Private Equity and Life Annuity Insurance

Private Equity and Life Annuity Insurance

Tickers Mentioned: Roper Technologies (tkr: ROP); SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC); Verisk (tkr: VRSK)

Private Equity has ramped its exposure to the Life Annuity Insurance industry over the past decade with PE-owned or PE-sponsored insurer’s admitted assets growing from $67.4 billion in 2011 to $604.1 billion at year-end 2020 (per AM Best), a 9x increase. If one considers the general revenue model of the insurance industry, it is one marked by predictability and recurring revenue. Many insurers have the earmarks of Technology-Enabled Services companies given the powerful combination of recurring revenues and proprietary Predictive Analytic capabilities (the latter largely developed over the past 8-10 years). Investors who wish to have Insurance Industry exposure beyond direct investments in insurers could therefore capture indirect exposure by investing in Private Equity firms (either as a public investor or as a limited partner). According to Refinitiv, there were 191 Private Equity-backed insurance deals in 2020 (a record), up from 154 in 2019. On the Insurance Technology side, investors may look to Roper Technologies (tkr: ROP) with its acquisitions of Vertafore and iPipeline; SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC) and Verisk (tkr: VRSK), to name several InsurTech companies, each of which services the insurance industry in a different manner (more to come).