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Connecticut regulators have abandoned efforts to rehabilitate PHL Variable Insurance Co., the troubled life insurer owned by Golden Gate Capital, after concluding that its $2.2 billion capital shortfall left liquidation as the only viable path forward.

"It has become clear that all of PHL's blocks of business are materially impaired," wrote Connecticut interim Insurance Commissioner Joshua Hershman in a New Year's Eve court filing. "The rehabilitator believes that any plan for a resolution of PHL's liabilities must include a liquidation order."

The liquidation filing is a sudden reversal from the rehabilitation strategy pursued by former Commissioner Andrew Mais, who had been working toward selling PHL's life insurance blocks before retiring abruptly on November 28. A decision on a buyer had been expected by year-end.

Instead, interim appointee Hershman determined that a sale of all or part of the company's assets would likely recoup less for policyholders than a conventional liquidation.

Regulators have said they now plan to pursue litigation against Golden Gate and its Nassau Financial Group insurance arm on claims including breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and avoidable transfers—unless the firms agree to an acceptable settlement.

Nassau disputed the claims in a statement, noting that transactions carried out under Golden Gate's ownership were reviewed and approved by state regulators at the time.

The firm blamed PHL's problems on a block of problematic universal life policies issued between 2004 and 2008, well before Golden Gate's involvement.

"As the rehabilitator itself acknowledges, PHL's financial challenges predate Nassau's involvement with PHL by a decade," Nassau said.

"We continue to cooperate in an effort to reach a resolution and provide PHL with administrative support. However, should the rehabilitator pursue litigation, we will vigorously defend ourselves and expect to prevail on the merits."

—

Nassau was created in 2015 with $750 million from Golden Gate Capital.

One year later, Nassau bought Phoenix Companies, a publicly traded insurer based in Hartford, Connecticut, whose roots trace to 1851, when its predecessor, American Temperance Life Insurance Co., was founded with a focus on teetotalers, including one-time policyholder President Abraham Lincoln.

After taking it private, Nassau retired the Phoenix brand and moved forward with PHL.

Following the success of Apollo Global Management and its pioneering Athene affiliate, a number of large private equity firms have pursued what's known as the Bermuda Triangle Strategy, where large asset managers acquire life insurers to issue fixed-rate and fixed indexed annuities and use the cash generated by such issuance to finance higher-yielding investments originated by the parent firm.

The setup typically includes a reinsurer, which allows insurance companies to spread their risk across other entities by paying another firm that agrees to cover certain unlikely risks.

An affiliated reinsurer—sometimes called a “captive” reinsurer—is when an insurer will stand up its own reinsurance entity, rather than work with an outside party.

Many of these reinsurance affiliates are located offshore in places like Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, which avoid many of the detailed disclosure requirements of U.S.-based entities.

U.S.-based insurers can shift a portion of their obligations onto the captive reinsurer to take advantage of the favorable disclosure standards, as well as other benefits like alternative accounting standards, advantageous tax structures, and more flexible capital requirements.

This helps facilitate investments in less-liquid instruments like asset-backed securities or other private credit and private equity-related assets—meant to offer higher returns than the high-grade bonds favored by traditional life insurers.

In its 2025 annual report, the Financial Stability Oversight Council reported that U.S. life insurers ceded $2.4 trillion of reserves to reinsurers in 2024, up 70 percent from $1.4 trillion in 2019. Reserves ceded to offshore jurisdictions more than doubled over that period.

As the strategy has become increasingly popular, some industry observers have warned against the risk that an asset manager-led insurer could fail and leave policyholders in the lurch or state guaranty funds stuck holding the bag—something critics believe is of greater concern with a strategy that's both more opaque than traditional insurers and chases returns through potentially riskier assets.

PHL is not the only recent failure.

The offshore reinsurer affiliated with 777 Partners had its license revoked by Bermuda's monetary authority in October 2024 for investing too heavily in affiliated assets, inadequate governance, and insufficient capital contributions from its parent. The firm subsequently collapsed.

The FSOC has warned that increasing use of offshore reinsurers "could increase U.S. insurers' counterparty risk and possibly open an avenue for contagion risk in times of stress."

Insurance industry forensic accountant Tom Gober views the transparency gap as the real issue.

"When policyholder liabilities are moved to Bermuda, there's no full accounting to regulators," Gober told the National Law Review. "They could be assuming the worst risks imaginable, from who knows where? That company could be exposed to things we have no idea about."

—

When Nassau agreed to buy PHL in 2015, the insurer was already struggling—its stock had tumbled by more than 80 percent over the preceding nine months as its parent company posted losses.

Nassau injected $100 million of fresh capital, with executives predicting the move would "accelerate the company's turnaround, bolster its financial strength and ratings, and benefit policyholders."

What followed, in short, was an implementation of the Bermuda strategy, according to the timeline documented in Connecticut court filings.

By the end of 2022, PHL had established captive reinsurers that together accounted for $3.5 billion of a $5.3 billion reinsurance program.

In 2021, Golden Gate executives contributed additional capital and won regulatory approval to separate PHL into a standalone entity, moving it out of the healthier Nassau business.

Court records show that a commitment to maintain PHL's risk-adjusted capital ratio above 200 percent—a pledge the holding company had made to authorities—stopped appearing in public documentation around the same time.

Shortly after the separation, PHL's deterioration accelerated.

Connecticut regulators placed the company under closer supervision in 2023 as its capital turned negative. By May 2024, authorities estimated a $900 million shortfall. After launching a deeper investigation of the company’s captive reinsurers and updating actuarial assumptions, the state increased its estimate to $2.2 billion six months later.

Following the typical playbook for private capital-affiliated insurers, the business had allocated around 30 percent of its assets to structured notes and collateralized loan obligations issued by Nassau's asset management arm.

In PHL's audited statements for 2024, some CLO investments were worth a third less than face value, with other positions down by more than half.

Edward Stone, an attorney representing policyholders in the rehabilitation proceedings, has argued that the financial arrangements obscured PHL's true condition.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars were moved around in a circle to give the illusion that PHL Variable was OK when it wasn't," he said in court arguments. "That's the kind of thing that I think puts policyholders at great risk and creates systemic risk for the life and annuity business."

The outcome of the upcoming liquidation process will determine how much policyholders ultimately recover.

Under Connecticut law, policies terminate 30 days after a liquidation order, except to the extent covered by state guaranty associations. Claims for loss of coverage would be junior in priority to guaranty association claims and claims that remain unpaid under a moratorium in place since May 2024 as part of the attempted rehabilitation.

To date, that moratorium has effectively withheld more than $500 million in payouts to policyholders while still requiring some customers to continue paying premiums to keep policies active.

John Williams, who owns a security company in Hartford, Connecticut, and rolled his life insurance savings into a PHL annuity in 2018 after Nassau's acquisition, recalled the marketing that accompanied the deal: "You would've thought, 'Oh my God, this company is bulletproof for the next 300 years,' based on the way they were painting it. They were really pumping that."

• CK Hutchison is seeking a valuation of around $30 billion for a dual listing of its retail unit, A.S. Watson, in Hong Kong and London as soon as the second quarter, per Reuters.

• Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) agreed to acquire Penumbra (NYSE: PEN), a provider of mechanical thrombectomy and vascular devices, for approximately $14.5 billion in cash and stock.

• Hellman & Friedman and KKR are exploring a sale of Cordis, a cardiovascular medical device maker, which could be valued at more than $9 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Zurich Insurance Group (Swiss: ZURN) submitted an improved takeover proposal for Beazley (LSE: BEZ), a UK specialty insurer, valuing the company at £7.67 billion.

• Playlist, the Vista Equity Partners-backed parent of Mindbody and ClassPass, agreed to merge with EGYM, a fitness and wellness technology provider, in a transaction that includes $785 million in new equity led by Affinity Partners.

• Neuberger Berman agreed to invest up to $1.2 billion for a minority stake in Ryan, a Plano, Texas-based tax consulting and software firm, at a $7 billion valuation.

• Deutsche Boerse (Xetra: DB1) is in exclusive talks to acquire Allfunds Group (Euronext: ALLFG), a European fund distribution platform, for about €5.3 billion in cash and stock, per Bloomberg.

• York Space Systems (NYSE: YSS), a satellite manufacturer backed by AE Industrial Partners, set terms for its IPO to raise up to $544 million, targeting a valuation of $4.25 billion.

• TBS Holdings agreed to acquire a minority stake in Legendary Entertainment, a production studio, from Apollo Global Management for $150 million at a valuation of more than $4 billion.

• TransDigm Group (NYSE: TDG) agreed to acquire Jet Parts Engineering and Victor Sierra Aviation, providers of aerospace aftermarket parts, from Vance Street Capital for approximately $2.2 billion in cash.

• Henkel (Xetra: HEN3) is in talks to acquire Stahl Holdings, a Dutch specialty chemicals maker, from Wendel at a valuation of around €2 billion.

• Bain Capital made a binding offer to acquire FineToday Holdings, a Japanese personal-care group backed by CVC Capital Partners, in a deal valued at over $2 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Mitsubishi Electric is soliciting bids for its automotive equipment business, which could be valued at $1.9 billion, per Bloomberg.

• 1315 Capital invested in Coating Place, a Verona, Wisconsin-based contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in microencapsulation and modified release formulations.

• EQT is in preliminary discussions to acquire Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB), a British cell and gene therapy manufacturer valued at around £900 million.

• Bluestone Equity Partners invested $30 million in Selkirk Sport, a Hayden, Idaho-based pickleball equipment and sportswear manufacturer, valuing the company at approximately $200 million.

• Cutting Edge Group acquired John Paesano's music catalog, covering royalty streams for over 80 film, TV, and video game scores including the Maze Runner franchise.

• Alantra Partners and other shareholders are weighing the sale of a 10 percent to 30 percent stake in Salto Systems, a Spanish electronic locks manufacturer, per Bloomberg.

• Waste Eliminator, a portfolio company of Allied Industrial Partners, acquired Happy Haulers, a Gainesville, Georgia-based frontload and roll-off waste operator.

• Lime Rock Partners invested in Athena Energy Partners, a Houston-based upstream oil and gas company focused on the Eagle Ford Shale.

• IK Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in Trustmoore, an Amsterdam-based fund and corporate services provider.

• Purpose Legal, a portfolio company of Blue Sage Capital, acquired Hire Counsel, a legal staffing and managed review provider, from Long Point Capital.

• GracoRoberts, a portfolio company of CM Equity Partners, acquired Sky Mart, a Miami-based aerospace distributor serving the Latin American MRO market.

• Five Arrows invested in StarRez, a provider of on-and-off-campus student housing software, joining existing investor Vista Equity Partners.

• Accel-KKR acquired a majority stake in Nutrislice, a Denver-based provider of digital dining solutions for non-commercial foodservice.

• Apollo Care, a portfolio company of Flexpoint Ford, acquired eStrat, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based provider of copay and patient access solutions.

• The Colt Group, a portfolio company of Capstreet, acquired Watertap, a Michigan-based provider of line intervention services for utilities and contractors.

• Gauge Capital acquired Ecosystems, a McLean, Virginia-based SaaS platform for customer value management.

• Exegy, a portfolio company of Marlin Equity Partners, acquired NovaSparks, a Paris-based provider of FPGA-enabled market data normalization and distribution solutions.

• One Rock Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in American Furniture Rentals, a Pennsauken, New Jersey-based furniture rental provider for special events, trade shows, and residential and commercial markets.

• Warburg Pincus acquired a minority stake in myKaarma, a Long Beach, California-based provider of service lane solutions for automotive dealerships, from H.I.G. Capital.

• Pamlico Capital invested in CalcFocus, a Philadelphia-based provider of cloud-native policy administration and illustration solutions for life, health and annuity insurance markets.

• Butterfly Equity acquired ePac Holdings, an Austin-based producer of digitally printed flexible packaging.

• Ardian agreed to acquire a minority stake in IVB Wellness Lab, a Spanish developer and distributor of science-based dietary supplements, joining existing investor Label Capital.

• Elliott Investment Management invested in Stratolaunch, a provider of hypersonic flight testing and production capabilities, joining existing backer Cerberus Capital Management.

• Tecomet, a Charlesbank Capital Partners-backed contract manufacturer for med-tech and defense, agreed to merge with Orchid Orthopedic Solutions, a portfolio company of Nordic Capital.

• Infoblox, backed by Vista Equity Partners and Warburg Pincus, agreed to acquire Axur, a Brazilian provider of AI-powered security solutions.

• WindRose Health Investors acquired a majority stake in Avalon Healthcare Solutions, a Tampa-based lab benefit management and diagnostic intelligence provider, from Francisco Partners.

• Platinum Equity acquired Tongrun International, a Bonham, Texas-based precision sheet metal contract manufacturer.

• Everstone Capital acquired AB Tasty, a Paris-based digital experience optimization platform, and combined it with portfolio company Wingify.

• YA Group, a portfolio company of THL Partners, acquired InQuis Global, a litigation consulting firm focused on life-care planning and vocational rehabilitation.

• Seatex, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, acquired Key Polymer, a Lawrence, Massachusetts-based manufacturer of adhesives, sealants, and coatings.

• Relay Fire and Safety, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, acquired AC&M Fire Equipment, an Acton, Massachusetts-based provider of fire extinguisher services.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI chip designer, is seeking to raise up to $500 million in Series D funding.

• humans&, an AI lab, raised $480 million in seed funding at a $4.48 billion valuation led by SV Angel, with participation from Nvidia and GV.

• ClickHouse, a real-time analytics database, raised $400 million in Series D funding at a $15 billion valuation led by Dragoneer Investment Group, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, GIC, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, T. Rowe Price Associates, and WCM Investment Management.

• Parloa, an enterprise AI customer service platform, raised $350 million in Series D funding at a $3 billion valuation led by General Catalyst, with participation from EQT Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Durable Capital Partners, and Mosaic Ventures.

• Tulip, a no-code manufacturing operations platform, raised $120 million in Series D funding at a $1.3 billion valuation led by Mitsubishi Electric.

• DealHub, an AI-powered enterprise CPQ and quote-to-revenue platform, raised $100 million in growth funding led by Riverwood Capital.

• Osapiens, a German ESG and sustainability software developer, raised $100 million in Series C funding at a $1.1 billion valuation led by Decarbonization Partners, with participation from Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Armira Growth.

• Emergent, an AI-powered app development platform, raised $70 million in Series B funding co-led by Khosla Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Prosus, Lightspeed, Together, and Y Combinator.

• Listen Labs, an AI customer research platform, raised $69 million in Series B funding at a $500 million valuation led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Evantic, Sequoia Capital, Conviction, and Pear VC.

• Ivo, an AI contract intelligence platform for legal teams, raised $55 million in Series B funding at a $355 million valuation led by Blackbird, with participation from Costanoa Ventures, Uncork Capital, Fika Ventures, GD1, and Icehouse Ventures.

• Depthfirst, an AI lab for software security and vulnerability management, raised $40 million in Series A funding led by Accel, with participation from Alt Capital, BoxGroup, Liquid 2 Ventures, Mantis VC, and SV Angel.

• Quadric, an on-device AI inference engine developer, raised $30 million in Series C funding led by BEENEXT Capital Management, with participation from Uncork Capital, Pear VC, Volta, Gentree, Wanxiang America, Pivotal, and Silicon Catalyst Ventures.

• TitanX, a Knoxville-based phone intent scoring platform for outbound sales teams, raised $27 million in Series A funding led by Updata Partners.

• Tive, a real-time supply chain visibility platform, raised $20 million in new funding led by Lightsmith Group at a valuation of more than $500 million, with participation from Sageview Capital and World Innovation Lab.

• Ditto, a product text management platform for design and production teams, raised $12.2 million in Series A funding led by Craft Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator.

• Brickeye, a Toronto-based construction risk mitigation platform, raised $10 million in Series B funding co-led by GreenSky Ventures, Brightspark Ventures, Export Development Canada, and Beauchamp Construction, with participation from BDC Capital, Graphite Ventures, and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund.

Fintech

• Pennylane, a French accounting and financial management platform, raised €175 million in Series E funding at a $4.25 billion valuation led by TCV, with participation from Blackstone Growth, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, CapitalG, and Meritech Capital.

• Alpaca, an API-first stock and crypto brokerage infrastructure, raised $150 million in Series D funding at a $1.15 billion valuation led by Drive Capital, with participation from Citadel Securities, Opera Tech Ventures, MUFG Innovation Partners, Kraken, Flat Capital, DRW Venture Capital, Altered Capital, X&KSK, Bank Muscat, and Endeavor Catalyst.

• Pomelo, a Latin American payments infrastructure company, raised $55 million in Series C funding co-led by Kaszek and Insight Partners, with participation from Index Ventures, Adams Street Partners, S32, Endeavor Catalyst, Monashees, and TQ Ventures.

• Atomic Insights, a money-movement and workflow automation platform for RIAs and family offices, raised $10 million in seed funding led by Aquiline, with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures.

Consumer & Media

• Higgsfield, a generative video platform for creators and brands, raised $80 million in Series A extension funding at a $1.3 billion valuation, co-led by Accel, AI Capital Partners, and Menlo Ventures, with participation from GFT Ventures.

• Midnite, a UK-based sportsbook and casino operator, raised $35 million in Series C funding led by The Raine Group, with participation from Play Ventures, Discerning Capital, Makers Fund, and Big Bets.

• TaleMonster Games, an Istanbul-based mobile game studio, raised $30 million in Series A funding co-led by Arcadia Gaming Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Point72 Ventures and General Catalyst.

• Holywater, a Ukrainian microdrama and AI content developer, raised $22 million in Series A funding led by Horizon Capital, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and Wheelhouse.

• Otto Sport AI, a youth sports management platform, raised $16.5 million in seed funding co-led by Mamba Growth Equity and Rally Ventures.

• TeamFeePay, a Belfast-based management platform for grassroots football clubs, raised £9 million in growth funding co-led by YFM Equity Partners and the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland, with participation from Techstart.

Healthcare

• Exciva, a biotech developing neuropsychiatric therapies, raised €51 million in Series B funding co-led by Gimv and EQT Life Sciences, with participation from Fountain Healthcare Partners, LifeArc, Carma Fund, Modi Ventures, Andera Partners, and LBBW.

• Vista AI, an automated MRI scanning software developer, raised $29.5 million in Series B funding led by Cedars-Sinai Health System, with participation from Intermountain Health, University of Utah Hospital System, Temple University/Fox Chase Cancer Center, Tampa General Hospital, Khosla Ventures, and Bold Brain Capital.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Terralayr, a grid-scale battery storage and energy flexibility platform, raised €192 million in new funding led by Eurazeo, with participation from RIVE Private Investment, Creandum, Earlybird Venture Capital, Norrsken VC, and Picus Capital.

• Mytra, a warehouse robotics and automation developer, raised $120 million in Series C funding led by Avenir Growth, with participation from Kivu Ventures, Liquid 2, D. E. Shaw, Offline Ventures, Eclipse, Greenoaks, Abstract Ventures, Promus Ventures, Lineage, and RyderVentures.

• Hydrosat, a thermal imagery startup for water management, raised $60 million in Series B funding co-led by Hartree Partners, Subutai Capital Partners, and Space 4 Earth, with participation from Truffle Capital, Luxembourg Future Fund, OTB Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Statkraft Ventures, Cultivation Capital, and Santa Barbara Venture Partners.

• Dominion Dynamics, a Canadian defense tech startup developing Arctic defense systems, raised C$21 million in seed funding led by Georgian, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and BCI.

• Karman Industries, a developer of modular thermal infrastructure for AI data centers, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Riot Ventures, with participation from Sunflower Capital, Space VC, Wonder Ventures, 8090 Industries, Knollwood, Infinite Capital, and High.

• Amperon, a Houston-based AI electricity forecasting and analytics platform, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Energize Capital, with participation from D. E. Shaw group, Veriten, HSBC Asset Management, Ørsted, and National Grid Partners.

• H.I.G. Capital raised €1.6 billion for its fourth European fund focused on lower middle market buyouts.

• New Mountain Capital raised $1.2 billion for its second strategic equity fund focused on non-control investments.

• DTCP launched "Project Liberty," a €500 million fund focused on European defense, security, and resilience technologies.

• Verdict Capital, a new venture firm led by former General Catalyst managing director Niko Bonatsos and entrepreneur Michael Fertik, is targeting $250 million to $300 million for its debut fund, per Bloomberg.

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