August 9, 2022 - 10-Q: Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

☑ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2022

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number: 001-37963

ATHENE HOLDING LTD.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Bermuda

98-0630022

(State or other jurisdiction of

(I.R.S. Employer

incorporation or organization)

Identification Number)

Second Floor, Washington House

16 Church Street

Hamilton, HM 11, Bermuda

(441) 279-8400

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol

Name of each exchange on which registered

Depositary Shares, each representing a 1/1,000th interest in a

6.35% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Share, Series A

ATHPrA

New York Stock Exchange

Depositary Shares, each representing a 1/1,000th interest in a

5.625% Fixed-Rate Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Share, Series B

ATHPrB

New York Stock Exchange

Depositary Shares, each representing a 1/1,000th interest in a

6.375% Fixed-Rate Reset Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Share, Series C

ATHPrC

New York Stock Exchange

Depositary Shares, each representing a 1/1,000th interest in a

4.875% Fixed-Rate Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Share, Series D

ATHPrD

New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer

☑

Accelerated filer ☐

Non-accelerated filer ☐

Smaller reporting company

☐

Emerging growth company

☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☑

As of July 31, 2022, 203,805,432 of our Class A common shares were outstanding, all of which are held by Apollo Global Management, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION


Item 1.	Financial Statements	7
Item 2.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	60
Item 3.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risks	107
Item 4.	Controls and Procedures	108

PART II—OTHER INFORMATION


Item 1.	Legal Proceedings	109
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	109
Item 2.	Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds	111



Item 6.	Exhibits	111
Exhibit Index		111
Signatures		112

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As used in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (report), unless the context otherwise indicates, any reference to “Athene,” “our Company,” “the Company,” “us,” “we” and “our” refer to Athene Holding Ltd. together with its consolidated subsidiaries and any reference to “AHL” refers to Athene Holding Ltd. only.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this report are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “assume,” “believe,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning, including the negative of these or similar words and terms, in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places throughout and give our current expectations and projections relating to our business, financial condition, results of operations, plans, strategies, objectives, future performance and other matters.

We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual consolidated financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, cash flows and performance may differ materially from that made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this report. A number of important factors could cause actual results or conditions to differ materially from those contained or implied by the forward-looking statements, including the risks discussed in Part II–Item 1A. Risk Factors included in this report and Part I–Item 1A. Risk Factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 (2021 Annual Report). Factors that could cause actual results or conditions to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this report include:

•the accuracy of management’s assumptions and estimates;

•variability in the amount of statutory capital that our insurance and reinsurance subsidiaries have or are required to hold;

•interest rate and/or foreign currency fluctuations;

•our potential need for additional capital in the future and the potential unavailability of such capital to us on favorable terms or at all;

•major public health issues, and specifically the pandemic caused by the effects of the spread of the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19);

•changes in relationships with important parties in our product distribution network;

•the activities of our competitors and our ability to grow our retail business in a highly competitive environment;

•the impact of general economic conditions on our ability to sell our products and on the fair value of our investments;

•our ability to successfully acquire new companies or businesses and/or integrate such acquisitions into our existing framework;

•downgrades, potential downgrades or other negative actions by rating agencies;

•our dependence on key executives and inability to attract qualified personnel, or the potential loss of Bermudian personnel as a result of Bermuda employment restrictions;

•market and credit risks that could diminish the value of our investments;

•changes to the creditworthiness of our reinsurance and derivative counterparties;

•the discontinuation of certain Inter-bank Offered Rates (IBORs), including the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR);

•changes in consumer perception regarding the desirability of annuities as retirement savings products;

•potential litigation (including class action litigation), enforcement investigations or regulatory scrutiny against us and our subsidiaries, which we may be required to defend against or respond to;

•the impact of new accounting rules or changes to existing accounting rules on our business;

•interruption or other operational failures in telecommunication and information technology and other operating systems, as well as our ability to maintain the security of those systems;

•the termination by Apollo Global Management, Inc. (AGM) or any of its subsidiaries (collectively, AGM together with its subsidiaries, Apollo) of its investment management agreements with us and certain limitations on our ability to terminate such arrangements;

•Apollo’s dependence on key executives and inability to attract qualified personnel;

•the failure to realize the expected benefits from our merger with AGM;

•the accuracy of our estimates regarding the future performance of our investment portfolio;

•increased regulation or scrutiny of alternative investment advisers and certain trading methods;

•potential changes to laws or regulations affecting, among other things, group supervision and/or group capital requirements, entity-level regulatory capital standards, transactions with our affiliates, the ability of our subsidiaries to make dividend payments or distributions to AHL, acquisitions by or of us, minimum capitalization and statutory reserve requirements for insurance companies and fiduciary obligations on parties who distribute our products;

•the failure to obtain or maintain licenses and/or other regulatory approvals as required for the operation of our insurance subsidiaries;

•increases in our tax liability resulting from the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) or otherwise;

•adverse changes in US tax law;

•changes in our ability to pay dividends or make distributions;

•the failure to achieve the economic benefits expected to be derived from the Athene Co-Invest Reinsurance Affiliate Holding Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, ACRA) capital raise or future ACRA capital raises;

•the failure of third-party ACRA investors to fund their capital commitment obligations; and

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•other risks and factors listed in Part II–Item 1A. Risk Factors included in this report, Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors included in our 2021 Annual Report and those discussed elsewhere in this report and in our 2021 Annual Report.

We caution you that the important factors referenced above may not be exhaustive. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will realize the results or developments we expect or anticipate or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences or affect us or our operations in the way we expect or anticipate. In light of these risks, you should not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements contained in this report. Unless an earlier date is specified, the forward-looking statements included in this report are made only as of the date that this report was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We undertake no obligation, except as may be required by law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to express any future trends, or indications of future performance, unless expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical data.

GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS

Unless otherwise indicated in this report, the following terms have the meanings set forth below:

Entities


Term or Acronym						Definition
AADE						Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company
AAIA						Athene Annuity and Life Company
AAM						Apollo Asset Management, Inc., formerly known as Apollo Global Management, Inc.
AARe						Athene Annuity Re Ltd., a Bermuda reinsurance subsidiary
ACRA						Athene Co-Invest Reinsurance Affiliate Holding Ltd., together with its subsidiaries
ACRA HoldCo						Athene Co-Invest Reinsurance Affiliate Holding Ltd.
ADIP						Apollo/Athene Dedicated Investment Program
AGM						Apollo Global Management, Inc.
AHL						Athene Holding Ltd.
ALRe						Athene Life Re Ltd., a Bermuda reinsurance subsidiary
ALReI						Athene Life Re International Ltd., a Bermuda reinsurance subsidiary
AOG						Apollo Operating Group
Apollo						Apollo Global Management, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (other than us or our subsidiaries)
Apollo Group						(1) AGM and AGM’s subsidiaries, including AAM, (2) any investment fund or other collective investment vehicle whose general partner or managing member is owned, directly or indirectly, by clause (1), (3) BRH Holdings GP, Ltd. and each of its shareholders, (4) any executive officer or employee of AGM or AGM’s subsidiaries, and (5) any affiliate of a person described in clauses (1), (2), (3) or (4) above; provided none of AHL or its subsidiaries (other than ACRA HoldCo and ACRA HoldCo’s subsidiaries) will be deemed to be a member of the Apollo Group
AUSA						Athene USA Corporation
Athora						Athora Holding Ltd.
BMA						Bermuda Monetary Authority
ISG						Apollo Insurance Solutions Group LP
Jackson						Jackson Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries
LIMRA						Life Insurance and Market Research Association
MidCap Financial						MidCap FinCo Designated Activity Company
NAIC						National Association of Insurance Commissioners
NYSDFS						New York State Department of Financial Services
US Treasury						United States Department of the Treasury
VIAC						Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company
Venerable						Venerable Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries
Wheels Donlen						Wheels, Inc. (Wheels), merged with Donlen LLC (Donlen)

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Certain Terms & Acronyms


Term or Acronym						Definition
ABS						Asset-backed securities
ACL						Authorized control level RBC as defined by the model created by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
ALM						Asset liability management
Alternative investments						Alternative investments, including investment funds, CLO equity positions and certain other debt instruments considered to be equity-like
Base of earnings						Earnings generated from our results of operations and the underlying profitability drivers of our business
Bermuda capital						The capital of Athene’s non-US reinsurance subsidiaries calculated under US statutory accounting principles, including that for policyholder reserve liabilities which are subjected to US cash flow testing requirements, but (i) excluding certain items that do not exist under our applicable Bermuda requirements, such as interest maintenance reserves and (ii) including certain Bermuda statutory accounting differences, such as marking to market of inception date investment gains or losses relating to reinsurance transactions. Bermuda capital may from time to time materially differ from the calculation of statutory capital under US statutory accounting principles primarily due to the foregoing differences.
Bermuda RBC						The risk-based capital ratio of our non-US reinsurance subsidiaries by applying NAIC risk-based capital factors to the statutory financial statements on an aggregate basis. Adjustments are made to (i) exclude US subsidiaries which are included within our US RBC Ratio, (ii) exclude our interests in the AOG units and other non-insurance subsidiary holding companies from our capital base and (iii) limit RBC concentration charges such that when they are applied to determine target capital, the charges do not exceed 100% of the asset’s carrying value.
Block reinsurance						A transaction in which the ceding company cedes all or a portion of a block of previously issued annuity contracts through a reinsurance agreement
BSCR						Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement
CAL						Company action level risk-based capital as defined by the model created by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
CLO						Collateralized loan obligation
CMBS						Commercial mortgage-backed securities
CML						Commercial mortgage loans
Cost of crediting						The interest credited to the policyholders on our fixed annuities, including, with respect to our fixed indexed annuities, option costs, as well as institutional costs related to institutional products, presented on an annualized basis for interim periods
Cost of funds						Cost of funds includes liability costs related to cost of crediting on both deferred annuities and institutional products, as well as other liability costs. Cost of funds is computed as the total liability costs divided by the average net invested assets for the relevant period. Presented on an annualized basis for interim periods.
DAC						Deferred acquisition costs
Deferred annuities						Fixed indexed annuities, annual reset annuities, multi-year guaranteed annuities and registered index-linked annuities
DSI						Deferred sales inducement
Excess capital						Capital in excess of the level management believes is needed to support our current operating strategy
FIA						Fixed indexed annuity, which is an insurance contract that earns interest at a crediting rate based on a specified index on a tax-deferred basis
Fixed annuities						FIAs together with fixed rate annuities
Fixed rate annuity						An insurance contract that offers tax-deferred growth and the opportunity to produce a guaranteed stream of retirement income for the lifetime of its policyholder
Flow reinsurance						A transaction in which the ceding company cedes a portion of newly issued policies to the reinsurer
GAAP						Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America
GLWB						Guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit
GMDB						Guaranteed minimum death benefit
Gross invested assets						The sum of (a) total investments on the consolidated balance sheet with available-for-sale securities at amortized cost, excluding derivatives, (b) cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, (c) investments in related parties, (d) accrued investment income, (e) consolidated variable interest entities’ assets, liabilities and noncontrolling interest and (f) policy loans ceded (which offset the direct policy loans in total investments). Gross invested assets includes investments supporting assumed funds withheld and modco agreements and excludes assets associated with funds withheld liabilities related to business exited through reinsurance agreements and derivative collateral (offsetting the related cash positions). Gross invested assets includes the entire investment balance attributable to ACRA as ACRA is 100% consolidated
IMA						Investment management agreement
IMO						Independent marketing organization
Investment margin on deferred annuities						Investment margin applies to deferred annuities and is the excess of our net investment earned rate over the cost of crediting to our policyholders, presented on an annualized basis for interim periods
Liability outflows						The aggregate of withdrawals on our deferred annuities, maturities of our funding agreements, payments on payout annuities, and pension group annuity benefit payments
MCR						Minimum capital requirements
MMS						Minimum margin of solvency
Modco						Modified coinsurance
MVA						Market value adjustment
MYGA						Multi-year guaranteed annuity

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Term or Acronym						Definition
Net invested assets						The sum of (a) total investments on the consolidated balance sheet with available-for-sale securities at amortized cost, excluding derivatives, (b) cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, (c) investments in related parties, (d) accrued investment income, (e) consolidated variable interest entities’ assets, liabilities and noncontrolling interest and (f) policy loans ceded (which offset the direct policy loans in total investments). Net invested assets includes investments supporting assumed funds withheld and modco agreements and excludes assets associated with funds withheld liabilities related to business exited through reinsurance agreements and derivative collateral (offsetting the related cash positions). Net invested assets includes our economic ownership of ACRA investments but does not include the investments associated with the noncontrolling interest
Net investment earned rate						Income from our net invested assets divided by the average net invested assets for the relevant period, presented on an annualized basis for interim periods
Net investment spread						Net investment spread measures our investment performance less the total cost of our liabilities, presented on an annualized basis for interim periods
Net reserve liabilities						The sum of (a) interest sensitive contract liabilities, (b) future policy benefits, (c) dividends payable to policyholders, and (d) other policy claims and benefits, offset by reinsurance recoverable, excluding policy loans ceded. Net reserve liabilities also includes the reserves related to assumed modco agreements in order to appropriately match the costs incurred in the consolidated statements of income (loss) with the liabilities. Net reserve liabilities is net of the ceded liabilities to third-party reinsurers as the costs of the 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. Net reserve liabilities is net of the reserve liabilities attributable to the ACRA noncontrolling interest
Other liability costs						Other liability costs include DAC, DSI and VOBA amortization, change in rider reserves, the cost of liabilities on products other than deferred annuities and institutional products, excise taxes, as well as offsets for premiums, product charges and other revenues
Payout annuities						Annuities with a current cash payment component, which consist primarily of single premium immediate annuities, supplemental contracts and structured settlements
Policy loan						A loan to a policyholder under the terms of, and which is secured by, a policyholder’s policy
RBC						Risk-based capital
Rider reserves						Guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits and guaranteed minimum death benefits reserves
RMBS						Residential mortgage-backed securities
RML						Residential mortgage loan
Sales						All money paid into an individual annuity, including money paid into new contracts with initial purchase occurring in the specified period and existing contracts with initial purchase occurring prior to the specified period (excluding internal transfers)
SPIA						Single premium immediate annuity
Surplus assets						Assets in excess of policyholder obligations, determined in accordance with the applicable domiciliary jurisdiction’s statutory accounting principles
TAC						Total adjusted capital as defined by the model created by the NAIC
US RBC Ratio						The CAL RBC ratio for AADE, our parent US insurance company
VIE						Variable interest entity
VOBA						Value of business acquired

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Item 1. Financial Statements

Index to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)




Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)		8

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) (unaudited)		10

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (unaudited)		11

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Equity (unaudited)		12

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited)		14

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)		16

	Note 1. Business, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies	16

	Note 2. Business Combination	16

	Note 3. Investments	21

	Note 4. Derivative Instruments	32

	Note 5. Variable Interest Entities	35

	Note 6. Fair Value	36

	Note 7. Deferred Acquisition Costs, Deferred Sales Inducements and Value of Business Acquired	52

	Note 8. Debt	53

	Note 9. Equity	53

	Note 10. Related Parties	55

	Note 11. Commitments and Contingencies	58

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ATHENE HOLDING LTD.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)


	Successor		Predecessor
(In millions)	June 30, 2022		December 31, 2021
Assets
Investments
Available-for-sale securities, at fair value (amortized cost: 2022 – $107,207 and 2021 – $96,458; allowance for credit losses: 2022 – $609 and 2021 – $123)	$	92,011	$	100,159
Trading securities, at fair value	1,735		2,056
Equity securities (portion at fair value: 2022 – $1,108 and 2021 – $1,170)	1,508		1,170
Mortgage loans (allowance for credit losses: 2021 – $154; portion at fair value: 2022 – $25,218 and 2021 – $17)	25,218		20,748
Investment funds (portion at fair value: 2022 – $25 and 2021 – $183)	133		1,178
Policy loans	358		312
Funds withheld at interest (portion at fair value: 2022 – $(3,958) and 2021 – $782)	37,638		43,907
Derivative assets	2,932		4,387
Short-term investments (portion at fair value: 2022 – $238 and 2021 – $139)	264		139
Other investments (portion at fair value: 2022 – $142 and 2021 – $130)	855		1,473
Total investments	162,652		175,529
Cash and cash equivalents	11,172		9,479
Restricted cash	753		796
Investments in related parties
Available-for-sale securities, at fair value (amortized cost: 2022 – $9,429 and 2021 – $10,401; allowance for credit losses: 2022 – $20 and 2021 – $0)	8,955		10,402
Trading securities, at fair value	898		1,781
Equity securities, at fair value	163		284
Mortgage loans (allowance for credit losses: 2021 – $5; portion at fair value: 2022 – $1,416 and 2021 – $0)	1,416		1,360
Investment funds (portion at fair value: 2022 – $818 and 2021 – $2,958)	1,538		7,391
Funds withheld at interest (portion at fair value: 2022 – $(1,129) and 2021 – $578)	10,675		12,207

Other investments	272		222
Accrued investment income (related party: 2022 – $76 and 2021 – $54)	1,086		962
Reinsurance recoverable (portion at fair value: 2022 – $1,580 and 2021 – $1,991)	4,437		4,594
Deferred acquisition costs, deferred sales inducements and value of business acquired	4,890		5,362
Goodwill	4,153		—
Other assets (related party: 2022 – $83 and 2021 – $0)

Form: 10-Q

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