# Athene USA

Athene USA is an Insurance based in West Des Moines, Bermuda.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Insurance
- **Headquarters:** West Des Moines, Bermuda
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Hamilton, Bermuda
- **Founded:** 2009
- **Assets under management:** $380B
- **Website:** athene.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/athene-usa

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Athene USA is a US-based insurance company headquartered in West Des Moines. It oversees approximately $308 billion in assets across seven funds, primarily focused on North America.

## Sectors

- Insurance
- Private Credit
- Real Estate

## People

- Jim Belardi — Co-founder, Executive Chairman, and Chief Investment Officer
- Grant Kvalheim — CEO

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Athene USA?

Jim Belardi, the co-founder and Executive Chairman, retains the Chief Investment Officer role and oversees asset allocation direction. The firm's credit assets are managed by Apollo Global Management, Athene's parent company, under a long-term investment management agreement. The Apollo integration means investment origination, underwriting, and monitoring are performed by Apollo's credit platform, with Athene's internal team focused on asset-liability matching and portfolio risk oversight.

### How does Athene USA source its deal flow?

Deal flow originates predominantly through Apollo Global Management's credit-creation engine. Apollo's direct-lending, commercial real estate, and structured-credit teams source loans and investments, with Athene frequently participating as the primary institutional buyer. This captive sourcing model gives Athene access to deal pipelines that independent insurers cannot replicate. The firm also acquires asset portfolios through block acquisitions of other insurers' retirement liabilities.

### What is Athene's relationship to Apollo Global Management?

Apollo and Athene merged in 2022, consolidating a relationship that had existed since Athene's founding. Apollo now operates as Athene's parent company and exclusive investment manager. The structure eliminates the principal-agent friction typical of insurer-to-asset-manager arrangements — Athene effectively serves as Apollo's permanent-capital funding vehicle, with Apollo keeping the spread between Athene's actuarial liability costs and the yields Apollo can generate on the asset side.

### What asset classes does Athene USA's portfolio include?

The portfolio is concentrated in fixed-income and credit assets, with significant exposure to investment-grade corporate debt, structured credit, commercial real estate loans, and residential mortgages. The firm maintains a highly liquid asset portfolio for short-duration liability management alongside longer-duration, higher-yield credit positions. Commercial real estate lending has included properties in New York, Massachusetts, and Florida, with exposure also extending to UK residential mortgages through Foundation Home Loans.

### Where does Athene USA's capital base come from?

Athene's liability base comes from fixed-annuity policyholders, built through organic retail annuity sales and institutional block acquisitions of existing annuity portfolios from other insurers. This provides a stable, contractually committed funding source that is not subject to investor redemptions or quarterly capital calls. The permanent-capital structure is central to Apollo's ability to hold credit assets through cycles.

## Related profiles

- [Athena Wealth Management](https://altss.com/profile/athena-wealth-management)
- [ATI Investments](https://altss.com/profile/ati-investments)

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Last updated: 2026-07-08T21:49:14.720Z

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