Corebridge Financial has reached an agreement with CS Life Re, a subsidiary of Venerable Holdings, to reinsure its individual retirement variable annuity portfolio for $2.8bn.
The transaction, which includes a ceding commission and capital release, is projected to yield $2.1bn in net distributable proceeds after taxes for Corebridge.
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The deal encompasses Corebridge’s entire variable annuity in-force book, with a total account value of $51bn as of 31 March 2025.
This includes $5bn of general account value and $46bn of separate account value, the latter being reinsured on a modified coinsurance basis.
Additionally, the transaction involves the sale of Corebridge’s investment adviser SunAmerica Asset Management (SAAMCo) to Venerable.
Counterparty protections are included in the deal, with the SAAMCo team joining Venerable following the acquisition.
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By GlobalDataCorebridge CEO and president Kevin Hogan said: “This transaction delivers significant value for Corebridge and its shareholders. We are reaffirming our financial targets while reducing risk and maintaining our diversified business model.
“We expect to use the proceeds to accelerate our capital management objectives, including a substantial majority returned via share repurchases, with the remainder to support organic growth.”
The expected closure for the AGL reinsurance is in the third quarter, while the USL reinsurance and SAAMCo sale are anticipated in the fourth quarter, pending regulatory approvals and other standard closing conditions.
Corebridge will cease new Individual Retirement variable annuity offerings in New York state through USL before the transaction concludes.
This deal is set to increase Venerable’s total assets under risk management by 77%, from $67bn to $118bn, based on figures as of 31 March 2025.
Venerable chairman and CEO David Marcinek stated: “Today’s announcement affirms Venerable as the partner of choice in the variable annuity risk transfer space and advances aspirations to expand our growth strategy to include variable annuity flow reinsurance.”
American International Group (AIG) sold 120 million shares of Corebridge to Nippon Life Insurance Company for $3.8bn in December last year.
