Insurers’ CLO Exposure Growing, Moody’s Says: Structured Weekly

Some life insurance companies have exposure to collateralized loan obligations of around 15% even as regulatory scrutiny of the debt packages continues to grow, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service.

CLOs, or bundles of leveraged loans sliced into bonds, have proved popular in recent years for insurers, especially those owned by private equity companies such as Apollo Global Management Inc.’s Athene Holding. Overall, US life insurers’ holdings of CLOs last year likely expanded past the 3.4% average share from 2022 despite the fact that new CLO issuance declined, a sign of their appeal to insurers looking to boost ...