Bermudian-based Brookfield Reinsurance has recorded net income of $453 million and $797 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2023, respectively, the company said.

That compares with $181 million and $501 million in the corresponding prior year periods.

The company said this growth was the result of contributions from its distributable operating earnings, as well as mark-to-market movement on its equity investments and insurance reserves.

Brookfield said: “We recognised $258 million and $745 million of distributable operating earnings for the three months and year ended December 31, 2023, respectively, compared to $170 million and $388 million in the prior year periods.

“The increase in earnings for the current periods reflects higher spread earnings on existing business driven by higher net investment income given the significant progress made over the last year repositioning assets into higher yielding investment strategies.

“DOE further benefited from over $8 billion of new annuity business written during the year, as well DOE contribution from our recently closed Argo Group transaction and a full year of contribution from American National, which was acquired in May 2022.”

Brookfield acquired Argo, the Bermudian-based specialty insurer, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion. That deal completed in November.

The company said: “Since close, we have begun executing on our underwriting initiatives, including repositioning of the asset portfolio into higher-yielding strategies.”

Sachin Shah, the chief executive of Brookfield Reinsurance, said: “Our strong results for 2023 reflect the continued growth of our annuity sales platform, our broadening credit origination capabilities, and the repositioning of recently acquired assets that have contributed to increased investment returns.

“As we enter 2024, we continue to focus on scaling our business in a disciplined manner, focusing on our competitive advantages to grow our core business lines and delivering strong risk-adjusted returns.”

In 2023, Brookfield said, it originated $8 billion of annuity sales, including approximately $5 billion of sales for its retail annuity platform, $2 billion of flow reinsurance premiums from existing reinsurance treaties and $1.5 billion of pension risk transfer premiums across its North American PRT platform.

Also last year, the company entered into an agreement to acquire American Equity Life, which it expects to close shortly and contribute more than $50 billion of incremental insurance assets.

Brookfield said it had deployed approximately $5 billion into proprietary investment strategies at returns in excess of 9 per cent, increasing its gross portfolio wide yield to 5.6 per cent.

The company said: “Today we are in a strong liquidity position within our corporate and subsidiaries’ investment portfolios, with approximately $27 billion of liquidity.

“Additional cash and short-term liquid securities at AEL will further bolster our liquidity following closing of our pending acquisition, facilitating the rotation into higher yielding investment strategies while maintaining sufficient liquidity coverage for stress scenarios.”