Executive Team

Grant Kvalheim is CEO of Athene, where he is responsible for expanding market share, prioritizing innovation, entering new markets and leading the company through its next phase of growth. Grant joined Athene in January 2011 as its CFO and later served as President, a role he held until July 2025.

As President, Grant was responsible for running the company’s U.S. operations with a focus on growing organic origination.

Prior to joining Athene, Grant was Co-President of Barclays Capital where he grew the European investment grade credit business into a leading global credit franchise. Earlier in his career, he held senior executive positions in the investment banks of Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.

Grant holds a B.S. degree in economics from Claremont McKenna College, and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Chicago.

Grant currently serves on the board of directors of the American Council of Life Insurers, Great Outdoors Foundation, SolHealth and Mottahedeh & Co., Inc.  

Sean Brennan is Co-President of Athene USA and Chief Commercial Officer of Athene Holding. He is responsible for new business origination in Athene’s two largest channels —Retail and Funding Agreements— and scaling opportunities for Athene’s New Markets team, particularly in the defined contribution channel.

Sean previously served as EVP of Pension Group Annuities, Flow Reinsurance and New Markets at Athene, where he provided retirement solutions to institutions, overseeing the strategy of Athene’s pension group annuity and flow reinsurance businesses, and driving innovations in new products and new markets.

Before joining Athene, Sean served as Global Pensions Director for Marsh & McLennan Companies, responsible for developing and implementing its global pension strategy, and oversaw $15 billion in global asset-liability management. Earlier in his career, Sean spent 14 years at Mercer, most recently as Partner in the Financial Strategy Group.

Sean holds a B.A. in mathematics and political science from Emory University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries.

Mike Downing is Co-President of Athene USA and Chief Operating Officer of Athene Holding. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations including maintaining the company’s cost structure advantage, unlocking demand for annuities by improving the customer experience, and leading industry adoption of the Insured Retirement Institute's Digital First initiative.

After joining Athene in 2015, Mike served as Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary, where he oversaw the traditional financial reporting functions, along with product development, inforce management, and product pricing across all key business channels. He was elevated to Chief Operating Officer in 2022 and led many initiatives to make retail annuities easier to understand and use. 

Before joining Athene, Mike held senior executive roles at The Allstate Corporation. Previously, he was a Senior Partner at Aon Hewitt, leading the International Consulting practice following assignments in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. 

Mike holds a B.A. degree in mathematics from Gustavus Adolphus College. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, and he currently serves on the boards of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, ChildServe, the Federation of Iowa Insurers and the Insured Retirement Institute.

LJ Tanguy has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since March 2025. Mr. Tanguy is responsible for overseeing our financial management, including our enterprise finance, reporting, tax, actuarial, and internal audit functions and is also responsible for developing and executing strategic operating decisions across our Company.

Prior to joining Athene, Mr. Tanguy served as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (“AGM”), our parent company, and as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of Apollo Asset Management, Inc., a subsidiary of AGM (together with AGM, “Apollo”), since January 2022.

Before joining Apollo, Mr. Tanguy held the position of Managing Director at Deutsche Bank for thirteen years. Most recently, he was Managing Director, Head of Group Finance America and Global Head of Business Finance for Origination and Advisory at Deutsche Bank, where he provided a broad range of services in London and New York related to business finance, valuation control and complex trade reviews, treasury finance, financial performance and planning, accounting and regulatory policy and disclosure. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Tanguy was Head of Asia Pacific Product Valuation Group at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities in Tokyo. From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Tanguy was Head of Product Control and Head of Risk and P&L for Fixed Income & Derivatives at Société Générale in Tokyo and Paris.

Mr. Tanguy graduated from the University of Aix-Marseille with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a Master of Science in Applied Finance and a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management.

Jim Belardi is the Co-Founder, Executive Chairman and CIO of Athene. He is the Chairman of Athene’s Board of Directors and a member of the Executive Committee. In addition, Jim is a member of the Board of Directors, a member of the Executive Committee and an Executive Officer of AGM. Jim is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Insurance Solutions Group, L.P., Athene’s investment manager, and a member of the Executive Committee.

Jim served as CEO from 2009 until 2025. Under his leadership, Athene grew from a startup to the leading retirement services company, with nearly $400 billion in total assets, annual earnings exceeding $3 billion, and market-leading annuity and reinsurance franchises.

He has over 35 years of experience in retirement services, insurance and asset management. Prior to founding Athene, he was President of SunAmerica Life Insurance Company and Executive Vice President and CIO of AIG Retirement Services, Inc., where he managed a $250 billion invested-asset portfolio.  

Jim holds a B.A. degree in economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from UCLA. 

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Paulist Productions, where he Chairs the Investment Committee, and Southern California Aquatics. He swam in the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Trials and is a nine-time Masters Swimming World Record Holder.

Kristi Kaye Burma serves as our Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Ms. Burma is responsible for advising the executive leadership team, overseeing execution of all HR objectives, organizational development, talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, and driving the organizational vision of our company to help best position Athene for long-term talent management. She also oversees the Athene Foundation and all corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Burma served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Athene Holding and Vice President of Human Resources at Aviva USA, until the acquisition of the business by Athene. During her time at Aviva, she also held the title of Business Manager to Chief Executive Officer of Aviva USA, and served in the role of Vice President, Human Resources Business Partner, supporting North America. Before joining Aviva, Ms. Burma held various leadership positions in human resources.

She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Iowa. She also is a member of the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity Board and the Board of Directors for United Way of Central Iowa.

Joe Cohen has served as our Executive Vice President and General Counsel since February 2023. He is responsible for overseeing the legal and compliance departments, ensuring compliance with laws and regulations and developing effective legal strategies to protect our Company's interests. Prior to joining Athene as Senior Vice President and Group Deputy General Counsel in 2019, Mr. Cohen spent over 20 years at MetLife in various legal and non-legal roles, including General Counsel of MetLife’s 20+ operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel (General Corporate) in which he advised on and directed all aspects of corporate law encompassing, among other things, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), strategic distribution arrangements, reinsurance, capital markets transactions and public company reporting. Mr. Cohen led the spin-off of MetLife’s U.S. retail business into Brighthouse allowing MetLife to focus on protection and fee-based products and services.

Mr. Cohen received his Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in business management and marketing from Cornell University. Mr. Cohen is admitted to the State Bars of New York and New Jersey.

Mike Considine has served as our Executive Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs since January 2025 and prior to that he served as Executive Vice President, Head of US Government and Regulatory Relations since June 2023. He is responsible for developing and advancing Athene’s external engagement and strategic vision and managing relationships with insurance regulators and industry associations.

Prior to joining Athene, Mr. Consedine was Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC.) As CEO of NAIC from 2017 until 2023, he focused on strategic planning, policy development, and implementation in the areas of state, federal, and international affairs and relations. He was named to the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors in 2019. Prior to the NAIC, Mike served as the Global Head of Government and Policy Affairs at Aegon and prior to that as the Insurance Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015.

Mr. Consedine received his Juris Doctor from Widener University Commonwealth Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and journalism from James Madison University.

Katie Daly is the Global Head of M&A, Reinsurance, and Pensions at Athene, where she is responsible for aligning strategic priorities across institutional channels including mergers and acquisitions, pension group annuity business and reinsurance solutions.

Katie joined Athene in 2019 as EVP of Corporate Development, where she was responsible for executing transactions that grew the company’s global reinsurance footprint.

She has extensive financial institutions, corporate development and investment banking experience. Prior to Athene, she served as Managing Director, Head of Strategy at Global Atlantic Financial Group in New York where she led strategic initiatives across the firm, capital markets transactions and corporate merger and acquisition activities.

Before her tenure at Global Atlantic, Katie spent two years at Oaktree Capital Management and six years at Goldman Sachs. Earlier in her career, she worked at RBC Capital Markets and Novantas, a strategy consulting firm.

Katie received a B.A. in ethics, politics and economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. with a major in finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Randy Epright has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer since August 2015. In this role he is responsible for overseeing the company’s Information Technology (IT) strategy to ensure that all systems necessary to support our operations are in place and to ensure that information technology adds the maximum value to our company to facilitate the success of our business.

Mr. Epright has 34 years of insurance and financial services operations and technology experience. Prior to joining Athene, he was the Global Business Information Officer of Consumer Businesses at American International Group, Inc. ("AIG"). Mr. Epright joined AIG in 1995 where he held numerous operations and technology leadership positions, including Chief Information Officer of Life and Retirement and Divisional Vice President of Foreign General Insurance, where he led global strategic development for personal lines, commercial lines, accident and health, and claims. Throughout his various roles, he drove operations and technology modernization, innovative product delivery, and digitalization of distribution for life, individual annuities, group retirement, mutual funds, and brokerage/investment advisory businesses. Prior to AIG, Mr. Epright spent eight years delivering innovative technology solutions for Travelers Insurance.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business management from Providence College in Rhode Island and a Master of Business Administration in information systems from Denver University in Colorado. He holds a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Series 7 designation and previously served as a board member and audit committee Chairman of AIG Global Services enterprise group.

Rod Mims has served as our Executive Vice President and Head of Retail since March 2025. In his role, he is responsible for overseeing Athene’s retail annuity business and driving continued growth through the development of strong partnerships.

Mr. Mims joined Athene in 2011 and served as Senior Vice President and National Sales Manager until he assumed his current role, bringing extensive institutional experience and strategic initiative to continue the successful execution of the organization’s growth plans.

Prior to joining Athene, he was the National Sales Manager for Genworth Financial, with responsibility spanning its bank, wirehouse and independent broker-dealer channels.

Mr. Mims received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration accompanied by a degree in Marketing and Supply Chain Management from East Carolina University. He graduated from the GE Management Development Institute-Crotonville and completed Executive Education from University of Virgina Darden School of Business.

Doug Niemann has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer since May 2020. Mr. Niemann is responsible for overseeing our enterprise risk management functions, as well as providing key support in connection with strategic operating decisions across our Company. Mr. Niemann brings over 25 years of experience and expertise in risk management related to insurance. Prior to joining our Company, Mr. Niemann was the Senior Managing Director of lnvestment Management and Chief lnvestment Risk Officer for Guardian Life Insurance Company. Before joining Guardian Life Insurance Company, he was the Managing Director and Chief lnvestment Strategist of Global Insurance Solutions at JP Morgan Asset Management and served as the Managing Director and Head of Asset Liability Management at AIG Asset Management. He also held the positions of Head of lnvestment and Financial Risk and Head of Group Risk Modeling at Zurich Financial Services.

Mr. Niemann has a Master of Business Administration in risk management and insurance as well as finance, investments and banking from the University of Wisconsin Madison School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Sandy Stokley has served as our Executive Vice President of Insurance Operations since January 2025. She is responsible for all of Athene USA’s insurance operations including annuity new business, annuity post-issue processing and claims, the contact centers, agency services, inbound and outbound mail services, and operational shared services. Ms. Stokley also oversees facilities management.

Previously, Ms. Stokley served as our Senior Vice President of Operations Support where she oversaw technical, project, and production support for insurance operations, business continuity planning, and the execution of pension risk transfer strategies.  

Ms. Stokley joined Athene in 2011, bringing more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. Earlier in her career, she held progressive roles at American Life and Casualty Insurance Company and ING, culminating in her role as Director of Business Support at ING where she excelled in project management, training, and operational leadership. 

Ms. Stokley attended Simpson College with a focus on Business Management.

Rebecca Tadikonda serves as our Executive Vice President of Strategy and Innovation. Ms. Tadikonda is responsible for driving strategic growth and innovation, including expanding access to guaranteed income solutions in defined contribution and other new markets.

Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Tadikonda served as MetLife’s Head of Strategic Growth Markets in Asia, leading businesses in China, India and Southeast Asia, and Chief Strategy Officer. She has also held positions at Bain & Company, DHL Worldwide and Verisign, driving growth through various consumer transformation, customer strategy and customer acquisition programs.

She has a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Dartmouth College.

Marty Klein has served as our Senior Advisor since March 2025. In his role, he provides strategic advice to senior management as Athene executes its plan for future growth.

Previously Mr. Klein was our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, a role he assumed in November 2015.

Prior to joining Athene, Mr. Klein spent 30-plus years in leadership roles at insurance and financial services organizations, including as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Acting President & Chief Executive Officer at Genworth, Managing Director and head of the Insurance & Pension Solutions Group at Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. Earlier in his career, he worked in finance and actuarial roles in other insurance organizations.

Mr. Klein is a director of several of our insurance subsidiaries, as well as Athora, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, and a Chartered Financial Analyst. He received his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and business administration from Hope College and a Master of Science in statistics and actuarial science from the University of Iowa where he now serves on the College of Liberal Arts & Science's Dean's Advisory Council.