{"text":[[{"start":13.3,"text":"The US Treasury on Wednesday said it would meet domestic and international insurance regulators over the risks in private credit after recent upheaval in the multitrillion-dollar market."}],[{"start":27.09,"text":"Initial meetings “will allow participants to survey recent market events, emerging risks, risk management practices and outlooks for the sector”, the department said. "}],[{"start":38.58,"text":"The move signals growing concerns in Washington about the health of the private credit sector and its rapid growth."}],[{"start":46.21,"text":"The meetings will include US and international insurance regulators, the Treasury added. "}],[{"start":53.6,"text":"The insurance sector, which is largely regulated in the US at a state level, has become increasingly intertwined with the private capital sector over the past decade. "}],[{"start":65.49000000000001,"text":"In search of higher returns, US-based life insurers have invested in private credit, including private real estate debt and other private structured securities that are backed by loans linked to assets from solar panels to aircraft leases. "}],[{"start":82.29,"text":"Large private capital managers such as Apollo and KKR have meanwhile acquired life insurance and retirement annuities providers. Several others such as Blackstone have partnered with insurers to manage their investment portfolios."}],[{"start":97.94000000000001,"text":"The trend has prompted greater concern from regulators because of the opaqueness, illiquidity and complexity of private credit products when compared to more traditional portfolios of government and corporate bonds. "}],[{"start":112.12,"text":"It has left the insurance industry increasingly reliant on opinions from specialist private credit rating agencies to assess the risks across investment portfolios. "}],[{"start":124.32000000000001,"text":"Life insurers typically invest almost all their assets into highly rated securities, rather than riskier areas of private credit. But the quality of those ratings has recently been called into question. "}],[{"start":138.5,"text":"The Treasury said it expected the talks on private credit risks to result in “sustained collaboration” with regulators, adding that it held such discussions regularly."}],[{"start":150.15,"text":"The first set of meetings is scheduled to begin in April, it added, with “more gatherings . . . planned throughout the summer”. "}],[{"start":157.83,"text":"The talks come as Wall Street has been gripped with anxiety in recent months about losses in private credit markets. "}],[{"start":166.87,"text":"The bankruptcies of car parts maker First Brands and used car retailer Tricolor have put the spotlight on the proliferation of so-called asset-based lending strategies and raised concern about underwriting standards across the industry. "}],[{"start":183.35,"text":"Outflows at major funds and the decision by asset managers including Apollo, Ares Management and KKR to limit redemptions from so-called direct lending funds has added to the scrutiny of the industry."}],[{"start":198.19,"text":"More recently, markets have been spooked about leveraged lending to private equity-backed software companies, which investors fear could be exposed to AI disruption."}],[{"start":207.78,"text":"The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an organisation for US state insurance regulators, has launched a study into the risks of complex “securitised” products, which private equity-backed insurers have been piling policyholders’ premiums into."}],[{"start":225.96,"text":"Many US insurers also have offshore reinsurance affiliates domiciled in either Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, leading to concern about differing regulatory standards across jurisdictions. "}],[{"start":248.92,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775180213_1584.mp3"}