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