Former Apollo executive’s 26North to manage funds for American Equity Investment Life

Brookfield quits insurer’s board in dispute over Josh Harris’s venture


An important financial backer of billionaire Josh Harris’s new asset management venture has received a rare public rebuke from Brookfield Asset Management, which complained that AEL, a life insurance company, should not be committing funds to a start-up.
Shares of the Iowa-based annuities seller plunged 21 per cent after Brookfield, its largest shareholder, expressed dissatisfaction with the investment in a vehicle Harris launched earlier this year after leaving Apollo Global Management in a succession dispute.
Announcing his resignation from AEL’s board, Brookfield’s chief investment officer Sachin Shah wrote: “It is clear based on recent events that there has been a fundamental change in the strategic direction of [AEL].”
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Mark Vandevelde