For Apollo’s New CEO, Insurance Is In—Racy Buyouts, Not So Much
Apollo Global Management Inc. APO -0.29% Made its name, generating double-digit returns on debt-laden buyouts. Under the new Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan, the company's future will increasingly be about finding ways to get a few percentage points more than corporate and government bonds pay. The shift reflects Apollo's evolution from a leveraged buyout shop to a credit-investing powerhouse primarily aimed at insurance companies looking to park oodles of cash from the sale of retirement products known as fixed annuities. For Apollo, this has meant building platforms that will spawn a growing number of investment products that are designed for relatively low risk. These products include loans to large or medium-sized companies, asset-backed securities, aircraft finance, and residential mortgages, all of which need only return marginally greater tha...