Athene has appointed Larik Hall as Senior Vice President and Head of Japan, as the Apollo Global Management-owned insurer accelerates expansion in one of Asia-Pacific’s largest retirement markets, the company announced.
Hall, who is based in Japan, will lead Athene’s growth strategy in the country, focusing on scaling its retirement solutions offering and deepening partnerships with domestic insurers.
“Larik’s strong track record of building retirement businesses and meaningful experience leading large-scale insurance platforms in the Japanese market makes him exceptionally well suited to expand Athene’s footprint locally,” said Grant Kvalheim, CEO of Athene.
Kvalheim added that Japan remains a key strategic market, driven by ageing demographics, rising demand for long-term retirement security and shifts in the economic environment.
Hall brings more than 30 years of experience in the retirement and insurance sector, including over a decade operating in Japan. He joins from Goldman Sachs Ayco, where he served as Managing Director and led the insurance practice. His previous roles include senior leadership positions at AIG, MetLife Alico and MassMutual, giving him cross-market expertise across both US and Japanese insurance landscapes.
Athene, which positions itself as a retirement solutions platform, has expanded its presence in Japan in recent years through reinsurance activity. Since completing its first transaction with Japanese cedents in 2020, the company has reinsured more than US$20bn in assets across eight transactions.
The leadership announcement comes following media reports that Apollo Global Management is eyeing the acquisition of life insurance subsidiaries of Japanese conglomerates, in a bid to expand beyond the US and European markets.
