By Matt Wirz

Life insurance companies accelerated purchases of private credit in 2025 with insurers owned by private fund managers leading the charge, according to analysis by Moody's Ratings.

Overall, U.S. life insurers held $807 billion of private credit and illiquid assets in 2025, comprising 20% of their $4 trillion in fixed income assets. That compares to $685 billion, or 18%, held in 2024, according to Moody's.

-- The investments are concentrated among 10 big holders who own $352 billion in private and illiquid investments.

-- Almost 10% of the private investments have below investment-grade credit ratings.

-- About 38% of the private investments are in complex asset-backed debt rather than corporate and government bonds and loans.

-- KKR's insurance unit Global Atlantic and Apollo Global Management's Athene both increased their holdings by around 30%, Moody's said.

"We expect life insurers' allocations to this segment to continue to increase as the private credit market expands in both scale and scope," Moody's said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 09, 2026 12:42 ET (16:42 GMT)

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