A Deal With Harris Divides Brookfield and the Firm It Saved (1)

Those dialed in for American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.’s earnings call last week all seemed to know about the abrupt resignation of a director representing the company’s largest investor -- all except Chief Executive Officer Anant Bhalla, that is.

Minutes beforehand, Brookfield Asset Management Inc. -- which owns about 18.5% of AEL -- said Chief Investment Officer Sachin Shah was resigning from the insurer’s board, citing a fundamental change in the strategic direction of the firm, and that it may sell its shares. Analysts on the conference call pressed Bhalla for details as they watched a third ...