Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, joined by attorneys general from eight other states, asked a federal appeals court to throw out a lawsuit challenging Lockheed Martin’s pension risk transfer to Athene Holdings. The request went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In an amici curiae brief, the states argue the plaintiffs lack standing because they can’t show real harm tied to the transaction.
Speculation about what might happen to pension benefits later doesn’t clear the legal bar, the filing says.
According to InsuranceNews US, the lawsuit claims Lockheed breached fiduciary duties by shifting pension obligations to Athene, which plaintiffs paint as risky due to private equity ownership and offshore ties. They say Lockheed should have chosen an insurer perceived as safer. According to the states, that framing misses the point.
The brief says the employees “lack an injury at all.” Pension risk transfers, the states argue, operate under state regulation and haven’t produced benefit losses for retirees.
According to the filing, no pensioner has lost benefits because of a pension risk transfer in decades. Zero.
Athene completed the $4.9 bn deal with Lockheed Martin in 2021. At the time, it marked the largest pension risk transfer in Athene’s history.
Lockheed moved $4.9 bn in pension obligations to Athene subsidiaries, which took over annuity payments for about 18,000 retirees already in pay status.
The Iowa-led brief leans hard on state oversight. Life insurers like Athene operate under risk-based capital rules and supervision that make insolvencies uncommon, the filing says. Letting the lawsuit proceed would suggest states aren’t doing their jobs regulating insurers. The attorneys general reject that idea outright.
Officials from Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas joined the brief, InsuranceNews US stated.
Courts have dismissed similar lawsuits targeting pension risk transfers involving Athene and other insurers in recent months. Athene hasn’t been named as a direct defendant in those cases.
An Athene spokesperson said the states’ filing backs the company’s long-standing view that the claims lack legal footing.
The spokesperson said pension risk transfers are safe and pointed to Athene’s $35 bn in regulatory capital and credit ratings supporting its obligations. According to Beinsure analysts, that argument keeps landing in court.
