"He provides excellent, straightforward counsel."

"He has an incredible depth of knowledge of the industry, he's really smart and an incredible negotiator." (2021)

David Alberts is a seasoned transactional attorney who counts an impressive list of household-name companies among his insurance industry client roster. Peers note: "He's incredibly good at what he does." (2020)

Chambers USA

Overview

David Alberts is co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Global Insurance Industry Group. David’s work for the life and non-life insurance industry includes a broad range of corporate, commercial and regulatory advisory and transactional work, including corporate/M&A, regulatory, commercial, insurtech, traditional and alternative/structured reinsurance and new product development.  David’s experience includes:

Mergers and Acquisitions. David has extensive and sophisticated transactional experience representing acquirers, target companies and sellers in connection with domestic and cross-border acquisitions and dispositions of insurance companies, divisions and lines of business, renewal rights deals, and insurance brokers, producers and MGAs. He has advised on deals ranging in size and complexity from multi-billion dollar, cross-border transactions, to mid- and small-size transactions within a single national or regional market.

Life and Non-Life Reinsurance.  David has extensive experience in life and non-life reinsurance transactions and in establishing new professional or special purpose reinsurers.  He is a leader in the non-life runoff sector, having represented many buyers and sellers of property and casualty runoff portfolios and discontinued insurance businesses, formed new acquisition players and collaboration arrangements with funds and other strategic partners, and designed innovative restructuring plans including the use of insurance business transfer and division laws.  David regularly represents buyers and sellers of life and annuity closed blocks and in innovative collaboration arrangements with asset managers and investment funds.

Technology and Innovation. David leads the Firm’s Insurtech initiative that is focused on advising insurance clients on a broad spectrum of strategic regulatory and transactional matters, as well as the acquisition of, investment in, or joint venture with tech-focused companies. He has extensive experience advising clients on negotiating commercial insurance agreements, such as “fronting” arrangements; technology partnerships and alliances; licensing and technology implementation; MGA/MGU formation and licensing; M&A, investments and other strategic transactions; and insurance regulatory compliance with state laws.

Insurance Regulatory. He regularly advises on multijurisdictional and cross-border regulatory issues, including credit for reinsurance laws, risk transfer regulations, permissible investment under insurance investment laws and related collateralization requirements.

David has been designated as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA since 2006 for Insurance: Transactional and Regulatory,  for which sources endorsed him as being "incredibly good at what he does” and having "deep expertise in relevant fields. He's invested time to get to know the nuances of our company and he's collaborative and creative.” He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Association of Insurance & Reinsurance Run-Off Companies (AIRROC), a member of the National Board of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation and a member of the Association of Life Insurance Counsel.

Spoken Languages

  • English

Experience

Technology and Innovation

  • MGAs/(Re)Insurance/Digital Platform Collaborations. Assist mid- and late-stage insurtechs and/or strategic (re)insurer clients in building and expanding their commercial operations, including structuring, contract and regulatory work to establish program management, managing general agent, fronting insurance, reinsurance and distribution arrangements.
  • M&A/Joint Ventures/Other Strategic Transactions. Represent clients in mergers, acquisition, joint ventures and other strategic transactions, as deal counsel.
  • Insurance Regulatory and Commercial Services. Advise on compliance with state insurance regulatory laws and coordinate with state regulators, including with respect to products, distribution, formation and/or licensing of agents, captives and insurers/reinsurers. Provide commercial advisory services either independent of or incidental to the regulatory advice.

Insurance Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Reinsurance and Other Strategic Transactions

Life and Annuity

  • Represented MetLife in its acquisition of Bequest, INC (d/b/a Willing).
  • Represented MetLife in its acquisition of PetFirst Healthcare, LLC.
  • Represented The Doctors Company with respect to various restructuring and services agreements in the acquisition of Hospitals Insurance Company and FOJP Service Corporation.
  • Represented The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. on its agreement to acquire Aetna's US group life and disability business for $1.45 billion.
  • Represented Pacific Life on its acquisition of the term life new business platform from Genworth Financial.
  • Represented ACE Limited in the $425 million acquisition of the Hong Kong and Korean life insurance operations of New York Life.
  • Represented Aurigen USA Holdings in its acquisition of Brokers National Life Assurance Company, an insurance and reinsurance company licensed in 48 states and the District of Columbia, from Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
  • Represented Guggenheim Partners, a diversified financial and insurance services firm, in its $440 million acquisition of EquiTrust Life Insurance Company from FBL Financial Group, Inc.
  • Represented a multinational Japanese insurance holding company and its life insurance subsidiary on a series of new annuity reinsurance and risk management structures, in addition to the establishment of a captive reinsurer in the Isle of Man with a US bank partner. These transactions have provided a transfer of several billions of insurance claims risk under variable annuity products.
  • Representation of several life insurers, reinsurers and banks in major life reserve financing transactions as well as counseling and lobbying in connection with the NAIC deliberations on use of captives and the development and implementation of AG48.

Property and Casualty

  • Represented The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. on the adverse development cover arranged as part of its acquisition of the Navigators Group.
  • Represented Hallmark Financial Services in the sale of its legacy book of commercial auto insurance through a loss portfolio transfer agreement by and among Hallmark’s property & casualty insurance subsidiaries and DARAG Bermuda Ltd. and DARA Insurance (Guernsey) Limited.
  • Represented a multinational Japanese insurance company, as special reinsurance counsel, in the sale of its reinsurance platform to RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.
  • Represented Randall & Quilter, a global insurance program management and legacy acquisitions specialist, in an equity investment by Brickell Insurance Holdings LLC.
  • Premia Holdings Ltd., a newly formed P&C insurance and reinsurance group focused on providing runoff solutions, in its acquisition of Alan Gray, Inc.
  • Represented Munich Re in the sale of LifePlans, Inc. to Long Term Care Group, Inc., as well as the carve-out of the healthcare business of LifePlans, Inc. to a newly formed Munich Re affiliate prior to closing.
  • Represented Munich Re in the acquisition by its subsidiary, Munich-American Holding Corporation, of Financial Reassurance Company 2010, Ltd., a special purpose financial insurance company domiciled in Vermont, from Citigroup Insurance Holding Corporation.
  • Represented Beazley, a specialty insurance company, in the sale by its subsidiary, Beazley Holdings Inc., of the renewal rights and certain assets connected to its US long-term care insurance portfolio to Ryan Specialty Group LLC.
  • Represented Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd, a long-term consolidator in the non-life insurance/reinsurance runoff sector, on its acquisition of a $410 million portfolio of US property & casualty liabilities in runoff from Arch Reinsurance Ltd.
  • Represented Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd in the acquisition of a $190 million portfolio of legacy US property/casualty insurance liabilities from the US branch of Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Ltd.
  • Represented The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. on its definitive agreement with National Indemnity Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., for a $1.5 billion aggregate excess of loss reinsurance agreement covering certain of The Hartford's asbestos and environmental liability exposures.
  • Represented Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd. in its acquisition of SPARTA Insurance Holdings, Inc., a US-based insurance company focused on specialty program and risk transfer alternative.
  • Represented Catalina Holdings (Bermuda)in its acquisition of Alea Group Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd., including its insurance company subsidiaries in Bermuda and the US, from FIN Acquisition Limited, a subsidiary of investment funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC.
  • Represented a multinational Japanese insurance holding company in the sale of its discontinued US property/casualty reinsurance business written its US branch and the sale of its discontinued global legacy reinsurance business written by its home office.

Education

The University of Iowa College of Law, JD, with distinction

Georgetown University, BSFS

Admissions

  • New York
  • Illinois

Activities

  • Member of the Advisory Council, Association of Insurance & Reinsurance Run-Off Companies (AIRROC)
  • Member of the National Board, Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation 
  • Member, Interested Parties' Group of the NAIC Reinsurance Task Force and various other NAIC committees and working groups
  • Member, Association of Life Insurance Counsel
  • Named by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leading insurance lawyer each year since 2006 in New York. (2006-2023).