"Private equity firms and other alternative asset managers ... are reshaping the once-staid world of life insurance.... Many are shifting liabilities to offshore affiliates subject to less detailed disclosure requirements than in the US. Insurers and those offshore entities are also pursuing higher returns with more sophisticated and potentially less liquid investments ... [P]rivate equity-affiliated life insurers are already shepherding retirement savings into those same opaque markets -- including for people who say they don't want that."  MORE >>