Senior Partner & CIO, Global Head of Insurance
and access,
Mr. Bhalla has a proven track record as an investor, business builder and operator in financial services across multiple companies spanning asset management, insurance and wealth management. From 2020-24, Mr. Bhalla led the successful transformation of the ~$70 Bn balance sheet of American Equity (NYSE: AEL) into a prudent investor for insurance policyholders with capabilities in asset structuring, private credit and real assets. Mr. Bhalla delivered a 3x return for shareholders in tenor as CEO, culminating in a take private merger with Brookfield Reinsurance for a $4.3 billion valuation. Mr. Bhalla improved business returns from an 8% ROE to 18+% from 2020 to 2023 by investing 25% of assets to private credit and real assets and being a disciplined underwriter and operator. Prior to AEL, Mr. Bhalla brought an entrepreneurial approach and business mindset to the role of public company CFO, CRO and Treasurer across multiple publicly traded, Fortune 500 companies including Brighthouse Financial, MetLife, AIG, Lincoln Financial and Ameriprise Financial.
