WEST CHESTER, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Venerable Holdings, Inc. (“Venerable”) today announced that Venerable Investment Advisers, LLC (“Venerable Advisers”), its new wholly-owned subsidiary, intends to engage investment advisory subsidiaries of Russell Investments and Franklin Resources, Inc. (“Franklin Templeton”) to provide sub-advisory services with respect to Venerable Variable Insurance Trust (“VVIT”). As previously announced, the mutual funds will serve as investment options for insurance company separate accounts and, over time with the creation of additional mutual funds, will bring the management of the mutual funds underlying Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company’s variable annuity business in-house.

“It was important to select partners with the right capabilities and expertise as we establish Venerable Advisers. The deep investment management expertise of Franklin Templeton combined with the leading investment solutions of Russell Investments will be a tremendous asset to us and our policyholders,” said Tim Brown, President of Venerable Advisers. “We appreciate the collaborative nature of the work done thus far and look forward to continued work with these partners as we continue to grow and optimize our business.”

VVIT has filed a registration statement on Form N-1A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for Venerable High Yield Fund, Venerable Large Cap Index Fund, Venerable Moderate Allocation Fund, Venerable Strategic Bond Fund, Venerable US Large Cap Core Equity Fund and Venerable US Large Cap Strategic Equity Fund, each an initial series of VVIT.

“We are proud to partner with Venerable to create an efficient operating model as they launch this important new initiative and look forward to helping them drive enhanced outcomes for the company and their policyholders,” said Kate El-Hillow, President and Chief Investment Officer for Russell Investments.

Jacob Armstrong, Franklin Templeton’s Head of Insurance Strategic Distribution, noted, “With more than 75 years of investment management expertise, Franklin Templeton has a long history of managing insurance assets. We are thrilled to partner with Venerable to bring our distinct specialist investment managers and extensive multi-asset capabilities to deliver better policyholder outcomes.”

A registration statement relating to VVIT has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information about a fund are contained in the prospectus. It is important to read and consider the prospectus carefully before investing. Copies of the preliminary prospectus are available online in the SEC’s EDGAR database under the name “Venerable Variable Insurance Trust” at www.sec.gov. Please note that the preliminary prospectus is subject to change.

About Venerable

Venerable is a privately held company with business operations based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Des Moines, Iowa and New York, NY. Venerable owns and manages legacy variable annuity business acquired from other entities. Created by an investor group led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc., Crestview Partners, Reverence Capital Partners, and Athene Holdings, Ltd., Venerable is a business with well-established, strategic investors, experienced in successfully building and growing insurance businesses with patient, long-term capital. For more information, please visit www.venerable.com.

About Russell Investments

Russell Investments is a global investment solutions firm providing a wide range of services to institutional investors, financial intermediaries and individual investors. The firm has $292 billion in assets under management (as of 9/30/2023) for clients in 30 countries. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Russell Investments has 17 offices in major financial centers, including New York, London, Paris, Toronto, Tokyo and Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.russellinvestments.com.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE: BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 150 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With more than 1,300 investment professionals, and offices in major financial markets around the world, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com.