CRO of the year Americas: Carl Groth, Legal & General Retirement America

The winner of this year's chief risk officer (CRO) for the Americas is a keen skier – when he manages to find time outside work – and it shows. Ronan McCaughey writes

Skiing mirrors risk management because it requires your full attention and focus. Before hitting the slopes, skiers make choices based on snow conditions, checking weather forecasts, consulting with experienced guides and deciding whether to ski a particular run or take a different route.

It's a good job therefore that Legal & General Retirement America's CRO, Carl Groth, has a passion for skiing because annual deal volume and transaction numbers in the US pension risk transfer (PRT) market can fluctuate year by year and even quarter by quarter, depending on the economic conditions and how many jumbo deals there are. However, there is no denying the sharp upward trend since 2022.

Last year was another stellar year for the US PRT market, which saw total premiums close to $51.8bn on par with 2022's record-breaking year of $51.9bn.

The growth of the US PRT market has been substantial over the last decade and there are currently 22 US insurers vying for pension plan money.

As one of these players, Legal & General Retirement America completed $2.2bn of PRT business in the US in 2024 making it a record year for the insurer in the US market.

Legal & General Retirement America and RGA also won InsuranceERM's PRT Innovation of the Year award in InsuranceERM's Americas awards 2024 for their split transaction agreement.

Carl Groth and his risk team have played a major role in Legal & General Retirement America's growth and success in the US PRT market and it is for this reason the judging panel selected him as CRO of the year for the Americas.

Speaking to InsuranceERM, Groth says the PRT business is quite asset intensive, "so in order to compete in that business, you need to be fairly sophisticated institutional investor".

He comments: "Most of the market has been growing their exposure to private credit, and so my team has been very instrumental in getting stakeholders comfortable with new asset classes in the private credit space. We've also expanded our use of traded structured credit as well."

Given L&G's presence in the global PRT market, there are several regulatory frameworks that the global teams work under, some of which require a more conservative credit risk mindset.

"The journey we've taken on now to get comfortable with these new asset classes has been to some degree, also about educating key stakeholders who, at the end of the day, need to approve these new assets."

He adds: "This can be challenging. However, the benefit of getting on board with these new assets is to compete at more profitable levels."

PRT outlook

Commenting on his outlook for the US PRT market, Groth says his personal view is that the economic uncertainty is creating some headwinds for the sector. "For example, the US trade tariffs and trying to manage supply chain disruption may take some time and attention away from a company's de-risking priorities. As a result, the US PRT market in 2025 may not be as big as it was last year [in terms of premium volumes]."

Groth also notes the jumbo PRT deals that have been transacted in US over the last couple of years have not come to market at the same volume in 2025. He says: "We've seen fewer jumbo transactions and there has been some litigation in the in the market around deals that were done in the jumbo space."

These types of market fluctuations are all to be expected though, notes Groth, and the significant growth of the US PRT market over the last decade has made it an exciting industry to be part of.

In terms of US PRT market volume, Legal & General Retirement America is currently estimating the first half of this year to close around $11bn compared with $26bn last year. While transaction activity remains high, it is clear more jumbo transactions will be needed in the second half of the year to match record levels seen in the last few years.

Explaining how he entered the insurance sector, Groth says: "One of my post graduate job opportunities included an interesting combination of analytics and exposure to senior management of Fortune 500 clients, so I went with that. I did not plan on a career in insurance, but I never looked back."

The CRO says he typically gravitates to the outdoors and "something exhilarating" for recreation.

"Skiing was my first entry to that at an early age, and I've stuck with it over the years. I've also dedicated a fair amount of time to bike racing and mountaineering before my wife and I had children. There's lot of connections to risk management in those endeavors, beginning with risk appetite. Admittedly mine is on the higher side for a CRO. People joke about that."

Groth's love of skiing means he is a member of the National Ski Patrol and patrol at Catamount, a ski area that straddles the border of New York and Massachusetts. He says: "I find it rewarding to provide first responder assistance to the skiing public and get to ski as much as my schedule allows."

Channels: 

Companies: 

People: