Related Parties

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

10. Related Parties

Apollo

Fee structure – Substantially all of our investments are managed by Apollo. Apollo provides us a full suite of services that includes: direct investment management; asset sourcing and allocation; mergers and acquisition sourcing, execution and asset diligence; and strategic support and advice. Apollo also provides certain operational support services for our investment portfolio including investment compliance, tax, legal and risk management support.

Apollo has extensive experience managing our investment portfolio and its knowledge of our liability profile enables it to tailor an asset management strategy to fit our specific needs. This strategy has proven responsive to changing market conditions and focuses on earning incremental yield by taking liquidity risk and complexity risk, rather than assuming solely credit risk. Our partnership has enabled us to take advantage of investment opportunities that would likely not otherwise have been available to us.

Under our fee agreement with Apollo, we pay Apollo a base management fee of (1) 0.225% per year on a monthly basis equal to the lesser of (A) $103.4 billion, which represents the aggregate fair market value of substantially all of the assets in substantially all of the accounts of or relating to us (collectively, the Accounts) as of December 31, 2018 (Backbook Value), and (B) the aggregate book value of substantially all of the assets in the Accounts at the end of the respective month, plus (2) 0.15% per year of the amount, if any, by which the aggregate book value of substantially all of the assets in the Accounts at the end of the respective month exceeds the Backbook Value, subject to certain adjustments. Additionally, we pay a sub-allocation fee based on specified asset class tiers ranging from 0.065% to 0.70% of the book value of such assets, with the higher percentages in this range for asset classes that are designed to have more alpha generating abilities.

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, we incurred management fees, inclusive of the base and sub-allocation fees, of $182 million and $140 million, respectively. During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, we incurred management fees, inclusive of the base and sub-allocation fees, of $368 million and $284 million, respectively. Management fees are included within net investment income on the condensed consolidated statements of income (loss). As of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, management fees payable were $72 million and $59 million, respectively, and are included in other liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Such amounts include fees incurred attributable to ACRA including all of the noncontrolling interest in ACRA.

In addition to the assets on our condensed consolidated balance sheets managed by Apollo, Apollo manages the assets underlying our funds withheld receivable. For these assets, the third-party cedants pay Apollo fees based upon the same fee construct we have with Apollo. Such fees directly reduce the settlement payments that we receive from the third-party cedant and, as such, we indirectly pay those fees. Finally, Apollo charges management fees and carried interest on Apollo-managed funds and other entities in which we invest. Neither the fees paid by such third-party cedants nor the fees or carried interest paid by such Apollo-managed funds or other entities are included in the investment management fee amounts noted above.

Termination of ACRA investment management agreements (IMA) – Our bye-laws currently provide that, with respect to IMAs covering assets backing reserves and surplus in ACRA, whether from internal reinsurance, third-party reinsurance, or inorganic transactions, among us or any of our subsidiaries, on the one hand, and Apollo Insurance Solutions Group LP (ISG), on the other hand, we may not, and will not cause our subsidiaries to, terminate any such IMA with Apollo other than at specified termination dates and with relevant board approvals of independent directors and written notice.

Governance – We have a management investment and asset liability committee, which includes members of our senior management and reports to the risk committee of our board of directors. The committee focuses on strategic decisions involving our investment portfolio, such as approving investment limits, new asset classes and our allocation strategy, reviewing large asset transactions, as well as monitoring our credit risk, and the management of our assets and liabilities.

Prior to our merger with AGM on January 1, 2022, a significant voting interest in the Company was held by shareholders who are members of the Apollo Group. James Belardi, our Chief Executive Officer, also serves as a member of the board of directors and an executive officer of AGM and as Chief Executive Officer of ISG. Mr. Belardi also owns a profit interest in ISG and in connection with such interest receives quarterly distributions equal to 3.35% of base management fees and 4.5% of subadvisory fees, as such fees are defined in our fee agreement with Apollo. Additionally, six of the sixteen members of our board of directors (including Mr. Belardi) are employees of or consultants to Apollo. In order to protect against potential conflicts of interest resulting from transactions into which we have entered and will continue to enter into with the Apollo Group, our bye-laws require us to maintain a conflicts committee comprised solely of directors who are not general partners, directors (other than independent directors of AGM), managers, officers or employees of any member of the Apollo Group. The conflicts committee reviews and approves material transactions between us and the Apollo Group, subject to certain exceptions.

Other related party transactions

AAA Investment – During the second quarter of 2022, we contributed $7,845 million of certain of our alternative investments to AAA in exchange for limited partnership interests in AAA. We consolidate AAA as a VIE. Apollo established AAA for the purpose of providing a single vehicle through which we and third-party investors can participate in a portfolio of alternative investments. Additionally, we believe AAA enhances Apollo’s ability to increase alternative assets under management (AUM) by raising capital from third parties, which will allow Athene to achieve greater scale and diversification for alternatives. Third-party investors began to invest in AAA on July 1, 2022.

Athene Freedom – We contributed our limited partnership investment in Athene Freedom, for which an Apollo affiliate is the general partner, to AAA during the second quarter of 2022. Athene Freedom indirectly invests in both Wheels, Inc. (Wheels) and Donlen, LLC (Donlen). We own ABS and corporate debt securities issued by Wheels and Donlen of $931 million and $2,419 million as of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively, which are held as related party AFS securities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. During the second quarter 2022, we received redemptions on Wheels securities of $1,479 million.

MidCap Financial – We have various investments in MidCap Financial including profit participating notes, senior unsecured notes and redeemable preferred stock. During the second quarter of 2022, we contributed our profit participating notes to AAA. We previously held these investments as related party AFS or trading securities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The following summarizes the Predecessor investments in MidCap Financial:


	Predecessor
(In millions)	December 31, 2021

Profit participating notes	$	635
Senior unsecured notes	158
Redeemable preferred stock	7
Total investment in MidCap Financial	$	800

Additionally, we hold ABS and CLO securities issued by MidCap Financial affiliates of $996 million and $897 million as of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively, which are included in related party AFS securities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Athora – We have a cooperation agreement with Athora, pursuant to which, among other things, (1) for a period of 30 days from the receipt of notice of a cession, we have the right of first refusal to reinsure (i) up to 50% of the liabilities ceded from Athora’s reinsurance subsidiaries to Athora Life Re Ltd. and (ii) up to 20% of the liabilities ceded from a third party to any of Athora’s insurance subsidiaries, subject to a limitation in the aggregate of 20% of Athora’s liabilities, (2) Athora agreed to cause its insurance subsidiaries to consider the purchase of certain funding agreements and/or other spread instruments issued by our insurance subsidiaries, subject to a limitation that the fair market value of such funding agreements purchased by any of Athora’s insurance subsidiaries may generally not exceed 3% of the fair market value of such subsidiary’s total assets, (3) we provide Athora with a right of first refusal to pursue acquisition and reinsurance transactions in Europe (other than the United Kingdom (UK)) and (4) Athora provides us and our subsidiaries with a right of first refusal to pursue acquisition and reinsurance transactions in North America and the UK. Notwithstanding the foregoing, pursuant to the cooperation agreement, Athora is only required to use its reasonable best efforts to cause its subsidiaries to adhere to the provisions set forth in the cooperation agreement and therefore Athora’s ability to cause its subsidiaries to act pursuant to the cooperation agreement may be limited by, among other things, legal prohibitions or the inability to obtain the approval of the board of directors or other applicable governing body of the applicable subsidiary, which approval is solely at the discretion of such governing body. As of June 30, 2022, we have not exercised our right of first refusal to reinsure liabilities ceded to Athora’s insurance or reinsurance subsidiaries.

The following table summarizes our investments in Athora:


	Successor		Predecessor
(In millions)	June 30, 2022		December 31, 2021
Investment fund	$	818	$	743
Non-redeemable preferred equity securities	157		171
Total investment in Athora	$	975	$	914

Additionally, as of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we had $58 million and $63 million, respectively, of funding agreements outstanding to Athora. We also have commitments to make additional investments in Athora of $472 million as of June 30, 2022.

Venerable – We have coinsurance and modco agreements with Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company (VIAC). VIAC is a related party due to our minority equity investment in its holding company’s parent, VA Capital, which was $230 million and $219 million as of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. The minority equity investment in VA Capital is included in related party investment funds on the condensed consolidated balance sheets and accounted for as an equity method investment. VA Capital is owned by a consortium of investors, led by affiliates of Apollo, Crestview Partners III Management , LLC and Reverence Capital Partners L.P., and is the parent of Venerable, which is the parent of VIAC.

We also have term loans receivable from Venerable due in 2033, which are included in related party other investments on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. The loans are held at the principal balance less allowances and were $272 million and $222 million as of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. While management views the overall transactions with Venerable as favorable to us, the stated interest rate of 6.257% on the initial term loan to Venerable represented a below-market interest rate, and management considered such rate as part of its evaluation and pricing of the reinsurance transactions.

Strategic Partnership – We have an agreement pursuant to which we may invest up to $2.875 billion over three years in funds managed by Apollo entities (Strategic Partnership). This arrangement is intended to permit us to invest across the Apollo alternatives platform into credit-oriented, strategic and other alternative investments in a manner and size that is consistent with our existing investment strategy. Fees for such investments payable by us to Apollo would be more favorable to us than market rates, and consistent with our existing alternative investments, investments made under the Strategic Partnership require approval of ISG and remain subject to our existing governance processes, including approval by our conflicts committee where applicable. During the second quarter of 2022, we contributed the majority of our Strategic Partnership investments to AAA. As of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we had $144 million and $415 million, respectively, of investments under the Strategic Partnership and these investments are typically included as consolidated VIEs or related party investment funds on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

PK AirFinance – We have investments in PK AirFinance (PK Air), an aviation lending business with a portfolio of loans (Aviation Loans). The Aviation Loans are generally fully secured by aircraft leases and aircraft. Apollo owns the PK Air loan origination platform, including personnel and systems and, pursuant to certain agreements entered into between us, Apollo, and certain entities managed by Apollo, the Aviation Loans are securitized by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for which Apollo acts as ABS manager (ABS-SPV). The ABS-SPV issues tranches of senior notes and subordinated notes, which are secured by the Aviation Loans. We have purchased both senior and subordinated notes of PK Air, which are included in related party AFS or trading securities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. During the first quarter of 2022, we contributed our investment in the subordinated notes to PK Air Holdings, LP (PK Air Holdings) and then contributed PK Air Holdings to AAA during the second quarter of 2022. The following summarizes our investments in PK Air notes:


	Successor		Predecessor
(In millions)	June 30, 2022		December 31, 2021
AFS or trading securities	$	1,102	$	1,401

We also have commitments to make additional investments in PK Air of $1,548 million as of June 30, 2022.

Apollo/Athene Dedicated Investment Program (ADIP) – Our subsidiary, Athene Co-Invest Reinsurance Affiliate Holding Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, ACRA) is partially owned by ADIP, a series of funds managed by Apollo. ALRe currently holds 36.55% of the economic interests in ACRA and all of ACRA’s voting interests, with ADIP holding the remaining 63.45% of the economic interests. During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, we received capital contributions of $400 million and $85 million, respectively, from ADIP. During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, we received capital contributions of $711 million and $320 million, respectively, from ADIP. Additionally, as of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we had $135 million and $81 million, respectively, of related party payables for contingent investment fees payable by ACRA to Apollo. ACRA is obligated to pay the contingent investment fees on behalf of ADIP and, as such, the balance is attributable to noncontrolling interest.

Apollo Share Exchange and Related Transactions – On February 28, 2020, we closed a strategic transaction with AGM and certain affiliates of AGM which collectively comprise the Apollo Operating Group (AOG), pursuant to which we sold 27,959,184 newly issued Class A common shares to the AOG for an investment in Apollo of 29,154,519 newly issued AOG units valued at $1.1 billion and we sold 7,575,758 newly issued Class A common shares to the AOG for $350 million. As of December 31, 2021, the investment in Apollo was $2,112 million, which was included in related party investment funds on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Subsequent to our merger with AGM, our investment in Apollo was distributed to AGM in the first quarter of 2022.