{"id":385,"date":"2021-08-03T07:10:15","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T11:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/episode-13-with-bill-wheeler-president-at-athene-holdings-mergers-acquisitions-and-strategic-partnerships\/"},"modified":"2022-08-15T10:33:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T14:33:19","slug":"episode-13-with-bill-wheeler-president-at-athene-holdings-mergers-acquisitions-and-strategic-partnerships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/episode-13-with-bill-wheeler-president-at-athene-holdings-mergers-acquisitions-and-strategic-partnerships\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 13 with Bill Wheeler, President at Athene Holdings \u2013 Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 180px;\" src=\"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/beyond-the-challenge\/embed\/episodes\/Episode-13-with-Bill-Wheeler--President-at-Athene-Holdings--Mergers--Acquisitions-and-Strategic-Partnerships-e1511rt\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this episode, Kevin and Sandy Dougherty talk with Bill Wheeler, President, Athene Holdings about his insights on how carriers can stay relevant and the opportunities he sees for the insurance industry through mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Bill is responsible for Athene\u2019s overall strategic direction. In particular, Bill oversees all of Athene\u2019s business units, which includes its retail and institutional operations, and its corporate development and risk activities. Prior to joining Athene, Mr. Wheeler was President of the Americas group for MetLife Inc. (\u201cMetLife\u201d) where he oversaw the insurance and retirement business in the United States and Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Read the Transcript Here<\/h2>\n<div style=\"overflow-y: scroll; max-height: 400px; background: #eee; padding: 20px; border: 1px solid #ddd;\">\n<p class=\"p1\">(intro)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>Beyond the Challenge is a podcast where executives in the insurance and financial services industry share their insights and experiences. Host Kevin and Sandy Dougherty talk with today\u2019s top business leaders about what keeps them up at night and the biggest opportunity organizations can capitalize on today. We encourage you to listen, share, and subscribe to our program.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>Kevin and Sandy Dougherty each have over 20 years of experience in insurance and financial services, corporate leadership, and executive search. They\u2019re the owners of Global Corporate Solutions and Global Corporate Leaders. Global Corporate Solutions partners with organizations to gain efficiencies and contain costs. Global Corporate Leaders partners with organizations to enhance and evaluate talent.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>Beyond the Challenge podcast is sponsored by Exactuals, perfecting payments and the data driving them.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>Welcome to Beyond the Challenges. Here are your hosts, Kevin and Sandy.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">(interview)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Sandy:<\/b> Today, we are talking with Bill Wheeler, President, Athene Holdings, about the trends, challenges, and opportunities he sees for the insurance industry. Bill, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into the insurance industry?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> Yeah, I\u2019d be happy to. By the way, thanks for having me on. It\u2019s nice to talk to both of you. I don\u2019t know if anybody gets into the insurance business on purpose. It\u2019s always a bit of an accident. When I got out of business school, I joined an investment bank on Wall Street and one of the very first projects I worked on was the demutualization of The Equitable back in the early 90s. You know, The Equitable got into trouble with real estate issues and their investment portfolio and we ended up demutualizing the company and bringing in as a significant investor and it was a great tutorial about how life insurers worked and I eventually worked on a lot more demutualizations and other insurance company deals and then, eventually, MetLife hired me as their treasurer to help them with their demutualization and IPO and I ended up having a long career there and then came to Athene about six years ago and a lot of people, when I left banking to join a mutual insurance company, people thought it was maybe not the wisest thing to do and I think, in hindsight, most of them who followed my career think it worked out okay and they kind of wish they had done it too because banking has gotten a lot more difficult and so many others have kind of followed my steps, left banking and worked in management in the life insurance industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Kevin:<\/b> Bill, all sectors face challenges but in the insurance industry, the list seems especially long. Many carriers seem to be struggling to stay relevant while others are embracing new technology, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Sandy:<\/b> Bill, what do you see is the main barrier to innovation for insurance companies?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> I think it\u2019s the nature of the business a little bit. It\u2019s very mature and a lot of the business isn\u2019t growing and so, to invest in new innovation or to make the effort to explore a new area, you know, there needs to be a payback and it needs to be an important priority and if you just don\u2019t see the growth and if all you\u2019re gonna be able to do is maybe take market share from somebody else, it\u2019s hard to justify. So, I think a lot of the industry has stagnated a little bit but those tend to be the areas where there\u2019s not much growth, you know? In the growth areas, I think the innovation has been pretty good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Sandy:<\/b> How difficult is it to change a traditional company into an insurer of the future?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> I guess it\u2019s pretty hard. There aren\u2019t many good examples, right? Of companies that have done it, but there are some and I think there will be more because, you know, the low interest rate environment has really kind of forced management teams and boards to say, you know, \u201cWe\u2019re gonna have to do things differently and we\u2019re going to have to evolve and change and change our business model,\u201d and so I think they\u2019re more willing to be proactive and companies that have done it well, you know, and I think of recently, a company like Voya, have been rewarded by the marketplace for evolving and positioning themselves for growth in the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Kevin:<\/b> How has Athene changed their investment strategy based upon the current low interest rate environment?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> Well, I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s changed because I think it\u2019s always been this way. You know, Athene\u2019s a relatively young company so we have invested in, with our partner, Apollo, our own investment platform. So, for instance, you know, we have a middle market lender called MidCap. We have an aircraft leasing business. Until very recently, we had a residential mortgage origination business that we controlled and those organizations supplied us with investment product and it was private. It\u2019s very, very hard to do well if all you\u2019re gonna do is buy public corporate bonds, you know, the public fixed income markets, and so, you know, we have focused on direct origination as a way to generate additional yield and the sacrifices, you\u2019re usually giving up some level of liquidity but the life insurance industry can do that. They don\u2019t have to have everything on their balance sheet liquid every day because their liabilities are pretty sticky. So, Athene has probably embraced this as much as anybody in the industry in terms of pursuing niche alpha strategies which, you know, will generate higher yields.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Kevin:<\/b> What is Athene doing to stay relevant in the current insurance landscape?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> You know, Athene five years ago was pretty much just an originator of indexed annuities, fixed indexed annuities, and did some reinsurance of indexed annuities. They were good at it and there were several strengths the company had and what we\u2019ve done is we\u2019ve taken those strengths and applied them to other markets. So, now, we\u2019re the leading pension risk transfer company, which is pension and payouts, you know, it\u2019s just like \u2014 it\u2019s really just a group payout annuity. It\u2019s the same sort of liability but a different market. We\u2019ve also expanded internationally. You know, we\u2019re doing reinsurance deals in the UK and in Japan, you know, which also have very big annuity markets and so the idea is to take what we\u2019re really good at and leverage it in as many different markets as possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Sandy:<\/b> Great. What is your opinion about the future of insurance regulation and compliance as you see it today?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> Well, it\u2019s probably not gonna get better. I don\u2019t think we can count on it getting easier. Recently \u2014 I sit on the board of a company which does a lot of business in Europe called Athora and Athora has to implement something called IFRS 17 which is a new accounting pronouncement for European insurers and, you know, the estimate to comply with that for the industry is about 20 billion and they think bigger companies, it will cost them $200 million apiece to just comply with the new accounting reg and everybody involved sort of thinks this is a good idea, which is kind of amazing to me. So, that\u2019s the attitude of the regulators is we are going to continue \u2014 and the accounting standards boards and all that, we\u2019re gonna continue to tell you what to do no matter how much it costs, no matter how impractical it might seem. So, that\u2019s tough. I think also, on the flip side, you know, something like the best-interests situation that the Biden administration seems to be reviving, you know, the industry had kind of prepared itself to adopt that anyway, you know, before Trump got elected and so I think having to go back and do it again, I mean, I think of our own situation, I don\u2019t think we feel like it\u2019s gonna be that big a deal to adopt but some of these regulations seem to be not very practical but sometimes I think they\u2019re gonna be good for consumers and I think that\u2019s a positive. So, it\u2019s a mixed bag. And, you know, the industry is very engaged with the regulatory community and trying to push back, trying to get the regulators to the right answer, but it\u2019s difficult.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Sandy:<\/b> Thank you. What type of strategic partnerships do you see working best for the carriers?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> I think insurance companies that need specialized investment expertise, somebody who manages a particular asset class well so they can get some of that alpha investment performance, I think that\u2019s important. I think, too, you\u2019re seeing more insurance carriers team up with reinsurers who kind of give them capital relief or help them manage their capital more efficiently, I think those are working well, by and large, so that insurance companies can, you know, focus more on what they do well or on the outward facing side of the business. Partnerships with regard to distribution can be difficult. The distribution source, if that\u2019s a bank or, you know, some kind of broker dealer, for example, they tend to extract a big pound of flesh. Insurance carriers love to have sales and they want more sales and they\u2019re willing to pay a lot for \u2019em and sometimes they think these distribution partners have figured out what\u2019s the exact point at which I can leverage, take out as much of the economics as possible and still get the deal done. So, I just think you have to be thoughtful about how you pick your partners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Kevin:<\/b> Have you seen a trend of more M&amp;A activities from the carriers? And if so, why?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> Definitely. There\u2019s definitely an uptick in M&amp;A, you know, not huge deals but there\u2019s certainly a lot of activity and whether it\u2019s technically a merger and acquisition or it\u2019s just a big piece of block reinsurance, we\u2019re seeing a lot of carriers becoming more proactive about managing their balance sheets and getting rid of legacy business that isn\u2019t very profitable, especially in today\u2019s current interest rate environment and so there\u2019s a lot more activity as the industry is basically going through this grand restructuring. And, by the way, that\u2019s not only happening in the US, it\u2019s happening in Europe, it\u2019s going to probably happen in Japan and for much of the same reasons, you know? Low interest rates and a relatively difficult regulatory environment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Kevin:<\/b> Bill, do you see outsourcing becoming more prevalent or are carriers keeping more in house?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> I think most carriers are outsourcing more all the time and it makes sense because I think they try to figure out where in any given business process is the value being added and what\u2019s really just a commodity. You know, by outsourcing, you\u2019re generally working with a partner that has more expertise than you do, probably has greater scale, is much more willing to reinvest in their business in this, you know, technology or activity because that\u2019s their business than the insurance carrier is so we use outsourcing quite a bit, not for everything, but we generally think it makes the most sense in many situations and I think the rest of the industry is doing that as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Kevin:<\/b> What do you see is the biggest opportunity for the insurance industry over the next three to five years?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> You know, Kevin, I think it\u2019s gotta be continuing to pursue the retirement market and figuring out how you\u2019re going to participate as a company in that. It\u2019s where the growth is, you know? It\u2019s where the margins are and so if you\u2019re not in the retirement market someway, somehow, I think things are gonna be difficult. You know, I think a lot of people think, \u201cOh, it\u2019s gotta be technology driven,\u201d and, look, there isn\u2019t much evidence yet that consumers are willing to buy a lot of life insurance. I\u2019m really talking more about the life insurance industry now online. You know, people keep dabbling in it and I think there is some growth but it\u2019s still not very significant. So, certainly, for the next three to five years, what I would call the near term, it\u2019s all about repositioning your company and then also, you know, to deal with the current tough environment and also how do you play the retirement growth story?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Kevin:<\/b> What is the best decision you made that had a positive impact on your career?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> I think leaving banking. Honestly, when I did, I was sort of \u2014 I had just been promoted to managing director and I had kind of decided I didn\u2019t wanna do this the rest of my life, I wanted to try managing, I wanted to try running a business, and so, again, people thought that was a little goofy to do, but, in hindsight, I think it turned out to be a very good decision and I think others who have done it have I think also been generally happy. I don\u2019t see too many people go running back to banking. I would also just say, it\u2019s \u2014 you have to be proactive about managing your career. That sounds obvious but a lot of times people don\u2019t do that and they should more than maybe they are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Sandy:<\/b> What advice would you give to somebody looking to get into the financial services or insurance industry?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> You know, I think the natural thing to say is go someplace that\u2019s either mid-sized or smaller organization and you\u2019ll get much more hands-on experience and you\u2019ll probably learn more and there\u2019s definitely a lot of truth to that. But there\u2019s also a benefit to doing the opposite, which is going to someplace big where there\u2019s a lot of training programs, where working for a big company that everybody\u2019s heard of and getting trained there, it probably sets yourself up for what\u2019s next. I would tell people, sure, go work for the biggest company in the industry, learn what that\u2019s like, get as much out it as you can but then be prepared to go. Be prepared to leave, because it will probably be more difficult to move up the ladder there. In the long run, you\u2019re gonna probably have a lot more opportunity, both career wise and, frankly, financially, you know, to work in smaller organizations where you can advance but don\u2019t be worried about working for a big corporation at the beginning but, in the long run, you\u2019re probably not gonna wanna stay there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Sandy:<\/b> Bill, thank you for your time today. It\u2019s been great to hear your insights on how carriers can stay relevant and the opportunities you see for the industry in the next few years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bill:<\/b> Well, thanks very much for having me. It was nice to talk to you both.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">(outro)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>Thank you for listening. Please make sure to subscribe and share so we can stay in touch. If you would like to learn more about how Global Corporate Solutions and Global Corporate Leaders can help your organization recruit the best talent, increase your diversity, and save money, please visit our website at www.thegclgroup.com.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode, Kevin and Sandy Dougherty talk with Bill Wheeler, President, Athene Holdings about his insights on how carriers can stay relevant and the opportunities he sees for the insurance industry through mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. Bill is responsible for Athene\u2019s overall strategic direction. In particular, Bill oversees all of Athene\u2019s business units, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":467,"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegclgroup.com\/gclgcs2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}