Athene (Apollo)

Athene was built as a modern annuity writer during the post-2008 era, when low interest rates and heightened capital expectations reshaped the retirement market.[3] The company (Athene Holding) was founded in 2009 and grew rapidly by combining institutional investment capabilities with a focus on fixed annuities and pension-style liabilities, a strategy often associated with Apollo Global Management.[3] Distribution commonly includes independent agents and institutional partners.

A defining early expansion move was Athene's acquisition of Aviva USA in 2013. Athene announced the deal as a $1.55 billion transaction that would add significant scale in fixed annuities and bring additional U.S. insurance subsidiaries into the group.[1] Aviva also announced completion of the sale of Aviva USA to Athene, confirming the change in ownership from Aviva plc to Athene.[2]

That acquisition illustrates Athene's playbook: grow by purchasing established books and platforms, then manage long-duration liabilities using disciplined asset-liability management. The opportunity is investment scale and steady spread income; the challenge is maintaining conservative risk management and policyholder protection through volatile markets and changing regulation.

Athene (Apollo)

• Corporate Overview
  
  • Company Name: Athene Annuity and Life Company
  • Parent Organization: Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO)
    • Ownership Status: Formerly a public company (NYSE: ATH), Athene merged with Apollo in 2022 to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the alternative asset manager.
  • Headquarters: West Des Moines, Iowa
  • Founding Date: 2009
  • Primary Focus: Fixed Index Annuities (FIA), Registered Index-Linked Annuities (RILA), and Pension Risk Transfer (PRT).
  • Distribution Model: Independent Marketing Organizations (IMOs), Banks, and Broker-Dealers.
  • Financial Strength: Rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best.
    • Source: AM Best Rating Commentary (Affirmed 2025)
  10 Key Highlights
  1. The "Apollo" Engine: Athene is the insurance arm of Apollo Global Management, one of the world's largest alternative asset managers. This relationship allows Athene to invest its policy premiums into higher-yielding private credit and alternative assets, generating "spread" earnings that traditional insurers often can't match.
  2. Aviva USA Acquisition (The Big One): In 2013, Athene acquired Aviva USA for $1.55 billion. This was a transformative deal that quadrupled Athene's size overnight and brought the massive AmerUs and Indianapolis Life blocks of business under the Athene roof.
  3. Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Giant: Athene is a dominant player in the PRT market, where corporations (like Lockheed Martin and JCPenney) transfer their pension liabilities to an insurer. If a user says, "My company pension is now paid by Athene," this is why.
  4. No "Life" Sales: While they service millions of old life insurance policies (from acquisitions), Athene does not actively market new individual life insurance. Their new business focus is almost exclusively on Annuities.
  5. Fastest Growing Annuity Carrier: For much of the last decade, Athene has been the #1 or #2 seller of Fixed Index Annuities in the U.S., largely due to their aggressive rates funded by Apollo's investment capabilities.
  6. Presidential Life: In 2012, Athene acquired Presidential Life, a New York-based carrier. This gave them a license to sell in New York (via Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of New York).
  7. Bermuda Reinsurance: A significant portion of Athene's capital and risk is held in Bermuda (through Athene Life Re Ltd.). This "offshore" structure is a key part of their capital efficiency strategy.
  8. "Spread-Based" Model: Unlike mutual companies that focus on "participating" dividends, Athene is unapologetically a "spread" lender—they aim to earn a higher return on assets than they credit to policyholders.
  9. The 2022 Merger: Although Athene and Apollo were always partners, they formally merged in 2022 in an $11 billion all-stock transaction, fully integrating the "asset manager" and "insurance carrier" into one public entity (Apollo).
  10. Orphan Policy Service: Because they bought Aviva (who bought AmerUs, who bought Indianapolis Life), Athene's customer service team in Iowa handles one of the most complex "legacy" blocks in the industry.
  Corporate History2009: The FoundingAthene was founded in 2009 by James Belardi (former President of SunAmerica) and Chip Gillis, with funding from Apollo.
  • The Mission: To build a retirement services company that could generate better returns by using modern asset management strategies rather than traditional bond investing.
  2013: The Aviva USA AcquisitionThis is the pivotal event for your glossary. Athene purchased Aviva USA (the U.S. arm of British insurer Aviva plc).
  • The "AmerUs" Connection: Aviva USA was itself a rebrand of AmerUs Group, a Des Moines-based consolidator.
  • Impact: This deal gave Athene a massive campus in West Des Moines (which became its HQ) and hundreds of thousands of life insurance policies that had nothing to do with Athene's core annuity mission.
  2020s: The PRT & Reinsurance EraAthene pivoted to becoming a solutions provider for other institutions.
  • Pension Risk Transfer: They executed massive deals, taking over pension obligations for companies like Alcoa, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Lockheed Martin.
  • Reinsurance: They began reinsuring blocks of business from other carriers (like Jackson National and Lincoln Financial), effectively managing the money without owning the customer relationship.

Sources: [1] Athene - Investor Relations press release announcing agreement to acquire Aviva USA (2013): https://ir.athene.com/news-releases/news-release-details/athene-holding-ltd-announces-agreement-acquire-aviva-usa. [2] Aviva plc press release - Completion of sale of Aviva USA to Athene (2013): https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2013/10/completion-of-sale-of-aviva-usa-to-athene-12607/. [3] Wikipedia - Athene Holding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athene_Holding.