life insurance

Investors in the Scottish Re sponsored 2006 Ballantyne Re Ltd. Regulation XXX life insurance-linked securities (ILS) transaction look set to finally realise their losses, as a restructuring of the vehicle, novation of the underlying reinsurance and winding up procedure has been proposed.

Multi-strategy hedge fund investor Elliott Management Corporation, which acquired a stake in ILS and reinsurance linked investors Aeolus Capital Management Ltd. just over a year ago, has demonstrated its appetite for insurance related investments by buying into a U.S. life insurance group.

Insurance entrepreneur Clive Cowdery, the founder of life book investor Resolution Group, is reported to be raising capital for a new Bermuda investment fund that will continue to target backing closed-books of life insurance business with reinsurance capital.

Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has now sold down the remainder of its shareholding in UK pension risk transfer specialist life insurer Rothesay Life, with the stake being picked up by private equity giant Blackstone, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and insurer MassMutual.

Phoenix Life Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of life insurance and reinsurance consolidator Phoenix Group Holdings Limited, has agreed to acquire the Abbey Life business from Deutsche Bank, a deal that will provide the troubled bank with £935m ($1.215 billion) in cash.

Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re has been reported to be in talks to sell a £1 billion stake in its closed life insurance book arm Admin Re unit, with pension funds, sovereign wealth and other third-party capital providers thought the likely candidates.

The development of a “reinsurance platform” at Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies Ltd. is set to further expand the unit’s capabilities in the global life reinsurance and ILS space, according to Javier Rivas, Director of ILS at the firm.

Secquaero Advisors AG has completed another value-in-force life insurance securitisation for Luxembourg domiciled life insurer Atlanticlux Lebensversicherung S.A, in a €70m SQ ReVita II IC Ltd. transaction featuring a closed-block of European life insurance.

Hannover Life Reassurance Company of America (Hannover Life Re or Hannover Re US) has announced the promotion of Dale Mensik to Senior Vice President, Financial Solutions, a role in which he will lead certain of the firm’s life reinsurance capital markets activities.

XL Group has continued its downsizing of the life insurance aspects of its business, as it seeks to increase the focus on property casualty underwriting in the wake of its acquisition of Catlin, announcing a reinsurance deal with Reinsurance Group of America Inc.