这些机构最初以 Athene 为例，以较高收益的私人信贷对冲保证回报，压低成本而提高年金报酬，进而带动公营与互助寿险公司采用类似策略。当更多保险人追逐私人信贷，风险管理者更担忧投资复杂、流动性不足及估值困难，Nuveen 总部资产配置主管 Joseph Pursley 指出，承作机制已由「直接撮合」转向「看得懂、看得穿再决定是否承作」。到2024年底，美国寿险公司持有 Moody's 标示为较高风险资产已达 6850 亿美元，约占固定收益总资产 3.8 兆美元的 18%；而欧洲、英国与日本多数保险公司则较慢，私募信贷在一般帐户中的比重约 10%。
批评者指出，部分已入帐产品——如以私募股权/信贷为基础、转化为高评等票据的 collateralised loan obligations 与 rated note feeders——可能未被充分尽职审核。监管机构与保户担心，若大型寿险机构出现问题，可能引发美国「nest eggs」资产的更广泛风险外溢。BIS 已警告在市场动荡时可能出现保险公司「fire sales」，并可能发生保险投资评级机构间的ratings shopping。Apollo 与 KKR 持有的关联交易亦受关注：Athene 美国人生命集团有 18% 投资来自关联方，Global Atlantic（KKR 于 2021 年收购）约有 22%；Athene 将其称为与母公司 Apollo 的「alignment」，但对许多机构而言，对软体、资料中心等新兴私募资产及父公司贷款的审查正在收紧，Legal & General 的 Gareth Mee 强调，必须能看透复杂产品背后的基础标的。
Since the 2008 financial crisis, lending pressure moved from banks into private capital, and life insurance and annuity firms have become a major destination for that retirement money. Blackstone has signed multiple asset-management deals with insurers, while KKR and Apollo Global Management have acquired insurers outright and routed policyholder-premium flows into loans they originate. As a result, the industry shifted into a segment once relatively quiet in the financial system, with private investors controlling hundreds of billions of dollars of retirement savings. UBS chair Colm Kelleher warned that this shift places insurers near the centre of systemic risk building in less-regulated corners.
These investors first used private credit as a source of higher yield than traditional bond-heavy portfolios, then expanded into broader private assets through insurers. Joseph Pursley of Nuveen says underwriting has become more selective: insurers increasingly review each transaction before accepting it, instead of relying on discretionary sourcing. US insurers now hold 685 billion dollars of riskier assets flagged by Moody’s as of the end of 2024, about 18% of US fixed-income holdings of 3.8 trillion dollars. European, UK, and Japanese insurers remain less exposed, with private credit about 10% of general account assets in many cases, but demand is still growing and increasingly complex products are being added.
Regulators, policyholders, and some executives now argue these portfolios can be opaque, illiquid, and difficult to value. The BIS has warned of possible fire sales during stress episodes and possible ratings shopping that can weaken capital discipline. Parent-linked exposures are especially controversial: Athene had 18% affiliate-sourced investments and Global Atlantic about 22% after KKR’s 2021 acquisition, prompting questions about pricing, incentives, and underwriting rigor. Athene says affiliate affiliation creates alignment, while others increasingly scrutinize software and data-centre loans, collateralised loan obligations, and rated note feeders. As legal and institutional buyers now demand transparency, insurers increasingly insist that they can understand and look through the underlying of structured products.