Clients love the ability of life and annuity issuers to protect them from investment market and general economic volatility.
The insurance rating analysts who track the issuers' finances do not love to see issuers assuming large amounts of responsibility for protecting retirement savers and others against volatility and keeping the obligations on their own books, without help from strong reinsurers.
The conflict between what clients want and what the rating agencies think the issuers should promise shows up in Fitch Ratings' analysis of Aquarian Capital's $4.1 billion agreement to acquire Brighthouse Financial.
Brighthouse is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company that houses the individual life and annuity business written by MetLife.
Aquarian Capital is an asset manager that has been building a family of life and annuity issuers, including Investors Heritage Life.
For a look at seven things Fitch analysts are saying about the Aquarian-Brighthouse deal, see the gallery accompanying this article.
Brighthouse representatives were not immediately available to comment on the Fitch analysis.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.