Athene Holding Ltd

We principally offer two product lines: annuities and funding agreements. Our primary product line is annuities, which include fixed, payout and group annuities issued in conjunction with pension group annuity transactions. We also offer funding agreements, including those issued to institutions via direct issuances and those issued to special-purpose unaffiliated trusts in connection with our funding agreement backed notes (FABN) and secured funding agreement backed repurchase agreement (FABR) programs.

The following summarizes our gross premiums and deposits by product, net of external ceded reinsurance:

Gross premiums and deposits are comprised of all products’ deposits, which generally are not included in revenues on the consolidated statements of income (loss), and premiums collected. Gross premiums and deposits include directly written business, flow reinsurance assumed as well as premiums and deposits generated from assumed block reinsurance transactions, net of those ceded through reinsurance to third-party reinsurers. Organic and inorganic inflows do not correspond to the gross premiums and deposits presented above as gross premiums and deposits include renewal deposits and annuitizations, as well as premiums and deposits from certain life and other products other than deferred annuities and institutional products, all of which are not included in our organic inflows.

Net reserve liabilities represent our policyholder liability obligations, including liabilities assumed through reinsurance and net of liabilities ceded through reinsurance. Net reserve liabilities include interest sensitive contract liabilities, future policy benefits, net market risk benefits, long-term repurchase obligations, dividends payable to policyholders and other policy claims and benefits, offset by reinsurance recoverable, excluding policy loans ceded. Net reserve liabilities include our proportionate share of ACRA reserve liabilities, based on our economic ownership, but do not include the proportionate share of reserve liabilities associated with the noncontrolling interests. Net reserve liabilities include the reserves assumed through modified coinsurance (modco) agreements to encompass the liabilities for which costs are being recognized in the consolidated statements of income (loss). Net reserve liabilities are net of the ceded liabilities to third-party reinsurers as the costs of those liabilities are passed to such reinsurers and, therefore, we have no net economic exposure to such liabilities, assuming our reinsurance counterparties perform under our agreements.

The following summarizes our net reserve liabilities by product:

Annuities

Fixed Indexed Annuities – FIAs are the largest percentage of our net reserve liabilities. FIAs are a type of insurance contract in which the policyholder makes one or more premium deposits that earn interest, on a tax deferred basis, at a crediting rate based on a specified market index, subject to a specified cap, spread or participation rate. FIAs allow policyholders the possibility of earning interest without significant risk to principal, unless the contract is surrendered during a surrender charge period. A market index tracks the performance of a specific group of stocks or other assets representing a particular segment of the market, or in some cases, an entire market. We generally buy options on the indices to which the FIAs are tied to hedge the associated market risk. The cost of the option is priced into the overall economics of the product as an option budget.

We generate income on FIA products by earning an investment spread, based on the difference between (1) income earned on the investments supporting the liabilities and (2) the cost of funds, including fixed interest credited to customers, option costs, the cost of providing guarantees (net of rider fees), policy issuance and maintenance costs and commission costs.

Fixed Rate Annuities –Fixed rate annuities include annual reset annuities and multi-year guarantee annuities (MYGA). Unlike FIAs, fixed rate annuities earn interest at a set rate (or declared crediting rate), rather than at a rate that may vary based on an index. Fixed rate annual reset annuities have a crediting rate that is typically guaranteed for one year. After such period, we have the ability to change the crediting rate at our discretion, generally once annually, to any rate at or above a guaranteed minimum rate. MYGAs are similar to annual reset annuities except that the initial crediting rate is guaranteed for a specified number of years, rather than just one year, before it may be changed at our discretion. After the initial crediting period, MYGAs can generally be reset annually. As of December 31, 2024, crediting rates on outstanding annual reset annuities primarily ranged from 0.5% to 6.0% and crediting rates on outstanding MYGAs primarily ranged from 0.25% to 6.20%.

Registered Index-Linked Annuities (RILA) –RILAs are similar to FIAs in offering the policyholder the opportunity for tax-deferred growth based in part on the performance of a market index. Compared to an FIA, RILAs have the potential for higher returns but also have the potential for risk of loss to principal and related earnings. RILAs provide the ability for the policyholder to participate in the positive performance of certain market indices during a term, limited by a cap or adjusted for a participation rate. Negative performance of the market indices during a term can result in negative policyholder returns, with downside protection typically provided in the form of either a “buffer” or a “floor” to limit the policyholder’s exposure to market loss. A “buffer” is protection from negative exposure up to a certain percentage, typically 10 or 20 percent. A “floor” is protection from negative exposure less than a stated percentage (i.e., the policyholder risks exposure of loss up to the “floor,” but is protected against any loss in excess of this amount).

Private Placement Variable Annuities (PPVA) – PPVAs are not registered with the SEC and currently are only offered by private placement to purchasers meeting both the requirements as a qualified purchaser and an accredited investor under applicable federal securities laws. Variable annuities allow policyholders to participate directly in the investment experience of the underlying investment vehicles offered through the product. In a variable annuity, the policyholder assumes the full investment risk of the investment options chosen. The product allows the policyholder to allocate their money to a variety of variable separate account divisions that invest in a suite of underlying investment options and the potential to accumulate cash value on a tax-deferred basis. Our PPVA product provides access to a suite of Apollo managed funds and other product offerings with no surrender charges and no guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) or guaranteed minimum death benefit (GMDB) features. We generate income on our PPVA product by collecting a management fee that is a function of the policyholder’s account value.

Income Riders to Fixed Annuity Products

The income riders on our deferred annuities can be broadly categorized as either guaranteed or participating. Guaranteed income riders provide policyholders with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit, which permits policyholders to elect to receive guaranteed payments for life from their contract without having to annuitize their policies. Participating income riders tend to have lower levels of guaranteed income than guaranteed income riders but provide policyholders the opportunity to receive greater levels of income if the policies’ indexed crediting strategies perform well.

Income riders, particularly on FIAs, have become very popular among policyholders. The Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA) estimates that approximately 17% of fixed annuity premium in the US for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 (the most recent period that specific market share data is currently available) included an income rider. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 26% of our deferred annuity account value contained rider benefits. This includes annuities with income riders sourced through retail and reinsurance operations as well as acquisitions. Of the deferred annuities sourced through our retail and flow reinsurance channels, for the year ended December 31, 2024, 2% contained participating income riders and 10% contained guaranteed income riders.

Withdrawal Options for Deferred Annuities

After the first year following the issuance of a deferred annuity, the policyholder is typically permitted to make withdrawals up to 5% or 10% (depending on the contract) of the prior year’s value without a surrender charge or market value adjustment (MVA), subject to certain limitations. Withdrawals in excess of the allowable amounts are assessed a surrender charge and MVA if such withdrawals are made during the surrender charge period of the policy, which generally ranges from 3 to 20 years. The surrender charge for most of our products at contract inception is generally between 7% and 15% of the contract value and decreases by approximately one percentage point per year during the surrender charge period. The weighted average surrender charge (excluding the impact of MVAs) was 6% for our deferred annuities as of December 31, 2024.

At maturity, the policyholder may elect to receive proceeds in the form of a single payment or an annuity. If the annuity option is selected, the policyholder will receive a series of payments either over the policyholder’s lifetime or over a fixed number of years, depending upon the terms of the contract. Some contracts permit annuitization prior to maturity.

Payout Annuities

Payout annuities primarily consist of single premium immediate annuities (SPIA), supplemental contracts and structured settlements. Payout annuities provide a series of periodic payments for a fixed period of time or for the life of the policyholder, based upon the policyholder’s election at the time of issuance. The amounts, frequency and length of time of the payments are fixed at the outset of the annuity contract. SPIAs are often purchased by persons at or near retirement age who desire a steady stream of payments over a future period of years. Supplemental contracts are typically created upon the conversion of a death claim or the annuitization of a deferred annuity. Structured settlements generally relate to legal settlements.

Group Annuities

Group annuities issued in connection with pension group annuity transactions usually involve a single premium group annuity contract issued to discharge certain pension plan liabilities. The group annuities that we issue are nonparticipating contracts. The assets supporting the guaranteed benefits for each contract may be held in a separate account. Group annuity benefits may be purchased for current, retired and/or terminated employees and their beneficiaries covered under terminating or continuing pension plans. Both immediate and deferred annuity certificates may be issued pursuant to a single group annuity contract. Immediate annuity certificates cover those retirees and beneficiaries currently receiving payments, whereas deferred annuity certificates cover those participants who have not yet begun receiving benefit payments. Immediate annuity certificates have no cash surrender rights, whereas deferred annuity certificates may include an election to receive a lump sum payment, exercisable by the participant upon either the participant achieving a specified age or the occurrence of a specified event, such as termination of the participant’s employment.

A pension group annuity transaction may be structured as a buyout or buy-in transaction. A buyout transaction involves the issuance by an insurer of a group annuity contract to the plan sponsor and individual annuity certificates to each plan participant, resulting in the transfer of the contractual obligation to pay pension benefits from the plan sponsor to the insurer. A buyout transaction may be a full buyout or a partial buyout. A pension group annuity transaction structured as a buy-in includes an option to convert to buyout at the election of the plan sponsor, or the option to be surrendered at the election of the plan sponsor, subject to certain conditions that may reflect both a market value adjustment and a surrender charge, resulting in a refund in an amount determined in accordance with the group annuity contract. Generally, a buy-in structure is selected when the plan sponsor seeks to eliminate risk but is not yet prepared to terminate the plan or recognize any adverse accounting impact that may accompany a plan termination. During the buy-in phase, the group annuity contract represents an asset of the plan sponsor with no annuity certificates issued to the plan participants unless and until an election is made under the contract to convert to a buyout.

We earn income on group annuities based upon the spread between the return on the assets received in connection with the pension group annuity transaction and the cost of the pension obligations assumed. Group annuities expose us to longevity risk, which would be realized if plan participants live longer than assumed in underwriting the transaction, resulting in aggregate payments that exceed our expectations. However, our conservative underwriting process makes use of a wealth of reliable pre- and post-selection participant data, including mortality experience data, particularly for mid- to large-sized transactions, to mitigate this risk.

Funding Agreements

We issue funding agreements opportunistically to institutional investors at attractive risk-adjusted funding costs. They are designed to provide an agreement holder with a guaranteed return of principal and periodic interest payments, while offering competitive yields and predictable returns. The interest rate can be fixed or floating. If the interest rate is a floating rate, it may be linked to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, the federal funds rate or other major index. We also include repurchase agreements with a term that exceeds one year at the time of execution within the funding agreement product category.

Life and Other

Life and other products include life insurance policies assumed through reinsurance transactions, other retail products, including legacy run-off or ceded business, and statutory closed blocks.