Liberty Life Insurance Company Renamed, Will Now Operate as Athene Annuity

Liberty Life Insurance Company, a retail fixed annuity and reinsurance provider, announced it had changed its legal name to Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company and will operate under the brand name Athene Annuity.

The move aligns the company more closely with its Bermuda-based corporate parent, Athene Holding Ltd., which acquired Liberty Life from Royal Bank of Canada in April 2011.

"We purchased Liberty to provide a platform for the growth of our fixed annuity businesses in the United States," said James R. Belardi, CEO of Athene Holding. "Renaming the company underscores its strategic importance to our operations and strengthens the Athene brand. "

Liberty Life (now Athene Annuity) has grown its business significantly since the acquisition, opening a retail sales and marketing office in Wilmington, Delaware and launching a focused portfolio of fixed annuity solutions. With the completion of a $3.1 billion reinsurance transaction in December 2011 the company now has assets of approximately $7 billion. On a consolidated basis, parent company Athene Holding Ltd. has assets of approximately $10 billion and equity of over $750 million. Since the acquisition, the company has added approximately 80 full-time staff in Wilmington, Delaware, and in Greenville, South Carolina. About Athene Annuity With its main administrative offices in Greenville, S.C., Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company (formerly Liberty Life Insurance Company) provides income solutions that help Americans prepare for retirement. For over a century, Athene Annuity has earned the trust of its policyholders through financial stability, integrity and service. About Athene Holding Ltd.Athene Holding Ltd.'s insurance subsidiaries are net investment spread businesses that fund themselves through retail sales of annuities and reinsurance in the U.S. retirement services market, and sales of institutional funding agreements. Athene invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of highly-rated, liquid, fixed income securities. Athene Holding Ltd.'s principal subsidiaries include Athene Life Re Ltd., a Bermuda-based reinsurer focused on the retirement services market; Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company, a Delaware-domiciled stock life insurance company focused on retail sales and reinsurance; and Athene Life Insurance Company, an Indiana-domiciled stock life insurance company focused on the institutional funding agreement market.

Athene's management team has many years of experience managing net investment spread businesses within life insurance companies. James R. Belardi, Chief Executive Officer of both Athene Holding Ltd. and Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company, previously served as President of SunAmerica Life Insurance Company and Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of AIG Retirement Services.