Global Atlantic life insurance

Overview

Global Atlantic Financial Group is a retirement and life insurance company owned outright by the investment firm KKR. Its U.S. insurers are Forethought Life Insurance Company of Indianapolis, which issues its current products, along with Accordia Life and Annuity Company, Commonwealth Annuity and Life Insurance Company and First Allmerica Financial Life Insurance Company, which hold older business. It also runs Bermuda reinsurers, Global Atlantic Re and Global Atlantic Assurance. The company says it had $155.6 billion of invested assets and served 3.5 million contract owners as of September 30, 2025.

The Global Atlantic group ranked #42 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $880.4 million in premiums and a 0.56% share. Today almost all of that life premium comes from two sources: preneed funeral insurance, which Global Atlantic still sells through funeral homes, and the large blocks of universal life and other policies it acquired or wrote in the past. It no longer sells traditional life insurance to the general public. Its main business is annuities, sold through more than 200 banks and broker-dealers and more than 200 independent marketing organizations, plus reinsurance deals with other insurers.

History

Global Atlantic began in 2004 as the Goldman Sachs Reinsurance Group, a unit of the investment bank. It grew by taking on blocks of business from other insurers, including variable annuities and life insurance once written under the Allmerica name, which still sit in Commonwealth Annuity and First Allmerica Financial Life.

In 2013 the business separated from Goldman Sachs and became Global Atlantic Financial Group Limited, a Bermuda company owned by Goldman and outside investors. That year it bought the U.S. life insurance business of Aviva USA and renamed it Accordia Life. In 2014 it acquired Forethought Financial Group, an Indiana company known for preneed funeral insurance and annuities, which became its main issuing company.

KKR agreed in July 2020 to buy a majority of Global Atlantic and completed that purchase in 2021, when it also became Global Atlantic's asset manager. On January 2, 2024, KKR bought the remaining 37% for about $2.6 billion in cash plus about $41 million in exchangeable securities, making Global Atlantic a wholly owned subsidiary. The company kept its own brand and management; co-founder Allan Levine is executive chairman and Billy Butcher and Manu Sareen are co-CEOs.

Global Atlantic continues to buy blocks from other insurers through reinsurance. In February 2024 it closed a $10 billion transaction with Manulife covering a seasoned block of U.S. and Japanese life, annuity and long-term care business; it was the third block deal between the two companies. Under such deals the original insurer usually still services the policies, so most policyholders of the ceding company do not deal with Global Atlantic directly. private equity's push into life insurance explains why investment firms buy insurers.

Life insurance products

Global Atlantic no longer sells traditional life insurance to individuals. Effective July 1, 2023, it stopped underwriting new indexed universal life policies, according to KKR's annual report; policies written before then stay in force and are serviced by Global Atlantic's traditional life team. Its life policies in force include former Aviva USA and Accordia universal life and indexed universal life, and older Allmerica business. If your statement now carries the Global Atlantic or Forethought name, when your life insurance policy is sold to another company and closed blocks: what happens to policies a company stops selling explain what that means: the contract terms, guarantees and beneficiaries do not change.

The one life product it still sells is preneed funeral insurance. A preneed policy is a whole life policy bought together with a contract with a funeral home; the death benefit is assigned to the funeral home and pays for the pre-arranged funeral. Global Atlantic sells it only through funeral homes, about 2,400 of them according to KKR's 2024 annual report, and some policies offer inflation-linked growth in the benefit. Global Atlantic does not publish issue ages or underwriting rules for consumers; the funeral home's preneed agent provides them. burial insurance vs final expense vs preneed compares preneed with final expense and burial policies.

Other products

Annuities are the core of Global Atlantic's retail business. Forethought issues fixed indexed annuities (ForeAccumulation II, ForeIncome II, ForeLifetime Income and Income 150+ SE), fixed annuities (SecureFore, SecureFore II and ForeCare), an income annuity (ForeCertain), a registered index-linked annuity (ForeStructured Growth II) and a variable annuity (ForeInvestors Choice). KKR reports that Global Atlantic generated $15.4 billion of retirement and preneed sales in 2024. The company also writes pension risk transfer annuities, taking over pension payments from employers, and funding agreements for institutions.

Buying and service

You cannot buy Global Atlantic coverage directly. Preneed policies are arranged at a participating funeral home; annuities are sold by banks, broker-dealers and independent agents. Policyholders can register for online account access: owners of policies whose numbers start with A, B, C, D or E register at register.globalatlantic.com, and those whose numbers start with 5, 6, 7 or 8 use globalatlanticannuity.com. Service is split by product line: traditional life at 877-462-8992, preneed and final expense at 800-331-8853, and annuities at 833-275-4248. Payments by check or coupon book go to Forethought Life Insurance Company, P.O. Box 742645, Cincinnati, OH 45274-2645.

Claims

Global Atlantic does not publish a separate death claims line. For a life policy, beneficiaries should call the traditional life service number, 877-462-8992; for a preneed policy, the funeral home that holds the contract usually starts the claim, and families can call 800-331-8853. The support center posts claimant statement forms for Accordia Life and First Allmerica Financial Life policies. Expect to provide a certified death certificate and a signed claimant's statement; the claims guide covers the general process.

Ratings and reputation

On October 23, 2025, AM Best affirmed the A (Excellent) financial strength rating of Forethought Life, Accordia Life, Commonwealth Annuity, First Allmerica Financial Life and the Bermuda reinsurers, with a stable outlook; it assessed the balance sheet as very strong and operating performance as adequate. The company's ratings page, as of June 30, 2025, lists S&P at A (Strong), Fitch at A (Strong) and Moody's at A2, all with stable outlooks. These are solid but a step below the highest-rated life insurers; see financial strength rating.

Global Atlantic was not ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, which covers companies that sell life insurance to consumers. Because it is owned by KKR, its results appear in KKR's SEC filings rather than its own.

Who it suits

Global Atlantic is mostly relevant to families buying a preneed funeral plan at a funeral home that uses Forethought, to retirement savers whose bank or broker recommends one of its annuities, and to people whose older Aviva, Accordia or Allmerica policy is now administered by Global Atlantic. Anyone shopping for term, whole or indexed universal life coverage will need another insurer.

• Strengths: A-range ratings from all four major agencies; large scale, with $155.6 billion of invested assets in 2025; a long-established preneed program through about 2,400 funeral homes; a broad annuity lineup, including indexed, fixed, RILA and income annuities.
• Weaknesses: no new traditional or indexed universal life sales since July 2023; no direct online purchase; service split across several numbers and two online portals depending on the policy; owned by a private-equity firm and uses Bermuda reinsurance affiliates.

How to contact Global Atlantic