Obra Capital gets new strategic investor, as Aquarian Holdings buys in

Obra Capital, an alternative investment manager with strategies focused on insurance and reinsurance, has entered into a new strategic partnership with another investor with insurance-linked experience, as Aquarian Holdings has bought a minority equity ownership stake in the firm.

Obra Capital, which used to be named Vida Capital until its rebranding almost a year ago, makes investments via an Insurance Special Situations strategy, which includes a specialty reinsurance focus, as well as into longevity insurance positions through life settlements.

Aquarian Holdings will become a strategic partner to Obra, acquiring a minority equity ownership stake and replacing Reverence Capital who has been an investor since 2019.

Obra said that another key investor RedBird Capital is set to maintain its current ownership stake in the asset manager.

“This is an exciting milestone for Obra as we continue to build momentum around our core business and differentiated strategies to deliver strong returns for our clients,” explained Blair Wallace, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Obra has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years, and we are grateful for the support and resources that RedBird has added as we’ve carved a distinct position within our industry. We look forward to expanding our partnership with RedBird and to add Aquarian as a strategic partner as we continue to enhance our platform for long-term value creation for stakeholders.”

Aquarian is also an insurance and reinsurance focused investor, with allocations already made to the life and annuities space, with a controlling interest in Bermuda-based Somerset Reinsurance one of its investments into the re/insurance sector.

“Obra continues to present a compelling investment opportunity,” Mike Zabik, Head of Financial Services at RedBird Capital said. “For the past few years, Obra has been diligently building its investment infrastructure, diversifying its product set and expanding its team to establish a strong foundation to capitalize on the growth of the industry. As we look towards this next chapter for Obra, we are happy to welcome Aquarian as our new strategic partner, bringing with them complementary services and synergies to help expand Obra’s current platform.”

“This transaction provides Aquarian with access to additional alternative investment capabilities, strengthening our expanding financial services platform,” added Rudy Sahay, founder and Managing Partner at Aquarian. “We look forward to working with Obra as it grows and benefitting from the many synergies between our firms.”

Aquarian-owned companies, including its insurance and reinsurance investments, held assets exceeding $16 billion as of September 30th 2023.

There are clearly synergies between Obra and Aquarian, especially in the longevity and mortality focused portfolios that Obra constructs for clients, given Aquarian has interests in the annuity and life reinsurance market.