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Brighthouse Financial confirmed this morning that Aquarian Capital will acquire it in a $4.1 billion deal.

Brighthouse canceled its third-quarter earnings call scheduled for Friday and instead immediately released third-quarter financial results. The insurer posted a combined total adjusted capital of $5.4 billion.

Aquarian Capital will acquire Brighthouse for $70 per common share in cash, a long-rumored transaction. Aquarian becomes the latest private equity/investment manager to take over a large-scale annuity seller.

A diversified global holding company, Aquarian provides insurance and asset management solutions, with about $25.6 billion in assets under management as of June 30. The firm, founded in 2017 by Rudy Sahay, focuses on long-term investing across various asset classes.

“This seems like a really smart move by Aquarian,” said Sheryl Moore, founder of Moore Market Intelligence. “The Brighthouse acquisition will give Aquarian new products and distribution that their existing holdings don’t offer.”

The transaction is expected to close in 2026. Multiple suitors expressed interest or submitted offers in a sale process lasting most of 2025. According to the Wall Street Journal reporting, Aquarian separated itself from TPG, another global asset manager, which preferred a structured deal involving only certain parts of Brighthouse.

Powerful partners

The Aquarian-Brighthouse marriage brings the potential to shake up the industry, said Arik Rashkes, a partner and head of the Financial Institutions Group at Solomon Partners.

“The transaction presents a remarkable opportunity for Brighthouse to integrate into a growing asset management powerhouse,” he said. “By gaining access to best-in-class asset classes, Brighthouse can enhance its competitive edge in the marketplace, driving product innovation and broadening its portfolio.”

Brighthouse ranked 16th in total annuity sales in LIMRA’s second-quarter sales figures. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Brighthouse is MassMutual was created in 2017 when it spun off from MetLife Inc.

Rashkes provided “strategic counsel” to MetLife in the Brighthouse spinoff.

“This strategic move enables Brighthouse to leverage Aquarian’s resources and expertise, positioning itself as a formidable player in the industry,” he concluded.

Brighthouse also sells a much smaller amount of life insurance, and all of its products are sold through multiple independent distribution channels.

Aquarian plans to invest in Brighthouse’s platform and distribution franchise while “enhancing product design, development and innovation,” the news release said. Aquarian also plans to bolster Brighthouse’s investment management capabilities through a strategic relationship with Aquarian Investments, Aquarian Capital’s investment management platform.

Following the deal close, Brighthouse Financial will operate as a standalone entity within the Aquarian Capital portfolio. Steigerwalt will continue as president and CEO, the release said, and the company will remain in Charlotte.

‘Transformative’ deal

Brighthouse CEO Eric Steigerwalt called the sale “a transformative transaction.”

“As one of the largest providers of annuities and life insurance in the United States, we’re thrilled to partner with Aquarian Capital to continue to deliver on our mission of helping people achieve financial security through our best-in-class distribution franchise, as well as our innovative suite of Shield annuity products, and our work with BlackRock on LifePath Paycheck,” Steigerwalt said in a news release.

Sahay is an experienced executive who previously co-founded 54 Madison Partners and was a founding member of Guggenheim Partners’ principal investment groups. In a comment on the acquisition, he suggested that Brighthouse will continue to operate with few changes.

The acquisition “aligns perfectly with our strategic focus on the United States retirement market, which represents a significant and growing opportunity,” Sahay said. “Brighthouse Financial has built a strong foundation, and we are excited to support the company in its next phase of growth. We plan to preserve Brighthouse Financial’s disciplined and thoughtful approach to distribution, products and services while accelerating its strategy through continued investment and customer focus.”

In recent quarters, Brighthouse struggled to get its risk-based capital ratio to its 400% minimum target. The insurer’s RBC ratio declined in the second quarter, but Chief Financial Officer Ed Spehar told analysts it remained within the target range. In the third quarter, Brighthouse posted a much higher RBC ratio of 435% to 455%.

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Jackson Financial is predominantly an annuity seller and the company rode out the changing product preferences in a healthy third quarter.

Changing interest rates and other economic factors pushed customers away from some product lines and toward others.

Jackson saw its registered index-linked annuity sales rise 28% over the year-ago period. But that was offset by a 57% decline in fixed and fixed index annuity sales. It added up to a 2% increase in overall annuity sales, a figure CEO Laura Prieskorn is pleased with.

“Retail annuity sales for the quarter reached their highest level since we became an independent company, exceeding $5 billion dollars,” she noted on a Wednesday call with Wall Street analysts.

Jackson once dominated traditional variable annuity sales. VAs fell out of favor in recent years, with consumers flocking to fixed-indexed and RILA products. Jackson reported a rebound of sorts in Q3 with VA sales of $2.9 billion, up 13% from Q2 and 8% from the year-ago quarter, reflecting higher sales of products without lifetime benefits.

“Importantly, average variable annuity balances increased by $10 billion from the second quarter, supporting an increase in third-quarter fee income of 8% quarter over quarter,” Prieskorn explained.

The insurer introduced Jackson Market Link Pro III and Jackson Market Link Pro Advisory III in May, which boosted their RILA line. Jackson added 500 advisors since launching the Market Link products, Prieskorn said.

“Our new RILA relationship with JP Morgan Chase is one example of accelerating RILA sales through a valued partnership,” she said.

In Other News

New FIA. Midway through the third quarter, Jackson launched a pair of new FIAs with an embedded guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit.

Jackson Income Assurance, a commission-based FIA, and Jackson Income Assurance Advisory, a fee-based FIA, each offer 7- and 10-year options, “giving consumers choices based on their individual needs and retirement timeline,” the insurer announced in a news release.

“Looking ahead, we expect our recent fixed index annuity launch will contribute to future sales growth,” Prieskorn said. “Jackson’s fixed index products further expand our portfolio of annuity solutions meeting a wide range of retirement planning goals for advisors and their clients.”

Quarterly Snapshot

• Announced a $1 billion increase to the company’s existing common share repurchase authorization.
• An estimated risk-based capital (RBC) ratio at Jackson National Life Insurance Co. of 579%.
• PPM America, Jackson’s asset management subsidiary, reported an 18% increase in assets under management from the year-ago quarter.
• Closed life/annuity blocks reported pretax adjusted operating income of $15 million in Q3, compared to $7 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting higher spread income, partially offset by higher mortality.

Management Perspective

“We did see a bit of an uptick in the surrender rate, primarily driven by the fact that equity markets were up, and that does tend to influence surrender activity because of the moneyness in the contract.”

Don Cummings, chief financial officer

By The Numbers

• Net Income: $65 million (-$480 million in Q3 2024)
• Adjusted Operating Earnings: $433 million ($350 million in Q3 2024)
• Earnings Per Share: $6.16 per share ($4.60 in Q3 2024)
• Share Repurchases: $154 million in Q3 2025
• Dividend Declared: $56 million in Q3 2025
• Stock Price Movement: Shares declined about 7% to $93.66 at market close Wednesday

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Equitable Holdings is sticking with a big-picture growth strategy, one that required the company to take a third-quarter earnings hit.

A significant reinsurance deal with RGA led to a $1.3 billion net loss for the quarter. But it will help Equitable smooth out its risks going forward, explained Chief Financial Officer Robin Raju.

The transaction involved the transfer of assets and policies, resulting in a significant accounting loss.

“The transaction had an effective date of April 1, so it covers claims in July,” Raju explained. “However, the reinsurance benefit is not reflected under U.S. [accounting principles], as we did not close the transaction until July 31. … Going forward, we expect to see significantly less volatility in our life results.”

The deal calls for RGA to reinsure 75% of Equitable’s individual life insurance block, which includes about $32 billion in reserves. This strategic deal helps Equitable reduce mortality risk and generates over $2 billion in capital to reinvest in its core growth areas, like wealth management.

CEO Mark Pearson outlined “four key pillars to our strategy”:

• Defend and grow the retirement and asset management businesses.
• Scale our high growth and high multiple wealth management and private markets businesses.
• Seed future growth by investing in high-potential opportunities like annuities and 401(k) plans and emerging asset management markets.
• Be a “force for good and deliver on our mission to help our clients secure their financial well-being so they can live long and fulfilling lives.”

In Other News

Stifel acquisition. In a deal announced last week, Equitable is acquiring Stifel Independent Advisors, a subsidiary with over 110 independent financial advisors managing approximately $9 billion in client assets.

The deal, expected to close in early 2026, will fold these advisors into Equitable Advisors, where they will gain access to Equitable’s resources, while Stifel will refocus on its employee-based advisory and investment banking channels.

“This is a good example of the type of bolt-on acquisition we will look at to help scale our wealth management business at a reasonable cost,” Pearson said.

Private credit and ratings. As in other earnings calls this week, Equitable executives were asked about comments this week by UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher that life insurers chase for better ratings are creating a “looming systemic risk” to global finance.

During the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit on Tuesday, Kelleher accused the insurance industry, particularly in the United States, of engaging in “ratings arbitrage” similar to what banks did with subprime loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The insurance industry, with many companies backed by private equity firms, are investing heavily in illiquid private credit assets.

About 90% of Equitable’s fixed maturity portfolio is rated by at least one of the big three rating agencies, Raju noted. Equitable has just $200 million, all within its middle market lending portfolio, rated by embattled agency Egan-Jones Ratings Co., he added.

Bloomberg reported in June that Egan-Jones was being scrutinized for its “top-tier ratings” of private debt instruments.

“We don’t rely on ratings,” Raju said. “What we rely on at Equitable Holdings is the underwriting capability within our general account team and at AllianceBernstein. … [W]e need to get comfortable first with the underwriting of the portfolio that we’re being compensated for any risk that there is, and then you would get the rating.”

Quarterly Snapshot

• Deployed over $17 billion of its $20 billion capital commitment to AllianceBernstein to support growth in AB’s Private Markets business.
• Reported cash and liquid assets of $800 million as of quarter end, above the company’s $500 million minimum target.
• Completed its annual actuarial assumption update, which resulted in a post-tax reduction of $63 million to net income and a $1 million favorable impact to non-GAAP operating earnings.
• In the Retirement segment, first-year premiums of $5.5 billion increased by 3% but net inflows of $1.1 billion were lower than the prior-year quarter.

Management Perspective

“[W]e have a track record as a pioneer, having been the first to launch this product over a decade ago, and continue to deliver on the value proposition, consistent stories, and the relationships with over 15,000 advisors in the third-party space.”

Nick Lane, president of Equitable, on the company’s registered indexed-linked annuity plans

By The Numbers

• Net Income: -$1.3 billion (-$132 million in Q3 2024)
• Assets Under Management: $1.1 trillion ($1 trillion in Q3 2024)
• Operating Earnings: $455 million ($517 million in Q3 2024)
• Earnings Per Share: $1.48 ($1.58 in Q3 2024)
• Share Repurchases: $676 million in Q3 2025
• Dividend Declared: $81 million in Q3 2025
• Stock Price Movement: Shares declined more than 4% by mid-afternoon Wednesday

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AIG’s Q3 earnings exceeded Wall Street analyst forecasts, driven by net income of $519 million, up 13%, year over year.

AIG also saw an 81% increase in underwriting income and a 76% drop in catastrophe losses.

Underwriting income from general insurance soared 81% to $793 million and the combined ratio decreased to 86.8% from 92.6% last year, reflecting the insurer’s improved efficiency and risk management. 

Net investment income, however, fell by $772 million, as a result of a change in fair value of AIG’s equity interest in Corebridge Financial. 

The significant reduction in catastrophe losses— a drop to $100 million from $417 million in the same quarter of 2024 — paired with improved underwriting, paved the way for AIG’s strong Q3 performance. 

In Other News

• Acquisition of most of Everest Group’s retail insurance portfolio: AIG has agreed to acquire the renewal rights of Everest Group Ltd.’s retail commercial insurance business, which equates to about $2 billion of aggregate gross premiums written.

• Strategic investments in Convex Group and Onex Corporation: AIG will acquire 35% equity interest in Convex Group, a global specialty insurer. The company will also invest $2 billion over three years in a diversified set of investment funds with preferred access from asset manager, Onex Corporation.

• Gen AI strategy: AIG is deploying generative AI solutions in its underwriting and claims processes. In Q3, the insurer implemented underwriting by AIG Assist in the Lexington market, improving the speed of data digestion and driving growth. AIG plans to roll this out to the rest of the organization. 
• Leadership changes: AIG announced Don Bailey, executive vice president and CEO of North America Commercial Insurance, will retire for health reasons at the end of the year. As of January 1, 2026, Allison Cooper and Barbara Luck will be appointed co-presidents of retail and Lou Levinson will be deemed president of wholesale, all reporting to John Neal, who will become AIG’s president. 

Quarterly Snapshot

• Adjusted after-tax income per diluted share of $2.20, a 77% increase from the previous year and higher than Wall Street expectations of $1.68 per share
• Net premiums written totaled $6.2 billion (down 1% on a comparable basis)
• General Insurance underwriting income jumped 81% to $793 million
• Combined ratio of 88.3% (flat year over year)
• Net investment income fell by 21% to $772 million, primarily due to changes in fair value of AIG’s equity stake in Corebridge 
• AIG returned $1.5 billion to shareholders, including $1.25 billion in repurchases and $250 million in dividends

Earnings supplement 

• • General insurance combined ratio of 86.8%, up 5.8% percent year-over-year and a 1% hike in gross premiums of $8.69 billion.
  • AIG returned $1.5 billion to shareholders in Q3, reflecting its continuous commitment to shareholders.
  • A favorable accident year combined ratio (AYCR) of 88.3%, demonstrating sound underwriting and risk management.

Management Perspective

Peter Zaffino emphasized the fact that Convex, Onex, and Everest are unique opportunities that came to AIG first because of its strong brand and performance, as well as the personal relationships the company has developed over time.

“As a result of these transactions, we are enhancing our earning potential and putting our capital to work to drive long-term, sustainable, and profitable growth,” said Zaffino.

By The Numbers

• Total Revenue: Adjusted pre-tax income of $1.622 billion
• Net Income: $519 million (up 13% year-over-year)
• EPS: Adjusted after-tax income per diluted share of $0.93, short of the estimated $1.78.
• Share Repurchases: $1.5 billion in Q3 2025
• Dividend Declared: $250 million in Q3 2025 ($0.45 per share)
• Stock Price Movement: AIG’s shares were trading around $80.71 on Tuesday evening, an increase of about 6% in the last 12 months

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Marc Rowan fired back Tuesday at UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher over comments Kelleher made that insurers shopping for better ratings are creating a “looming systemic risk” to global finance.

During the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit on Tuesday, Kelleher accused the insurance industry, particularly in the United States, of engaging in “ratings arbitrage” similar to what banks did with subprime loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. The Financial Times first reported the comments.

The insurance industry, with many companies backed by private equity firms, are investing heavily in illiquid private credit assets. Kelleher is just the latest figure to sound the alarm.

‘Lack of effective regulation’ cited

“If you look at the insurance business, there is a looming systemic risk coming through because of the lack of effective regulation,” he said.

When Rowan was asked about the comments during a third-quarter earnings call hosted by Apollo Global Management, he was ready. Athene Holding is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo, and Athene’s annuity business is not only No. 1 in the industry, but a major driver of capital to Apollo.

“Colm is just wrong,” said Rowan, CEO of Apollo. Speaking of Athene, he added that “70% of our assets have two [or more] ratings. S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch, each rate 50% of our fixed income assets.”

Kelleher ‘not wrong’ to address systemic risk

In the banking industry, 100% of what is on a bank’s balance sheet is private credit, Rowan said. And almost nothing has a rating, he added.

“Colm is not wrong to think about and to talk about systemic risk,” Rowan said. “In the insurance industry, you have really strong players and really weak players. I do not believe that private letter ratings are where the focus should be.”

Offshore jurisdictions are a bigger problem, Rowan said, and as he has on other calls, he cited the Cayman Islands as a questionable landing spot for life insurance assets.

“We have offshore jurisdictions of significant size that have not produced the kind of regime that is consistent with U.S. ratings and U.S. state-based regulatory reform,” Rowan said.

It’s not the first controversy over U.S. ratings of life insurers.

In 2024, a pair of A-CAP Group insurance firms, Atlantic Coast Life Insurance and Sentinel Security Life Insurance, sued AM Best to prevent a downgrade of their financial strength ratings. The dispute centered on AM Best’s evaluation of the insurers’ exposure to the troubled private equity firm, 777 Partners.

Both sides eventually settled the lawsuit, with the terms remaining sealed.

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Corebridge Financial has not been around that long, but the majority of its short time in business has been spent near the very top of a red-hot annuity sales market.

That makes the impending departures of both CEO Kevin Hogan and Chief Financial Officer Elias Habayeb all the more surprising. Hogan will step down at the end of November and be succeeded by Marc Costantini, a CEO switch announced in September.

The Corebridge executive team met with Wall Street analysts Tuesday to discuss the insurer’s third-quarter earnings. Hogan began the call by announcing Habayeb’s imminent departure for “a senior leadership position at a publicly listed company that we do not consider a competitor.”

A search process for a new CFO is underway, Hogan added.

“We’re pleased that there will be a six-month transition period that will allow for Elias to oversee the completion and filing of 2025 financial statements and the finalization of the 2026 budget and business and operating plan,” Hogan said.

Corebridge delivered another strong quarterly financial performance, with its diversified businesses generating $12.3 billion of sales. But analysts were more interested in whether Corebridge will remain a focused juggernaut while transitioning from its top two executives.

Hogan noted that he will serve as advisor to the board of directors for six months.

“We have a very strong foundation in place,” Hogan said. “We’re looking forward to welcoming Marc. Elias is here for six months through the transition … and we’re looking forward to a very smooth transition process.”

Costantini joins Corebridge from Manulife, where he served most recently as global head of strategy and inforce management. He led corporate strategy, corporate development, life reinsurance and initiatives to improve the profitability and risk profile of Manulife’s in-force business, Corebridge said in a news release.

Corebridge formed in 2022 when AIG spun off its life and retirement business segments to create an independent, publicly traded company. The company, formerly known as AIG Life & Retirement, launched its IPO in September 2022 and received an investment from Blackstone.

In Other News

Reinsurance deal. ACorebridge reinsurance agreement with CS Life Re, a subsidiary of Venerable Holdings is already creating value for shareholders, Hogan said. CS Life will reinsure all the variable annuities of Corebridge’s Individual Retirement business, with account value totaling $51 billion.

The transaction is valued at $2.8 billion, consisting of both ceding commission and capital release, and will generate approximately $2.1 billion of net distributable proceeds after-tax for Corebridge, the insurer announced in a news release.

The deal, expected to close during the fourth quarter, is “the most important value creation action we have taken” since splitting from AIG in 2022 and undergoing an initial public offering, Hogan has said.

“Our recent VA reinsurance transaction is generating significant distributable proceeds,” Habayeb said. “You can expect to see elevated levels of share repurchases in the coming quarters, pursuant to the $2 billion increase to our share repurchase authorized by the board in June.”

New York, New York. Corebridge received regulatory approval in October to sell its new registered index-linked annuity product in New York State and is on track to launch it by the end of the year, Hogan announced.

“[W]e believe it’s, if not the largest, then one of the largest annuity markets in the country,” he added.

Overall, the insurer recorded $800,000 million in RILA sales during the quarter.

Quarterly Snapshot

• Premiums and deposits of $12.3 billion, up 34% year over year.
• Recorded “favorable mortality” during the quarter in the life insurance segment.
• Holding company liquidity of $1.8 billion includes partial proceeds from a variable annuity reinsurance transaction.
• “Record high” sales of fixed indexed annuities.

Management Perspective

“We are now the only company to have a top 10 ranking across all four major annuity product categories, as measured by LIMRA.”

CEO Kevin Hogan

By The Numbers

• Net Income: $144 million (-$1.2 billion in Q3 2024)
• Premium and Deposits: $12.3 billion ($9.3 billion in Q3 2024)
• Earnings Per Share: $0.96 per share ($1.23 in Q3 2024)
• Share Repurchases: $381 million in Q3 2025
• Dividend Declared: $128 million in Q3 2025
• Stock Price Movement: Shares rose nearly 1% to $31.21 as of Tuesday afternoon

Life Picture

– Premium and Deposits: $841 million ($856 million in Q3 2024)

– Sales: $76 million ($81 million in Q3 2024)

Annuity Picture

– Premium and Deposits: $5.5 billion ($5.1 billion in Q3 2024)

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While it’s normal for the cost of long-term care to vary from place to place, location is becoming a more significant part of the conversation when it comes to planning, according to Susann Crawford, SVP of sales for online senior care platform Caring.com.

“Now, geography is a bigger part of the conversation, whether it’s between significant others, spouses or whole families making those decisions, because we often find as seniors decide to downsize, it’s probably some type of a move,” Crawford said in a recent interview with InsuranceNewsNet.

Her organization recently published the findings of a study on the most affordable states for long-term care, with Mississippi claiming the top spot.

However, long-term care insurance specialists Jim Better, president, Essential Plans of Insurance, and Mark Baron, founder, Baron Long-Term Care Planning, said it’s not always as easy as simply moving to a different state to afford care.

They said American seniors have to consider factors such as where children or family members who can help with care reside, and also look at how the quality of care may differ in various locations.

Crawford, Better and Baron all agreed that financial advisors play a crucial role in assessing all the options and helping clients determine the best care for their needs.

Southern states are more affordable

According to Caring.com’s research, southern states tend to be among the most affordable for long-term care. The top five most affordable states for long-term care overall, ranked on a scale of 1-10, were:

• Mississippi: 8.9
• Texas: 8.41
• Arkansas: 8.21
• Louisiana: 8.16
• Alabama: 7.59

The top three most affordable states for assisted living were:

• South Dakota: $52,500/year
• Mississippi: $53,343/year
• Alabama: $54,870/year

The top three most affordable states for home care were:

• Louisiana: $50,336/year
• Alabama: $57,200/year
• Mississippi: $57,200/year

The top three most affordable states for private rooms in a nursing home were:

• Texas: $85,045/year
• Missouri: $85,775/year
• Louisiana: $91,250/year

What’s driving costs up?

Better and Baron said Caring.com’s research seems consistent with their lived experiences in the field. They noted that it’s reasonable to expect states with a higher cost of living like New York and California to also have higher long-term care costs — although this may not always be the case.

“States like Arkansas or Texas, some of these places, a private room in a nursing home is like $9,000 a month, whereas in Massachusetts, it’s $15,000, $14,000 to $16,000 a month for the same exact room,” Baron said.

However, all three professionals said supply and demand also factor into the overall cost.

“So, the wages of your caregivers, the availability of care in an area. You may have a large workforce available to you, or a smaller workforce based on the cost of living, education level, even density,” Crawford said.

“Some of the immigration issues that have been happening in the country have driven up home care prices because there’s a shortage of immigrants that do that kind of work. So, it’s just a market supply and demand thing where fewer home care workers can demand more money per hour,” Baron added.

At the same time, Crawford noted that higher life expectancies also mean retirement is lasting longer than many Americans plan for.

“So, thinking longer range than what maybe families did in the past is very important because those decisions compound,” she said.

Not just about cost

While moving may be an option for some, seniors were urged to think about more than just overall cost.

“Are there caregivers, are there communities available near me to be able to retire into? It might be very affordable, but is there the supply for the demand that may be there as well?… Is it being closer to other family members? Are family members going to come together in a certain area? Does it still afford the opportunities for the younger family members to have a very prosperous and growing future too?” Crawford pointed out.

For Better, quality of care is another crucial consideration that he says can vary by location.

“People don’t generally use buying long-term care insurance as a lever about where they’re going to live; it just happens to work out that way,” Better said. “Really, the significant issue is the quality of care. When you go from one state that has better services as opposed to one that may not have as good of services, that’s really the key issue, not the price of the policy.”

“That’s why a financial planner or a true expert advisor that really understands the inner workings of that senior care industry is a great person to kind of have in your back pocket to ensure that you’re getting all of the options that are available to you, to your family and what’s really going to fit the situation best,” Crawford added.

Caring.com is an online platform dedicated to providing information, resources and tools for senior care planning. The data for its survey was gathered using CareScout (2024) and verified as correct up to May 2025.

Essential Plans of Insurance is an LTC provider founded in 2013 and based out of California.

Baron Long-Term Care Planning is an independent agency founded in 2003 and based out of Massachusetts.

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The property and casualty insurance sector will see strong premium growth continuing in 2025, according to Conning.

During a recent webinar, Conning analysts said that inflation, tariffs, interest rates and geopolitical factors are among the issues influencing the P/C market for the remainder of this year and going into next year.

The total P/C industry expects to see a 7% growth in premium in 2025, Conning said. Commercial property and commercial auto will experience higher premium growth rates, at 12% and 11% respectively. Homeowners insurance expects to see a 10% annual premium growth with personal auto insurance coming at about a 7% annual premium growth rate.

Shifting legal environment a concern

Insurers told Conning that the legal system is their greatest near-term and long-term concern. Alan Dobbins, Conning director of insurance research, said the shifting legal environment has created concerns for insurers.

An increasing number of “nuclear” verdicts, increased third-party litigation funding, more complex class-action suits, rising claims severity and a rise in product liability claims are all contributing to insurer concern over the litigation environment, he said.

Sustained fiscal strain also was cited by P/C insurers as a high long-term concern but a low concern in the short term. Elevated inflation, modest growth in gross domestic product, a cooling labor market and near-record federal debt levels all contributed to the concern.

However, insurers were mixed in their outlook of other issues impacting them in the near-term and long-term. Tariffs were a moderate concern in the short term but a lesser concern in the long term. Immigration policy was a low concern in the short term but a moderate concern in the long term.

2025 got off to a rough start for P/C

The year got off to a difficult start for P/C insurers, with the California wildfires resulting in $20 billion in insured losses. However, strong investment income continued to be a critical tailwind going into the year, Dobbins said.

Another factor impacting the auto insurance industry this year has been the cost of bodily injury and vehicle claims. Health care costs are rising, Dobbins said. The growth in vehicle repair costs has cooled since the supply chain crisis following the pandemic, but those costs are beginning to rise again.

Property construction costs also are beginning to trend higher after peaking in 2021-22.

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Excess mortality for Americans aged 65 or older dropped from more than 20% at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic to only 1.3% in the past year – according to a new analysis from the Society of Actuaries Research Institute.

Using the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and the Social Security Administration, the research institute’s Retirement Plans Experience Committee  2025 Mortality Improvement Update examined how U.S. retirement-age populations are faring in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Spikes in mortality persisted through early 2022, driving up the overall average excess mortality for the year, the analysis said. However, since that time, U.S. population mortality rates have returned to levels more consistent with 2019, and have exhibited the seasonal pattern usually seen in the U.S.

The updated excess mortality data shows that “COVID-19 is still out there, but its effect on mortality is significantly diminished,” said Patrick Weisse, one of the study’s authors.

Weisse said that when comparing to current mortality levels against 2019, “We are below mortality levels that were observed in 2019, so we are fully recovered from the pandemic. That’s true across all age groups with the exception of ages 35-44.”

For RPEC’s report, Social Security Area Population data was obtained from the 2024 Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Trustees report. The report shows some small shifts to SSAP estimates for the 65-and-older population. For the period from 2019 through 2022, the estimated 65+ population decreased slightly, while for 2023 and 2024 it increased slightly.

RPEC is aware that some actuaries and pension plan sponsors would like somehow to reflect the potential lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in an adjusted mortality assumption. It continues to be RPEC’s opinion that it would not be appropriate to publish an MP scale reflecting a COVID-19 adjustment given the uncertainty regarding the effects of the pandemic on future mortality levels.

However, RPEC also continues to believe that an actuary could reasonably use the information in this report and other sources to develop their own “COVID-adjusted” mortality improvement scale reflecting their opinion and their clients’ opinions on the potential future effects.

Weisse said the data shows that mortality rates “have recovered from the shock of COVID-19.”

“While we certainly had many deaths, going forward, we’re back to mortality rates that existed prior to the pandemic for those 65-plus.”

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Conversations are the backbone of what financial professionals do with clients. So how do you make those conversations more compelling? By being mindful of substance and structure.

Barrett Kemp, vice president and market consultant at Invesco, discussed ways to craft messages that compel clients to action and build trust during a recent webinar by the National Association for Fixed Annuities.

Substance and structure are the basis for communication, she said, with substance being the words you use and structure is how you gear your message toward you clients. “It’s not what you say but what they hear that matters,” she said.

Top 10 words to ‘use’ and ‘lose’

Kemp gave a list of the Top 10 “words to use and words to lose” in client conversations.

1. Use the word “costs” instead of “fees” when describing what a client likes paying the least.
2. Clients prefer to hear “comfortable retirement” over “maintaining current lifestyle” when discussing their top retirement priority.
3. Use the word “security” instead of “freedom” when discussing a client’s top financial goal in retirement.
4. Use “strategies” instead of “solutions” when giving clients investment advice.
5. “Personalized” is the word clients want to hear over “tailored” when their advisor discusses strategy with them.
6. “Straightforward” is the word to describe fee arrangements instead of “transparent.”
7. Clients are more interested in “maximizing gains” than they are in “minimizing losses.”
8. Clients want to hear more about “long-term strategy” than about “short-term strategy” or “recovery.”
9. A “diversified” investment strategy is more appealing to clients than a strategy that is “not correlated to the market.”
10. “Professionally managed” is the term preferred over “discretionary” when describing an account in which the financial professional is authorized to make investment decisions and transactions on the client’s behalf.

Conversations with DISC styles

In describing how to structure a conversation, Kemp referred to the DISC (dominance, influence, steadiness, compliance) theory of behavioral styles to match a message structure to the behavioral style of the client.

Those who are dominant are focused on solving problems. Influencers get their energy from other people. Those who are steady value maintaining a pace, while those who are compliant focus on procedures.

In structuring a message to a client, a dominant client wants to know whether the advisor is competent and can deliver what is promised. An influencer wants to know whether the advisor is flexible and easy to work with. A steady client is concerned about whether the advisor is authentic and able to be trusted. A compliant client asks whether the advisor is dependable and has done their homework.

“All of this is an effort to build more compelling conversations and communication between you and the client,” Kemp said.

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