Venerable Holdings, which owns and manages legacy variable annuity businesses, has agreed with The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America to transition approximately $4.5 bn in separate account assets to the Venerable annuity investment advisory platform.
The assets are currently held in Guardian’s variable products trust. Under the proposed transaction, the affected funds will be reorganized through a series of mergers into a variable insurance mutual fund trust managed by SunAmerica Asset Management, a Venerable subsidiary.
Separate accounts hold assets supporting variable insurance products such as variable annuities and variable life insurance policies. Their investment performance affects policyholder account values and related benefits.
The proposed mergers are intended to maintain continuity in the underlying investment strategies while transferring the assets to a larger advisory platform. Venerable said the consolidation is expected to provide greater scale, growth opportunities and a more cost-efficient fund lineup for policyholders.
SunAmerica Asset Management will take responsibility for managing the reorganized funds if the transaction closes. Venerable acquired the company in 2026, adding it to the investment management infrastructure supporting its annuity operations.
Venerable Investment Advisers and SunAmerica Asset Management already oversee mutual funds underlying variable annuity businesses associated with Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company and Corebridge. The Guardian transaction would further increase the scale of the Venerable annuity and investment management platform.
The transaction is expected to close in late 2026, subject to customary conditions. Those include a shareholder proxy process and approval from shareholders of the affected funds.
Shareholders will receive proxy materials explaining the proposed mergers and will vote on the reorganizations. Venerable said there is no assurance the required approvals will be obtained or the transaction will close on the expected timetable.
This agreement reflects the strength and scale of our investment advisory platform and our ability to deliver a seamless outcome for policyholders and partners alike.
Michal Levy, president of SunAmerica Asset Management and Venerable Investment Advisers
“By consolidating these assets onto the Venerable platform, we can offer a well-managed, cost-efficient fund lineup while extending the long-term relationships we value across the insurance and asset management industries,” Levy said.
The Guardian agreement follows another expansion of Venerable’s variable annuity business in 2026. In January, Corebridge Financial closed the remaining portions of an earlier agreement with Corporate Solutions Life Reinsurance Company, an insurance subsidiary of Venerable Holdings.
That transaction included the reinsurance of all Individual Retirement variable annuities issued by The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, a Corebridge subsidiary, and the sale of the related investment adviser and manager, SunAmerica Asset Management.
The January closing followed the largest part of the Corebridge transaction, completed in August 2025, when Venerable reinsured all Individual Retirement variable annuities issued by American General Life Insurance Company.
Venerable’s annuity business focuses on owning and managing legacy variable annuity portfolios, including blocks acquired from other insurance companies.
The privately held company operates from locations in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas and New York.
Venerable was established by an investor group led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Crestview Partners, Reverence Capital Partners and Athene Holding. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius is serving as Venerable’s legal counsel for the Guardian transaction.
