Kuvare life insurance

Overview

Kuvare is a privately held insurance and investment group based in Rosemont, Illinois, outside Chicago. It owns three U.S. life insurers: Lincoln Benefit Life Company (LBL) of Lincoln, Nebraska; Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and United Life Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It also owns a Bermuda reinsurer, Kuvare Life Re, an investment arm called Kuvare Strategic Investments, and Ignite Partners, which sells insurance and technology services to other carriers and marketing organizations.

The Kuvare group ranked #41 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $887.9 million in premiums and a 0.57% share. That life figure says more about Kuvare's past purchases than its current sales. Much of its life insurance business is the in-force block of Lincoln Benefit Life, a former Allstate company that the group bought already built and that no longer sells new policies. Kuvare's growth business is fixed and fixed indexed annuities sold by Guaranty Income Life and United Life: the company reports those two carriers wrote $3.9 billion of direct premiums and held $18.7 billion of assets at the end of 2025.

If you hold an older Lincoln Benefit Life policy, which was often sold through an Allstate agent or an independent agent, Kuvare is now the parent of the company on your contract. For new buyers, the group's retail brands are Guaranty Income Life and United Life, sold through independent agents.

History

Insurance executive Dhiren Jhaveri founded Kuvare in 2015, backed by a group of long-term investment firms. It grew by buying small and mid-sized insurers and reinsuring blocks of business from other companies:

• Guaranty Income Life (2016). Founded in Baton Rouge in 1926, Guaranty Income Life sold fixed annuities and universal life. Kuvare completed the purchase in October 2016 after Louisiana regulators approved it, and set up Kuvare Life Re in Bermuda at the same time.
• United Life (2018). Kuvare bought United Life Insurance Company from United Fire Group of Cedar Rapids for $280 million in cash, closing on March 30, 2018. United Life dates to 1962 and kept its name and Iowa base.
• Lincoln Benefit Life (2019). LBL has operated since 1938 and was long part of Allstate. Allstate sold it to Resolution Life on April 1, 2014, for $587 million in cash. Under that deal, the life policies LBL had sold through Allstate agencies, its variable annuities and its immediate annuities stayed with Allstate Life Insurance Company through 100% reinsurance, while LBL kept the business written through independent agents, its deferred fixed annuities and its long-term care block. Kuvare then bought LBL from Resolution Life, closing on December 31, 2019. At the time LBL had about 200,000 policyholders, and the purchase lifted Kuvare's consolidated assets above $22 billion.

Since joining Kuvare, LBL has also been used to take on other insurers' business: in its first year under Kuvare it assumed about $1.5 billion of fixed annuity reserves from another carrier through reinsurance. In 2024 Blue Owl Capital agreed to buy Kuvare's asset-management business, Kuvare Asset Management, for $750 million and to invest $250 million in Kuvare preferred equity. Investment management for the insurers is now handled by Kuvare Strategic Investments. Questions about how investor-backed insurers like this operate are covered in private equity's push into life insurance and Offshore reinsurance and Bermuda: why it matters to policyholders.

Life insurance products

Lincoln Benefit Life does not sell new policies. Its website says it no longer actively sells new policies but continues to serve existing customers, with separate service teams for fixed life, variable life, fixed annuities and long-term care. Variable annuities that LBL once issued are serviced by Prudential, which reinsured them years ago. Kuvare describes LBL today as a vehicle, alongside Kuvare Life Re, for reinsurance deals with other U.S. and international insurers. This makes LBL, in practice, a closed block inside a growing annuity group. If your policy was originally sold under the Allstate name, when your life insurance policy is sold to another company explains what changes for you, which is usually only the company that sends your statements: your premiums, guarantees and beneficiaries stay as written in the contract.

For new life insurance, United Life sells:

• Whole life: Legacy Choice, a level-premium whole life policy, and a single premium whole life policy designed for one lump-sum payment.
• Indexed universal life: LegacyAccel IUL, which credits interest based on market indexes such as the S&P 500, with a cap on gains and typically a 0% floor, and includes optional accelerated death benefits for terminal illness or cognitive impairment.

United Life does not publish term life on its site, and neither company publishes face amounts, issue ages or no-exam limits for consumers; those details come from the agent's illustration.

Other products

Annuities are Kuvare's main retail business. Guaranty Income Life and United Life both sell fixed indexed annuities and fixed (multi-year guaranteed) annuities through independent marketing organizations. Guaranty Income Life added its Guidepath fixed indexed annuity series in 2025. LBL still services a legacy block of long-term care insurance.

Buying and service

You cannot buy a Kuvare policy directly online. United Life and Guaranty Income Life sell through independent agents and financial professionals; United Life's website has a "find an agent" tool. Guaranty Income Life and United Life are not appointed in Alaska, Hawaii or New York, and United Life is not appointed in Maine.

Policyholders of Guaranty Income Life and United Life use a shared online portal at mykuvare.com. LBL runs its own portals, life.lbl.com for life policies and annuity.lbl.com for annuities. LBL asks customers to check recent correspondence to confirm which service number to call, because different teams handle different product types.

Claims

For a United Life policy, beneficiaries can call life claims at 866-281-1921 (annuity claims: 800-982-9216) or start the notification online through United Life's report-a-claim page, giving the policy number, the insured's name, the date of death and their relationship to the insured. Lincoln Benefit Life does not publish a separate claims line; beneficiaries should call the fixed life (844-768-6777) or variable life (844-768-6780) service number. Expect to provide a certified death certificate and a claimant's statement; see the claims guide for the general steps.

Ratings and reputation

According to Kuvare, AM Best reaffirmed the A- (Excellent) financial strength ratings of Guaranty Income Life and United Life on December 17, 2025. Lincoln Benefit Life's rating is lower: its website lists an AM Best financial strength rating of B++ (Good), with a stable outlook, effective December 17, 2025. When Kuvare bought LBL in 2019 it was rated A- by AM Best and BBB by S&P. No current S&P, Moody's or Fitch ratings are published on the companies' sites.

None of the Kuvare companies was ranked in the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. The group is privately held, so it does not file SEC annual reports; its financial figures come from statutory statements and company releases.

Who it suits

Kuvare is mainly relevant to two groups: people who already own a Lincoln Benefit Life policy, including many first sold through Allstate agents, and retirement savers whose independent agent is recommending a Guaranty Income Life or United Life annuity. Buyers who want term life, a large national brand, a top-tier rating or the ability to apply online will find a better fit elsewhere.

• Strengths: A- (Excellent) ratings for its two selling companies, reaffirmed in December 2025; fast-growing annuity business with $18.7 billion of assets at those carriers at the end of 2025; whole life and indexed universal life through United Life; separate service lines for each type of legacy LBL policy.
• Weaknesses: Lincoln Benefit Life is closed to new sales and rated B++ (Good) by AM Best, below many peers; no term life and no online purchase; not sold in New York, Alaska or Hawaii; a young, investor-backed group that relies heavily on reinsurance, including a Bermuda affiliate.

How to contact Kuvare