Key Takeaways
- • Mark Walter is reportedly seeking over $3 billion for the Cadillac Formula 1 team, with at least seven interested parties, according to Sportico as cited by Insurance Business.
- • A federal probe by Manhattan prosecutors and the SEC is examining whether private credit investments recorded as unaffiliated at Walter-controlled Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life and Annuity were tied to other Walter businesses; no charges have been filed and TWG Global denies wrongdoing.
- • AM Best said Delaware Life's affiliated investments rose to 42% of invested assets at year-end 2025 from 3%, moving outlooks on Walter's life carriers to negative while affirming A- ratings.
- • The PRA's 2026 priorities letter flagged private credit exposures and conflicts of interest, and its CP8/26 proposal would lift capital held against an average funded reinsurance deal from about 2% to roughly 10% of liabilities covered.
- • UK funded reinsurance exposures stand at about £40 billion and could reach £110 billion over the next decade without intervention, according to the PRA; new deals written from October 1 fall under the new approach, with full implementation due July 1, 2027.
Summary
Mark Walter, who sold his combined 25% stake in Chelsea to Clearlake Capital in September in a deal valuing the club at £5 billion, is reportedly seeking over $3 billion for the Cadillac Formula 1 team, according to Sportico. The sale talk comes two months after Walter left Stamford Bridge and follows his agreement in August to sell the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion. TWG Global had denied in August that the F1 team was for sale, even as an insurance probe widened.
The probe centres on two US life and annuity carriers Walter controls, Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life and Annuity. Manhattan federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are examining whether private credit investments recorded as unaffiliated were in fact tied to other Walter businesses. No charges have been filed, and TWG Global denies wrongdoing. AM Best said in July that, after a restatement, Delaware Life's affiliated investments had risen to 42% of invested assets at year-end 2025, up from 3%, and moved the outlooks on Walter's life carriers to negative while affirming their A- ratings, citing lower risk-adjusted capital and weaknesses in financial reporting controls.
The UK regulatory response has centred on private credit and funded reinsurance. The Prudential Regulation Authority's 2026 priorities letter asked life insurers to give particular attention to private credit exposures, citing Financial Policy Committee concerns about private market behaviour under stress, and stressed legal-entity governance and management of conflicts of interest. Under consultation paper CP8/26, published in April, the PRA proposed aligning capital held against funded reinsurance with the treatment of corporate bonds, which would lift capital for an average transaction from around 2% to roughly 10% of liabilities covered. UK exposures to funded reinsurance stand at about £40 billion, and the PRA has said these could reach £110 billion over the next decade without intervention. Its 2025 life stress test found solvency coverage for firms forced to take these deals back onto their books fell by 10 percentage points. New deals written from October 1 fall under the new approach, although final rules are still pending.
The article stresses that the UK position differs materially. The matching adjustment regime imposes stricter limits on which assets can back annuities, and S&P Global Ratings concluded in July that UK bulk annuity writers' capital would hold under severe private credit stress. Even so, Apollo chief executive Marc Rowan, whose Athene business is a major funded reinsurance player, criticised Delaware's regulators in September for missing the misclassifications, warning that "loss of trust comes from regulatory arbitrage." For UK brokers, pension trustees and advisers, the article's practical lesson is to ask where backing assets sit, who originated them, and whether the counterparty shares an owner with the insurer.
The probe centres on two US life and annuity carriers Walter controls, Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life and Annuity. Manhattan federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are examining whether private credit investments recorded as unaffiliated were in fact tied to other Walter businesses. No charges have been filed, and TWG Global denies wrongdoing. AM Best said in July that, after a restatement, Delaware Life's affiliated investments had risen to 42% of invested assets at year-end 2025, up from 3%, and moved the outlooks on Walter's life carriers to negative while affirming their A- ratings, citing lower risk-adjusted capital and weaknesses in financial reporting controls.
The UK regulatory response has centred on private credit and funded reinsurance. The Prudential Regulation Authority's 2026 priorities letter asked life insurers to give particular attention to private credit exposures, citing Financial Policy Committee concerns about private market behaviour under stress, and stressed legal-entity governance and management of conflicts of interest. Under consultation paper CP8/26, published in April, the PRA proposed aligning capital held against funded reinsurance with the treatment of corporate bonds, which would lift capital for an average transaction from around 2% to roughly 10% of liabilities covered. UK exposures to funded reinsurance stand at about £40 billion, and the PRA has said these could reach £110 billion over the next decade without intervention. Its 2025 life stress test found solvency coverage for firms forced to take these deals back onto their books fell by 10 percentage points. New deals written from October 1 fall under the new approach, although final rules are still pending.
The article stresses that the UK position differs materially. The matching adjustment regime imposes stricter limits on which assets can back annuities, and S&P Global Ratings concluded in July that UK bulk annuity writers' capital would hold under severe private credit stress. Even so, Apollo chief executive Marc Rowan, whose Athene business is a major funded reinsurance player, criticised Delaware's regulators in September for missing the misclassifications, warning that "loss of trust comes from regulatory arbitrage." For UK brokers, pension trustees and advisers, the article's practical lesson is to ask where backing assets sit, who originated them, and whether the counterparty shares an owner with the insurer.
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