QAV America 009 – Blame It on the Boogie

In this episode of QAV America, Cameron and Tony dissect the surprising fundamentals of Jackson Financial (NYSE: JXN) — a life insurance and annuities company that’s quietly throwing off “truckloads of cash” despite confusing accounting quirks. Cameron explores the company’s backstory (strangely has nothing to do with the Jackson 5), explains its spin-off from Prudential, and struggles to understand how interest rates and reinsurance affect its bottom line. Tony weighs in on debt management, actuarial complexity, and where annuity products fit in the spectrum of retirement options. They also touch on the controversial new U.S. tax on foreign investors (with implications for Aussie super funds), and deliver a performance update on the QAV U.S. portfolio — up a staggering 54% since inception. This episode is nerdy, weird, and funny as hell.