The returns have been impressive. By investing in private credit, including illiquid instruments that carry higher yields than publicly traded bonds, these operators have been able to outcompete traditional insurers on the rates they offer customers. But critics, including researchers at the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, have raised pointed questions about what lies beneath. A March 2026 analysis found that roughly a fifth of the investments held by Athene, Apollo’s insurance arm, and KKR’s Global Atlantic now consist of loans made to affiliated funds – a form of self-dealing that regulators acknowledge is difficult to evaluate given the opacity of the underlying assets.
