Guardian Life Acquires Strategic Minority Stake in HPS Investment Partners

NEW YORK, Feb. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America^® (Guardian), one of the nation's largest life insurers and a leading provider of employee benefits, today announced it has acquired a minority equity stake in HPS Investment Partners (HPS). HPS is a leading global investment firm that currently manages approximately $80 billion in assets.

Partnering with HPS expands the capabilities of Guardian's in-house investment platform and offers the opportunity to co-develop bespoke investment strategies suitable for the insurance market. This transaction will significantly strengthen Guardian's financial profile, further grow and diversify its investment portfolio, and position the company for continued long-term growth.

"This partnership marks an important step in Guardian's evolution and is an example of how we are continuing to drive our strategy forward, advance our market position, and create value for all our stakeholders," said Guardian CEO, Andrew McMahon.

As part of the transaction, Guardian and HPS have entered a strategic partnership that will enable close collaboration and allow the two companies to share best practices and investment insights. Guardian will also provide HPS with a strategically important amount of capital to invest and manage across a range of private-credit strategies.

Scott Kapnick, Chief Executive Officer of HPS Investment Partners, added, "We are thrilled to have Guardian as a partner and investor in our firm and expand the depth and breadth of the investment solutions we provide to Guardian and its policyholders. Guardian's focus on providing its customers with best-in-class insurance, investment and wealth management products to help achieve their long-term financial goals is well aligned with our longstanding focus on serving insurance clients and their stakeholders. We are also grateful to Dyal Capital Partners for their steadfast partnership and support in welcoming Guardian to the investor group."

Mr. McMahon continued, "HPS has established itself as an investment solutions provider of choice for the world's largest and most sophisticated insurers, with an impressive history of innovation in private credit as well as a strong performance track record. We are confident that many opportunities for collaboration exist between our companies."

Lazard and Berkshire Global Advisors served as financial advisors to Guardian on the transaction. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to HPS.

About The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian^®)
Every day, Guardian provides Americans the security they deserve through our insurance and wealth management products and services. Since our founding in 1860, our long-term view has helped our customers prepare for whatever life brings whether starting a family, planning for the future, or taking care of employees. Today, we're a Fortune 250 mutual company and a leading provider of life, disability, dental, and other benefits for individuals, at the workplace and through government sponsored programs. The Guardian community of over 9,000 employees and our network of over 2,500 financial representatives is committed to serving with expertise when, where and how our clients need us. Our commitments rest on a strong financial foundation, which at year-end 2020 included $9.5 billion in capital and $1.7 billion in operating income. For more information, please visit guardianlife.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

About HPS Investment Partners
HPS Investment Partners is a leading global investment firm that seeks to provide creative capital solutions and generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our clients. We manage various strategies across the capital structure that include syndicated leveraged loans and high yield bonds to privately negotiated senior secured debt and mezzanine investments, asset-based leasing and private equity. The scale and breadth of our platform offers the flexibility to invest in companies large and small, through standard or customized solutions. At our core, we share a common thread of intellectual rigor and discipline that enables us to create value for our clients, who have entrusted us with approximately $80 billion of assets under management as of December 2021. For more information, please visit www.hpspartners.com.

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SOURCE Guardian