Anant Bhalla

Chief Executive Officer & President, American Equity Holdings

Proven track record as a business builder and financial services operator, having driven the successful transformation of the ~$70 Bn balance sheet of American Equity (NYSE: AEL) into a prudent investor for insurance policyholders with unique capabilities in private credit and real assets. Delivered a 3x return for investors in 4-year tenor as CEO while reducing the risk profile of the company by raising capital and operating at a 12-14x asset leverage and conservative financial leverage profile. Improved profitability by 1000bps in terms of ROE (8% to 18+% from 2020 to 2023).

Prior to American Equity, drove significant transformation at the following companies:

As CFO of MetLife’s US business, spin-off from MetLife of Brighthouse Financial (NYSE: BHF) and co-led the successful deregulation of MetLife from Federal Reserve SIFI status after de-risking of the life and annuity business.
As CFO of newly public Brighthouse Financial (BHF) after re-domesticating Life business from Connecticut to Delaware, implemented a hedging strategy for $150Bn variable annuity block to deliver $2+Bn of statutory capital generation in bull markets, while limiting tail risks in bear markets to maintain capitalization in line with AA capital standards.
As CRO and Treasurer of Lincoln Financial led the repayment of TARP funds and repair of the balance sheet with multiple capital raises and build out of new hedging strategy for life and annuity business.
As Treasurer at Ameriprise Financial, led the successful spin-out of the company from American Express in 2004 and then the transformation of the insurer into a wealth manager and asset manager. Led parts of the insurance businesses and oversaw the international asset management business.
Almost 25 years in the insurance and insurance asset management business, leading successful transformations of businesses and a respected partner by federal and state regulators in the US (Iowa, Delaware, NAIC) and Bermuda. Sought out speaker by rating agencies like S&P on insurance and asset management business topics.