Lincoln National Said to Seek Deal to Cut Life Insurance Risk

Lincoln National Corp.is seeking a reinsurance deal that would shift billions of dollars of life insurance reserves off its balance sheet, according to people familiar with the matter.

The firm, which markets itself as Lincoln Financial Group, is in talks with peers to backstop roughly $5 billion of life policies, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

These could include so-called universal life with secondary guarantee policies, some of the people said. Such policies prevent coverage from lapsing if certain conditions are met, regardless of their value.

Reinsurance deals allow carriers to shift ...