Cambial Research · Insurance Assets

Martello Re Limited

Financial record 2021–2025, compiled from the company's audited GAAP statements and BMA Financial Condition Reports, the NAIC statutory filings of its four cedants, and SEC Form D. Figures as printed; variances flagged, not reconciled.

Prepared 20 August 2026 Coverage FY2021 stub – FY2025 Sources 20 filings, 6 filers Bases US GAAP · BMA EBS · NAIC statutory

01Entity

Corporate profile

Legal form	Bermuda exempted company, incorporated 21-Jul-2021
Licence	BMA Class E long-term insurer, effective 13-Dec-2021
Ownership chain	Martello Re LP (DE; Feeder LP added 2024) → Martello Re Holdings Ltd LLC (DE) → Martello Re Limited
General partner	Martello Re GP LLC — 100% owned by Barings LLC (MassMutual subsidiary)
Tax status	IRC 953(d) election (2022); taxed as US corporation
Founding investors	MassMutual, Centerbridge Partners, Brown Brothers Harriman, HSCM Bermuda, other institutions and family offices
Investment managers	Barings LLC and Centerbridge Martello Advisors LLC, joint-venture IMAs dated 30-Dec-2021
Leadership	CEO Dennis Ho; CIO Michael Baumstein; board chair Eric Lloyd (President, Barings)
Auditor	PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd., Bermuda
Rating	AM Best A− (Excellent) / ICR a−, stable, assigned 7-Aug-2024
Offices	Hamilton, Bermuda; Charlotte, NC

Sources: FY2025 audited statements Note 1; FCR FY2023–FY2025; Schedule Y of MMLIC and MassMutual Ascend statutory filings; Centerbridge Form ADV (JV arrangement).

02Capital

Capital raised and solvency position

Equity capital — US$ thousands, per audited equity rollforwards and SEC Form D
Period	Contributions	Return	Surplus notes	Running APIC
2021 (21-Jul – 31-Dec)	306,045	—	—	306,045
FY2022	1,162,197	—	221,000	1,468,242
FY2023	222,500	—	—	1,690,742
FY2024	606,540	(250,000)	220,000	2,047,282
FY2025	690,975	—	—	2,738,257
Total	2,988,257	(250,000)	441,000	2,738,257

SEC Form D (Martello Re LP, CIK 1916713): first sale 13-Aug-2021; total sold $1,639,625,000; 39 investors; offering indefinite; Rule 506(b), 3(c)(7). The Jan-2022 press release announced the transaction; the capital was committed Aug-2021.
Jul-2024 raise: $935,000 of commitments (target $800,000) plus $360,000 credit-facility upsize; no Form D amendment reflects it. Martello Re Feeder LP (CIK 2020879): Form D May-2024, $0 sold.
Surplus notes (both due 28-Jun-2027, held by HoldCo): $221,000 at SOFR+2.00% (Jun-2022); $220,000 at SOFR+2.25% (Jun-2024). Letters of credit: $250,000 issued / $75,000 drawn at YE2024 → $750,000 issued and drawn at YE2025, maturities to Dec-2030.
Per-investor allocations are not public. Form D reports aggregates; MMLIC's audited statutory lists the Martello entities as related parties without carrying value; the Centerbridge ADV folds its feeders into insurance-company RAUM ($39,638,552,177 at 12/31/25).

BMA solvency — US$ millions except ratios
	YE2024	YE2025
Statutory capital (EBS)	2,138	2,771
Minimum solvency margin	449	598
Transition ECR	1,028	1,549
ECR ratio	208%	179%
Best estimate liabilities (SBA)	26,313	35,952
Risk margin (6% CoC)	98	179
Technical provisions	26,411	36,151

Unresolved source variances: FCR statutory capital & surplus $3,282,693K vs audited Note 13 $3,281,268K (Δ $1,425K); FCR and GAAP Note 9 reverse the attribution of the two surplus-note amounts (totals agree at $441,000K).

03Treaties

Reinsurance agreements

All disclosed agreements. Form determines asset custody.
Effective	Counterparty	Form	Business	Assets held by
01-Feb-2022	MassMutual Ascend (MMALIC)	Coinsurance FWH	$14.2B closed block: fixed, FIA, payout annuity	Cedant
11-Mar-2022	MMLIC (MR22)	Coinsurance FWH QS	MYGA new flow	Cedant
15-Mar-2023	MMLIC (MR23)	Coins. FWH → coinsurance 01-Oct-2025	Pension risk transfer	Cedant → Martello
22-Nov-2023	Metropolitan Tower Life	Facultative ModCo QS	Pension risk transfer	Cedant
15-Jul-2024	MMLIC (MR24)	Coinsurance QS	SPIA / DIA new flow	Martello
Oct-2024	SCOR SE	Longevity retrocession	Portion of MTL PRT	—
12-Nov-2025	Metropolitan Life (MLIC)	Facultative ModCo QS	Pension risk transfer	Cedant
Dec-2025	Munich Re	Longevity retrocession	Portion of MLIC PRT	—
Apr-2026	Unaffiliated Japanese life insurer	Coinsurance QS + trust	Single premium whole life flow	Martello

Sources: FY2025 audited statements Notes 1 and 16. Statutory type codes corroborate each form: Ascend COFW/I; MR22 COFW/I; MR23 COFW/G→CO/G; MR24 CO/I; MTL and MLIC MCO/G. YE2025 Schedule S still prints MTL as MCO/G despite the described Oct-2025 conversion; presented as printed.

Amounts are YE2025 reserve credit / ModCo reserve per cedant Schedule S. The Apr-2026 Japanese flow treaty (coinsurance + trust) post-dates the diagram. Retrocession amounts are not disclosed; Martello's ceded premium printed $(2,832)K in FY2025.

04Premium

Ceded premium by cedant, 2022–2025

US$ thousands · cedant Schedule S Part 3 Section 1 (statutory ceded premium). Premium is recognised at cession and does not recur.
Cedant / treaty	2022	2023	2024	2025
Recognised as GAAP premium at Martello (life-contingent)
Metropolitan Life (MLIC)	—	—	—	5,734,245
Metropolitan Tower (MTL)	—	n/e	1,784,998	1,279,521
MMLIC — MR23 PRT	—	n/e	807,831	389,867
MMLIC — MR24 SPIA/DIA	—	—	382,420	563,094
MassMutual Ascend	see note	n/e	32,105	22,039
Identified			3,007,355	7,988,766
Martello Note 7 gross premiums	14,327	n/e	2,963,827	7,978,606
Variance			43,528	10,160
Martello GAAP premium line	114,054	613,058	3,203,257	8,104,708
Deposit-type (no GAAP premium at Martello)
MMLIC — MR22 MYGA flow	n/e	n/e	7,614,937	4,393,798

2022 founding cession, per Ascend Note 23: ceded premium and annuity considerations to "Martello Reinsurance" of $(14,113,436,354); Ascend net premium for 2022 printed $(7,198,257,952). The block was deposit-type except the payout slice; Martello's FY2022 GAAP premium was $114,054K, of which $14,327K is disclosed SPIA gross premium.
Ascend direct premiums written 2022: $7,379,844,074; other 2022 cessions: Commonwealth Annuity (Global Atlantic) flow $(426,081,845) and block $(25,216,167); other $(20,069,403). Ascend recaptured its Hannover FIA quota share effective 01-Jan-2022 (statutory capital impact $(140.6)M) prior to the Martello cession.
"n/e" = filing year not extracted (2022–2023 MMLIC and MTL statements not parsed). FY2024/FY2025 identified premium differs from Note 7 by 1.47% / 0.13%; statutory ceded premium and GAAP premium are different bases.

05Reserves

Ceded reserves by cedant

US$ · reserve credit / ModCo reserve per cedant Schedule S
Cedant	YE2024	YE2025
MMLIC (MR22 + MR23 + MR24)	18,304,188,141	22,252,208,176
MassMutual Ascend	7,387,769,760	5,773,720,176
Metropolitan Life (MLIC)	—	5,769,339,610
Metropolitan Tower (MTL)	2,050,152,659	3,201,532,293
Total	27,742,110,560	36,996,800,255
Martello technical provisions (EBS)	26,411,000,000	36,151,000,000
Variance (statutory vs EBS basis)	1,331,110,560	845,800,255

Ascend block runoff — US$
	Inception (Feb-2022)	YE2022	YE2023	YE2024	YE2025
Ceded reserves	14,200,000,000	~12,600,000,000	9,898,207,189	7,387,769,760	5,773,720,176

YE2022 per Ascend Note 21A ("approximately $12.6 billion"); YE2023 from prior-year columns of the 2024 filing. MLIC treaty effective 12-Nov-2025; MLIC's YE2024 filing contains no Martello rows.

06Income

Consolidated statements of income, FY2022–FY2025

US$ thousands · audited. 2021 stub (21-Jul to 31-Dec-2021): net loss $(8,820), operating expenses only.
	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025
Premiums	114,054	613,058	3,203,257	8,104,708
Product fees and charges	40,599	44,050	38,720	33,444
Net investment income	550,563	994,497	1,376,656	1,794,639
Investment related gains (losses)	(2,226,508)	330,316	243,090	406,058
Other income	—	—	—	6,226
Total revenues	(1,521,292)	1,981,921	4,861,723	10,345,075
Insurance policy benefits	27,471	462,443	3,023,761	7,881,351
Interest credited to account balances	277,483	507,888	854,098	1,007,850
Policy expenses	232,852	252,388	429,719	896,792
Amortization of DAC	41,154	73,734	123,355	144,920
Interest and debt expense	5,680	15,858	25,282	34,048
Operating expenses	15,709	27,380	41,018	60,166
Change in FV of market risk benefits	(186,147)	(27,698)	(85)	23,375
Total benefits and expenses	414,202	1,311,993	4,497,148	10,048,502
Pre-tax income (loss)	(1,935,494)	669,928	364,575	296,573
Income tax benefit (expense)	(2,345)	—	(2,153)	130,514
Net income (loss)	(1,937,839)	669,928	362,422	427,087
Total other comprehensive income (loss)	(3,488)	(24,083)	39,318	(57,344)
Comprehensive income (loss)	(1,941,327)	645,845	401,740	369,743

Derived measures
	FY2024	FY2025
Net investment income / avg total investments	5.93%	5.50%
Interest credited / avg policyholder account balances	4.06%	4.13%
Disclosed weighted-average crediting rate (deferred annuities)	4.16%	4.69%
Pre-tax return on average equity	47.6%	17.6%
Operating expenses / avg total assets	0.17%	0.18%

The FY2025 tax benefit is the release of a $190,822K deferred-tax valuation allowance (Note 12). FY2022 investment-related losses of $(2,226,508)K are fair-value marks on the funds-withheld portfolios. Yield and credited-rate denominators differ (whole book vs deferred-annuity balances).

Implied return on contributed equity — inception (Aug-2021) to YE2025

US$ thousands · derived. Contributed = gross capital contributions 2,988,257. Recovered = capital returned 250,000 + period-end capital measure. Simple multiples; contributions were staggered 2021–2025, so these are not IRRs.
Capital measure at YE2025	Value	+ capital returned	Multiple of contributed	Simple annualised (~4.4y)
GAAP shareholder's equity	2,206,621	2,456,621	0.82x	−4.4%/yr
Bermuda statutory capital & surplus	3,281,268	3,531,268	1.18x	+3.9%/yr
EBS statutory capital	2,771,000	3,021,000	1.01x	+0.3%/yr

No dividends have been paid; the only distribution is the FY2024 $250,000K return of capital. GAAP book value is net of the retained deficit $(486,289)K and AOCI $(45,597)K.
The three measures differ by basis: GAAP carries the funds-withheld portfolios at fair value through the income statement; statutory C&S adds back surplus notes ($441,000K) and letters of credit ($415,625K at YE25) as capital; EBS re-marks liabilities.
Sponsor-entity fee streams (§10: $400,911K disclosed FY2022–FY2025 to Barings, Centerbridge, HoldCo, ServiceCo) are payments to related parties, not returns to the 39 LP investors as such.
Return on average GAAP equity by year: FY2024 47.3%, FY2025 25.4% (net income basis); FY2022–FY2023 not meaningful (equity negative or crossing zero).

07Balance sheet

Consolidated balance sheets, YE2022–YE2025

US$ thousands · audited. YE2021: total assets 308,640 (cash 306,295); equity 297,475.
	YE2022	YE2023	YE2024	YE2025
Assets
Funds withheld at interest	14,887,975	17,888,107	26,020,803	34,041,928
Fixed maturity AFS, fair value	842,554	870,694	1,145,052	3,129,381
Other investments	138,276	173,520	138,111	431,660
Mortgage loans	54,498	29,471	40,943	192,353
Equity securities	20,390	68,304	45,342	35,403
Policy loans	26,905	24,880	22,322	20,048
Total investments	15,970,598	19,054,976	27,412,573	37,850,773
Cash and equivalents (incl. restricted)	304,229	303,828	497,185	450,900
Real estate (consolidated VIE)	—	—	—	202,201
Deferred acquisition costs	318,740	378,765	506,290	556,836
All other assets	49,289	148,863	695,150	293,325
Total assets	16,642,856	19,886,432	29,111,198	39,354,035
Liabilities and equity
Policyholder account balances	16,392,885	18,326,715	23,732,443	25,075,097
Policy benefit reserves	102,267	540,010	3,366,998	10,893,152
Market risk benefit liabilities	284,971	287,914	289,322	322,689
Long-term debt	221,000	221,000	441,000	576,120
All other liabilities	123,388	124,103	136,465	269,303
Total liabilities	17,124,511	19,499,742	27,966,228	37,136,361
Additional paid-in capital	1,468,242	1,690,742	2,047,282	2,738,257
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)	(1,946,659)	(1,276,731)	(914,309)	(486,289)
AOCI, common stock, NCI	(3,238)	(27,321)	12,997	(34,294)
Total equity	(481,655)	386,690	1,144,970	2,217,674

Funds withheld at interest is 86.5% of YE2025 total assets. OC Trust and Coinsurance Trust collateral within investments: $3,109,506K (YE25); $878,667K (YE24); $122,863K (YE23); $51,042K (YE22). GAAP equity was negative $(481,655)K at YE2022.

08Cash flow

Consolidated statements of cash flows, FY2022–FY2025

US$ thousands · audited
	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025
Net cash — operating	(308,474)	(187,821)	8,702	358,834
Net cash — investing	(1,076,789)	(35,080)	(391,885)	(1,242,942)
Net cash — financing	1,383,197	222,500	576,540	837,823
Net change in cash	(2,066)	(401)	193,357	(46,285)
Selected investing detail
Purchases — fixed maturity AFS	(1,166,370)	(145,932)	(761,261)	(1,744,446)
Sales, maturities, repayments — AFS	296,598	141,187	397,327	974,492
Purchases — mortgage, other inv., equity, RE	(211,636)	(270,020)	(90,184)	(701,065)
Non-cash disclosures
Day-one assets and liabilities assumed	14,756,161	430,944	2,696,925	7,310,108
FWH→coinsurance conversion transfer (MR23)	—	—	—	1,251,533
Deposits into funds withheld	3,994,746	4,774,062	7,973,188	4,849,709
Withdrawals from funds withheld	2,031,683	3,311,205	3,386,975	4,483,059

FY2022 financing ($1,383,197K) approximates FY2022 total investment purchases ($1,378,006K). The FY2025 AFS amortized-cost roll closes to 1.6%: 1,171,905 + 1,744,446 − 974,492 + 1,251,533 = 3,193,392 implied vs 3,143,179 reported.

09Assets

Asset pools, quality, purchases, maturity

Directly held AFS (Martello balance sheet), YE2025 vs YE2024 — US$ thousands, fair value

	YE2024	YE2025
Corporate	722,840	1,614,213
ABS	159,951	833,036
RMBS	147,635	383,070
CLO	51,075	127,797
CMBS	30,843	108,442
US government, municipal, residual, other	32,708	62,823
Total AFS	1,145,052	3,129,381

The Martello pool at MassMutual Ascend — US$ millions (Funds Withheld Reinsurance Supplement)

The supplement's Funds Withheld Adjustment column. Martello is Ascend's only material FWH counterparty. Ties to Schedule S Part 8 within $0.5M.
	YE2022	YE2023	YE2024	YE2025
Corporate bonds	5,401	3,695	2,215	1,780
Other ABS incl. CLOs	2,958	2,279	1,606	1,053
RMBS	1,493	1,362	1,239	883
CMBS	809	759	643	516
Mortgage loans and real estate	372	536	786	623
US Gov't / agencies / munis	391	115	76	283
Schedule BA, stocks, cash	1,181	891	675	536
Total pool	12,605	9,637	7,240	5,674
NAIC 1 (% of ceded bonds)	49.9%	55.2%	63.9%	67.9%
NAIC 2	42.7%	36.3%	27.7%	25.8%
Below investment grade	7.4%	8.5%	8.4%	6.3%

Ceded pool credit quality, all four cedants — YE2025, Schedule S Part 8

Ceded long-term bonds, B/ACV, US$. Columns are total ceded pools (FWH + ModCo combined). Sub-pool split of ceded securities: Ascend 100% FWH; MMLIC 79% FWH; MTL 90% ModCo; MLIC 68% ModCo.
	MM Ascend	MMLIC	Met Tower	Met Life
NAIC 1	3,065,707,844	19,143,529,320	9,340,719,467	12,157,554,884
NAIC 2	1,163,193,313	9,677,008,865	5,619,360,936	7,259,525,114
NAIC 3–6	285,291,259	2,183,428,615	325,937,065	493,608,870
Total ceded long-term bonds	4,514,192,416	31,003,966,800	15,286,017,468	19,910,688,868
Below investment grade	6.3%	7.0%	2.1%	2.5%
Martello share of its sub-pool	~100%	64.1%	~17%	15.1%

General Interrogatory 29.05: Centerbridge Martello Advisors LLC (CRD 157359) and Barings LLC (CRD 106006) are disclosed as holding investment decision authority at MMLIC and Ascend; Barings LLC and Centerbridge Partners LP at MTL and MLIC. Barings is coded affiliated at MassMutual entities and unaffiliated at MetLife entities. MetLife Investment Management manages the MetLife general accounts.

Cedant GA bond acquisitions (Schedule D Part 3) — US$

Cedant	2022	2023	2024	2025
MassMutual Ascend	14,761,528,129	8,408,682,174	9,521,796,540	11,057,908,553
Ascend — disposals (Part 4)	13,009,834,442	6,289,994,380	6,804,692,656	8,393,483,738
Metropolitan Tower	n/e	n/e	7,297,159,870	9,616,802,817
Metropolitan Life	n/e	n/e	n/e	46,726,258,290
MMLIC	Schedule D Parts 3/4/5 not published

Ascend prints control totals only (no CUSIP detail). MTL and MLIC acquisitions are CUSIP-level parses. No acquisition row at any cedant carries a Martello tag; under FWH and ModCo the assets remain in the cedant's general account.

Stated-maturity profile of bond books — YE2025

Stated contractual maturity, not WAL (WAL is not disclosed in statutory filings; amortizing ABS/MBS ends life earlier than stated).
Book	≤1y	1–5y	5–10y	10–20y	>20y	Basis
MassMutual Ascend GA ($44.0B)	17.1%	42.1%	23.9%	10.9%	6.0%	Part 1A buckets
Metropolitan Tower GA ($24.6B)	4.4%	11.0%	17.8%	22.4%	44.4%	CUSIP parse, 4,260 rows
Metropolitan Life GA ($121.8B parsed of $134.5B)	5.4%	16.3%	17.5%	25.4%	35.3%	CUSIP parse, 10,646 rows, 90.6% coverage
Martello directly-held AFS ($3.1B)	0.9%	7.8%	9.6%	34.7% >10y · 47.0% structured		Note 3

10Fees

Related-party fees by counterparty, FY2022–FY2025

US$ thousands · audited statements, related-party notes
Counterparty / fee	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	Total
Barings — investment management	26,470	29,371	34,769	47,065	137,675
Centerbridge — investment management	4,375	8,511	12,213	16,391	41,490
Deal expenses (Barings / Centerbridge)	n/d	n/d	2,779	7,354	10,133
HoldCo — new-business fee	16,296	18,441	20,597	21,498	76,832
ServiceCo — services and expense agreement	1,218	12,551	20,512	24,431	58,712
HoldCo — interest paid on surplus notes	1,595	15,793	26,768	31,913	76,069
Total disclosed	49,954	84,667	117,638	148,652	400,911

Ceding commission paid to MassMutual Ascend at the Feb-2022 block cession: $320,000K (capitalized in DAC). Centerbridge's share of joint IM fees: 14.2% (2022) → 25.8% (2025). Deal expenses 2024–25: Centerbridge $9,092K, Barings $1,041K.

11Revisions

Revisions to earlier analysis

MTL asset-transfer denominator. Prior workpapers measured a $211,709,551 disposal cluster against Martello's total ModCo reserve increase ($1,151,379,634) and reported 18.4% explained. 92.5% of that increase is separate-account; against the general-account change ($86,539,996) the cluster is 245%. Under ModCo, assets do not transfer; no asset movement is implied by the reserve increase.
METLIFE 0JX is not a Martello identifier. The code appears on both disposals and acquisitions (Dec-2024 purchases from METLIFE 0JX 10278) and on a 2024 transaction; it is an internal counterparty code.
Premium timing. Ceded premium is recognised at cession; year-over-year declines at a single cedant reflect transaction timing, not run-rate. An earlier draft characterised FY2025 cedant-level declines as contraction; Martello's FY2025 premium rose 153%.
Capital dates. The Jan-2022 "$1.65B launch" was the announcement; Form D records first sale 13-Aug-2021, $1,639,625,000, 39 investors.

12Sources

Sources and limitations

Document	Basis	Used for
Martello Re audited statements FY2022, FY2023, FY2024, FY2025 (PwC)	US GAAP	Statements, notes, fees, treaties
Martello Re FCR FY2023, FY2024, FY2025	BMA EBS	Solvency, capital tiers, governance
Metropolitan Life YE2024, YE2025 annual statements	NAIC	Schedule S, Part 8, D3, D1 parse, Int. 29.05
Metropolitan Tower YE2022, Q3+Q4 2024/2025 statements; audited supplement	NAIC	Schedule S/D parses, Part 8
MMLIC YE2024, YE2025 annual statements; audited statutory FY2025	NAIC	Schedule S, Part 8, Int. 29.05, affiliates
MassMutual Ascend YE2022–YE2025 annual statements; FWH supplements 2022–2025	NAIC	Schedule S/D, Notes 21/23, pool series, Part 1A
SEC Form D / D-A: Martello Re LP, Martello Re Feeder LP	Reg D	Raise date, amount sold, investor count
Centerbridge Partners Form ADV (24-Jun-2026)	Advisers Act	JV arrangement, feeder vehicles, RAUM

Limitations

No security-level (CUSIP) view of any funds-withheld or ModCo pool exists in public filings; best granularity is asset class × NAIC designation.
MMLIC publishes no Schedule D Parts 3/4/5 and no FWH supplement; its $22.3B relationship has no public asset-transaction record.
Only the Ascend pool is unblended Martello; MMLIC/MTL/MLIC pool figures include other reinsurers.
Per-investor capital allocations, retrocession terms (SCOR, Munich Re), and the Apr-2026 Japanese cedant's identity are not disclosed.
Stated maturity is disclosed; WAL is not. MLIC holdings parse covers 90.6% of printed BACV.
2022–2023 MMLIC and MTL statutory filings were not parsed ("n/e" cells).