July 15, 2026 Reinsurance

KBRA Assigns Rating to TruSpire Retirement Insurance Company

Business Wire

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
KBRA assigns an A- insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) to TruSpire Retirement Insurance Company (“TruSpire”). The Outlook for the rating is Stable.

Key Credit Considerations

The rating reflects TruSpire’s strong current capitalization relative to its legacy run-off block, unlevered statutory capital base, conservative and liquid investment portfolio, sound legacy asset adequacy results, and defined capital, liquidity, asset liability management, and risk governance frameworks. Additional credit strengths include capital support from TruSpire’s indirect parent, Malibu Life Holdings Limited (“MLHL”), and TruSpire’s strategic role as MLHL’s U.S. retail annuity platform. TruSpire also benefits from an experienced annuity management team and access to investment, asset liability management, capital management, risk management, and operating resources through MLHL and Third Point LLC (“Third Point”).

At year-end 2025, TruSpire reported $15.3 million of capital and surplus and a company action level risk-based capital (CAL RBC) ratio of approximately 1,289%. The ratio reflects the modest risk profile of the legacy run-off block rather than a fully scaled annuity platform. As of March 31, 2026, capital and surplus totaled $14.1 million. TruSpire’s capital framework targets a CAL RBC ratio of at least 400% as the new annuity business scales. The current portfolio is composed primarily of bonds and cash, with limited current exposure to complex investments or derivatives.

The executed capital support agreement requires MLHL to take action to restore TruSpire’s CAL RBC ratio to at least 400% if it falls below that level at any quarter end. Support may take the form of capital contributions or other regulator approved capital, subject to the agreement’s terms and applicable legal, regulatory, liquidity, and contractual limitations. The company has completed or advanced work across product design, pricing, regulatory filings, distribution, technology, and hedging and has established or identified key administrative and operating resources for the planned launch. TruSpire’s management team brings directly relevant experience spanning annuity product development, asset liability management, hedging, reinsurance, enterprise risk management, operations, and technology implementation. Execution will depend on successful integration and operating performance as new business production gets underway.

Balancing these strengths are execution risk as TruSpire builds a new U.S. individual annuity business, an unseasoned earnings profile, limited earnings diversification, and initial distribution concentration. TruSpire generated $1.3 million of statutory net income in 2025 and reported a $1.2 million statutory net loss in the first quarter of 2026. Recent results primarily reflect the legacy run-off block and do not establish a recurring earnings profile for the planned annuity business. The initial distribution relationship is expected to provide access to annuity focused independent marketing organizations and agents. That benefit is balanced by dependence on one partner during the initial stages of production. Results will depend on competitive product economics, agent adoption, disciplined pricing, suitability oversight, service quality, expense absorption, controlled premium growth, and timely capital deployment.

As the new annuity strategy scales, investment complexity, capital requirements, interest sensitive liability exposure, policyholder behavior risk, and liquidity, hedging, and asset liability management demands are expected to increase. Product economics will be sensitive to option costs, rider utilization, lapse behavior, hedge effectiveness, basis risk, reserve requirements, reinvestment execution, and interest rate and equity market volatility. TruSpire’s investment policy establishes credit quality, issuer concentration, sector, liquidity, and duration limits while permitting structured securities, mortgage loans, private assets, alternatives, and other less liquid investments within defined limits as the annuity portfolio develops.

TruSpire’s enterprise risk management, outsourcing, hedging, vendor oversight, distribution controls, and broader operating infrastructure are credible but developing. These controls include monthly capital monitoring, an annual own risk and solvency assessment, stress and reverse stress testing, escalation procedures, outsourcing due diligence, and ongoing oversight of affiliated and third-party providers. Because these arrangements are newly established, they have not yet been tested through sustained production or periods of market volatility or stress. Timely capital support from MLHL will remain important as the platform grows.

Rating Sensitivities

Positive rating action could occur if TruSpire successfully executes its annuity strategy in line with the business plan, supported by controlled premium growth, pricing discipline, persistency, and operating performance favorable to plan, while maintaining capitalization comfortably above its 400% CAL RBC target through timely capital support from MLHL and improving internal capital generation, demonstrating broader and more diversified distribution, scalable operations, and effective asset-liability management, hedging, investment risk management, and risk governance through sustained production and market volatility.

Negative rating action could occur if risk-based capitalization deteriorates or remains below target, capital pressure is not remediated in a timely manner, or capital support from MLHL is reduced or not provided when needed, if production materially underperforms expectations or exceeds operating capacity, resulting in pressure on earnings, liquidity, or capital, if adverse policyholder behavior, hedging underperformance, reserve assumption changes, asset-liability mismatch, investment impairments, or adverse cash flow or stress-testing results materially weaken the company's financial profile, or if there is loss of key management, weakening, termination, or nonrenewal of the capital support agreement, material weakening of key distribution relationships, or reduced availability of affiliated investment and operating resources.

TruSpire is a Texas-domiciled life and annuity insurer that manages a legacy run-off block of traditional life insurance and deferred annuity business. Following the July 2026 acquisition, TruSpire became an indirect subsidiary of MLHL. MLHL is a Cayman Islands domiciled, London listed insurance and investment holding company. Under the Malibu Life USA brand, TruSpire is expected to serve as MLHL’s U.S. retail annuity platform, with an initial focus on fixed indexed annuities with guaranteed living benefit features and potential expansion into other fixed annuity products over time.

To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.

Recent Publications

Methodology

Insurance: Insurer & Insurance Holding Company Global Rating Methodology

Disclosures

A description of all substantially material sources that were used to prepare the credit rating and information on the methodology(ies) (inclusive of any material models and sensitivity analyses of the relevant key rating assumptions, as applicable) used in determining the credit rating is available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) located here.

Information on the meaning of each rating category can be located here.

Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) referenced above. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com.

About KBRA

Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC (KBRA), one of the major credit rating agencies (CRA), is a full-service CRA registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered as a CRA with the European Securities and Markets Authority. Kroll Bond Rating Agency UK Limited is registered as a CRA with the UK Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, KBRA is designated as a Designated Rating Organization (DRO) by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized as a Qualified Rating Agency by Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission and is recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider (CRP) in the U.S.

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