

October 04, 2007 at 12:39 PM

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A Midwestern insurer says it now has received all of the regulatory approvals it needs to have another company coinsure old blocks of annuities.

Conseco Inc., Carmel, Ind., says 3 insurance company subsidiaries will be coinsuring most of their older in-force equity-indexed annuity and fixed annuity business with Reassure America Life Insurance Company, a unit of Swiss Re Life & Health America Inc., Stamford, Conn.

Swiss Re Life is a unit of Swiss Reinsurance Company, Zurich.

The transaction should generate about $76.5 million in ceding commissions and free some of the capital used to support the annuities, Conseco says.

Conseco hopes to the complete the deal by mid-October.

The terms of the deal, which comes under the jurisdiction of regulators in several states, call for Reassure America to 100% coinsure the annuities, Conseco said in a description of the deal released earlier this year.

Conseco would transfer the assets backing the annuities and about $3 billion in reserves to Reassure America, Conseco said in the description of the deal.

Conseco expects to record about $65 million in after-tax charges related to the deal in the third quarter, the company says in the latest announcement.

Third-quarter results also will include the block's earnings or loss, Conseco says.

The annuity blocks lost about $2 million after taxes during the first half of the year.

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