Berkshire Hathaway Life

Name

Berkshire Hathaway Life

Legal name

Berkshire Hathaway Life

Website

https://bhlife.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Life and Health Reinsurance

NAICS

Direct Life, Health, and Medical Insurance Carriers (52411), Direct Life Insurance Carriers (524113)

SIC

Life Insurance (6311), Accident & Health Insurance (6321)

akta.pro primary industry

Life Treaty Reinsurance (FSAOAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Morbidity / Health Reinsurance (Medical & Disability) (FSAOAAAC), Life & Health Reinsurance Run-off / Legacy Portfolio Management (FSAOAAAJ)

Keywords

• Life and health reinsurance
• Retrocession solutions
• Variable annuity reinsurance
• Pension annuity reinsurance
• Structured settlements

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Reinsurance Premiums: Berkshire Hathaway Life earns revenue through reinsurance premiums from ceding insurers. This includes quota share arrangements, excess of loss retrocession, and other reinsurance structures. They also provide insurance solutions and acquire entire portfolios of insurance business.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Berkshire Hathaway Life is the Life & Health Division of the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, providing large-scale, tailor-made reinsurance and insurance solutions to insurance companies, reinsurers, banks, and pension schemes worldwide. It specializes in life and health reinsurance, variable annuity business, value in force financing, life retrocession, pension annuity reinsurance, healthcare reinsurance, and structured settlements, leveraging the group's financial strength to accept exceptionally large and long-term liabilities.

Product overview

Berkshire Hathaway Life is the Life & Health Division of the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, offering a unified portfolio of large-scale reinsurance and insurance solutions. The company specializes in life and health reinsurance, variable annuity business, value in force reinsurance, life retrocession, pension annuity reinsurance, healthcare reinsurance, and structured settlements. The operations are supported by a network of subsidiary insurance carriers including National Indemnity Company (NICO), Hawthorn Life, Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska (BHLN), British Insurance Company of Cayman (BICC), and First Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company (FBHL), each providing specialized coverage across P&C, life insurance, and reinsurance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Life & Health Reinsurance Large-scale life and health reinsurance solutions for insurance companies, banks, and pension schemes worldwide, accepting exceptionally large and long-term liabilities.
• Variable Annuity Reinsurance and Portfolio Acquisition Reinsurance and acquisition of variable annuity portfolios, including transactions covering portfolios in run-off from insurers such as Hartford Life and Cigna.
• Value in Force (VIF) Reinsurance Financing solutions for insurance companies, including VIF financing, acquisition cost financing, and liberation of embedded value, demonstrated by the VidaCaixa EUR 0.6 billion transaction.
• Life Retrocession Retrocession solutions for life reinsurance portfolios, including excess or quota share customized deals and pools for both new business and in-force blocks globally, including the Sun Life of Canada and Swiss Re transactions.
• Pension Annuity Reinsurance 100% coinsurance quota share reinsurance covering risks associated with pension scheme members and their dependants, illustrated by the Pension Insurance Corporation transaction covering approximately GBP 1 billion of liabilities.
• Healthcare Reinsurance Quota share reinsurance for individual health insurance business covering multiple underwriting years, demonstrated by the VHI Ireland transaction with first year reinsurance premiums of approximately EUR 0.7 billion.
• Structured Settlements Arrangements for workers' compensation or personal injury claims where individuals receive ongoing payments, delivered through Berkshire Hathaway Group Structured Settlements (BHGSS), one of the largest writers of individual structured settlements in the United States, writing approximately USD 1 billion annually in new business.

Quantifiable outcome

• Can write transactions with aggregate reinsurance limits up to USD 2.2 billion (Hartford Life Japan example)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Hannover Re: Major global reinsurer with a Life & Health division focused on financial solutions, longevity, and treaty reinsurance. Competes with Berkshire Hathaway Life in structured life and health reinsurance transactions.
• PartnerRe: Multi-line global reinsurer (now owned by Covéa) writing life and health treaty and structured reinsurance, competing with Berkshire Hathaway Life for cross-border life reinsurance mandates.
• SCOR SE: French-listed global reinsurer with a sizable Life & Health division offering similar treaty life reinsurance, longevity, and protection products — directly comparable to Berkshire Hathaway Life's core offering.
• Reinsurance Group of America (RGA): Pure-play global life reinsurer with deep US and international life, health, and longevity reinsurance franchises. Competes directly with Berkshire Hathaway Life for life retrocession, financial reinsurance, and group reinsurance deals.
• Pacific Life Re (Pacific Life): Life reinsurance arm of Pacific Life, focused on mortality, longevity, and in-force block transactions globally — directly comparable niche and capability profile to Berkshire Hathaway Life.
• Swiss Re: Global life and health reinsurer with comparable treaty, retrocession, and structured solutions capabilities. Swiss Re is also an active counterparty of Berkshire Hathaway Life (retrocession transactions), making it both competitor and client.
• Munich Re: The world's largest reinsurer, Munich Re writes global life and health reinsurance alongside P&C, with comparable treaty structures and large-block capacity — the closest like-for-like competitor to Berkshire Hathaway Life in life/health reinsurance.

Broad incumbents

• Prudential Financial: Large US life insurer with a Group Insurance division that issues life, disability, and annuity products that are ceded to reinsurers including Berkshire Hathaway Life; a broader-incumbent buyer-side counterparty whose book characteristics shape BHL's deal pipeline.
• General Reinsurance Corporation (Gen Re): Berkshire Hathaway sister company within Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, primarily focused on P&C reinsurance but also writing life/health — a related-party peer with shared capital backing and similar client base.

Emerging players

• Athene Holding: Specialist in annuity reinsurance and block acquisitions, increasingly competitive in legacy/run-off life insurance transactions — directly comparable to Berkshire Hathaway Life's VIF, pension, and run-off block acquisition strategy.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/berkshire-hathaway-group-reinsurance-division

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Berkshire Hathaway Life