BroadRiver Group Closes on $12B Private Placement Business

Blackstone's Lombard International focuses on life insurance and variable annuity arrangements for wealthy individuals and families.

A group of investors led by BroadRiver Asset Management has completed the acquisition of Lombard International’s U.S. and Bermuda business.

The business manages private placement life insurance and private placement variable annuity arrangements for wealthy individuals and families.

The business ended the first half of the year with $12 billion in assets under management, according to Pacific General, a New York-based investment firm that participated in the deal.

Lombard, a firm owned by Blackstone, continues to offer unit-linked life insurance and related wealth management products and services in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The company announced the sale of the U.S. and Bermuda private placement life and annuity business in August 2022.

Sen. Ron Wyden, R-Ore., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, last year included the business in an investigation of the private placement life sector.

Advocates of private placement life and annuity arrangements say they help families with complicated, multinational lives simplify their finances and get solutions tailored to fit their needs.

Critics have suggested that the arrangements may be too effective at helping some users reduce their U.S. income taxes.

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