Deals
How One Deal Divided Asset Management Giant Brookfield and the Firm It Saved
- Brookfield’s Shah left board amid search for a replacement
- AEL shares fell as much as 33% on the news of his exit
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Those dialed in for American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.’s earnings call last week all seemed to know about the abrupt resignation of a director representing the company’s largest investor -- all except Chief Executive Officer Anant Bhalla, that is.
Minutes beforehand, Brookfield Asset Management Inc. -- which owns about 18.5% of AEL -- said Chief Investment Officer Sachin Shah was resigning from the insurer’s board, citing a fundamental change in the strategic direction of the firm, and that it may sell its shares. Analysts on the conference call pressed Bhalla for details as they watched a third of AEL’s market value disappear.