New York-based Equitable Holdings Inc. announced it will transfer financial risk for $12 billion of retirement-income annuities to reinsurer Venerable Holdings Inc., as life insurers continue to reduce exposures on their books in a challenging environment for turning profits, the Wall Street Journal reported. Under the agreement, Venerable will reinsure a total of 114,000 variable annuity policies that were sold by Equitable between 2006 and 2008. Equitable also said it is negotiating to buy a 9.9% equity stake in Venerable’s parent holding company, VA Capital Co. LLC, and get a board seat. The pact will more than double the total assets of Venerable, which formally launched in mid-2018, from $11 billion to $24 billion. Additionally, Venerable’s reinsured business will increase to more than $46 billion in separate account value. Based in West Chester, Pa., the company has significant operations in Des Moines. A consortium of private equity investors led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management created Venerable as a stand-alone company to specialize in acquiring and managing blocks of variable annuity policies. To read a Business Record Insider article about Venerable, click here.