Sources told Reuters that Cowdery, founder of insurance investment firm Resolution, has raised around $2bn (£1.4bn, €1.6bn) in commitments from investors.
The fund will focus on closed books in continental Europe and the US, three sources told the newswire.
It is understood to be one of a series of new ventures designed to capitalise on the difficulties life insurers and company pension schemes are facing in the low interest rate environment.
International Adviser was unable to contact Cowdery, but he declined to comment when approached by Reuters.
Firm resolution
A fixture of the life and pensions industry for many years, Cowdery is founder of The Resolution Group.
The group built two UK businesses that acquired non-core life portfolios from insurance companies.
Resolution plc was founded in 2003 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2005. The business was sold to Pearl Group in 2008, which later became Phoenix Group.
Resolution Limited was set up in 2008 and later acquired Friends Life. Resolution changed its name to Friends Life Group in May 2014 and was sold to Aviva in April 2015.
Cowdery is currently chairman of Resolution Life, a specialist US life insurance company.
Life insurance consolidation
Consolidation has been something of a watchword in the life space in recent years. with companies such as Life Company Consolidation Group (LCCG) and Phoenix Group have made bigger acquisitions, bringing them more into the mainstream.
The firms have used economies of scale to take on closed books of business that have become too cumbersome or difficult for providers to manage.
However, consolidators have also been venturing into the open-book space, with LCCG acquiring Axa Wealth on the Isle of Man (now Utmost Wealth Solutions) and Phoenix Group taking over Standard Life’s insurance business.
LCCG has also bought Generali PanEurope and plans to merge it with Utmost Wealth Solutions, which has recently acquired the international investment bond business of Aegon Ireland.
These additions do not detract or distract from Phoenix Group and LCCG’s focus on closed books portfolios.
But, if rumours are true, Cowdery’s new fund has made the closed book consolidation space a bit more crowded.
