RiskFirst’s PFaroe extends its reach as Athene helps pension plan sponsors seeking to optimize pension buyout transaction economics
Athene, a rapidly growing pension annuity provider in the U.S., has adopted RiskFirst’s pension risk analytics and reporting platform, PFaroe, to enhance their monitoring capabilities for plan sponsors. Athene will use PFaroe’s on-demand liability and transaction price monitoring services to help plan sponsors evaluate risk, enabling those considering purchasing an annuity to transact at the optimal time.
As the pension risk-transfer market undergoes significant growth – a trend expected to continue during 2019 – providing innovative, efficient, effective tools to enable plan sponsors to make the best financial decisions is becoming increasingly important.
Sean Brennan, Head of Pension Risk Transfer (PRT), Athene, says:
“We see real value in moving from monitoring liabilities and insurance prices on an ad hoc basis to a more frequent – even daily – basis. Through PFaroe, plan sponsors will have up-to-date financial metrics and data, and a robust set of analysis at their fingertips, allowing them to evaluate the attractiveness of insurance pricing against those key financial metrics quickly and easily.”
PFaroe’s forecasting capabilities also provide the opportunity for plan sponsors to consider both the immediate and the long-term impact of market changes and strategic decisions on their plan.
Brennan adds:
“There is growing interest from clients in maximizing their ability to make informed decisions when it comes to hitting targeted financial metrics. We have entered into this partnership with RiskFirst as we are committed to investing in innovative technology to address these needs and bring added value to our clients.”
Matthew Seymour, CEO of RiskFirst, comments:
“Athene, as a pension annuity provider, represents an entirely new client type for us, and PFaroe perfectly aligns with their approach: helping clients to understand risks and optimize buyout decisions. Through its powerful, expanding capabilities, PFaroe is extending its reach and cementing its position as the tool of choice across the pension risk management space.”
About Athene Holding Ltd.
Athene, through its subsidiaries, is a leading retirement services company that issues, reinsures and acquires retirement savings products designed for the increasing number of individuals and institutions seeking to fund retirement needs. Athene is a leader in the pension risk transfer industry, managing pension payments for more than 90,000 annuitants. During 2018, Athene closed seven pension risk transfer transactions totaling more than $2.6 billion.
[1] https://news.bloomberglaw.com/employee-benefits/pension-buyouts-likely-to-be-bolder-if-not-bigger-in-2019
