Latest news with #AquarianHoldings
New York Post
18-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
NYC leads the pack in post-pandemic return to office
Five years on, New York City office building foot traffic has all but recovered from the 'work from home' losses caused by the pandemic — and here's the proof. Visits to office buildings in April were a mere 5.5% below April 2019 levels, authoritative platform found, making the Big Apple the nation's clear leader in back-to-office trends. Although office visits were also up in most other major US cities compared with the previous month, their average April attendance was 30.7% below 2019's average, according to Advertisement 3 Visits to NYC office buildings last month were just 5.5% below April 2019 levels, platform found, making the Big Apple the nation's clear leader in back-to-office trends. Christopher Sadowski Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco brought up the rear, with April office visits 42% to 44% below 2019 levels. analyzes cell phone data to determine foot traffic. It covers 1,000 buildings nationwide but doesn't say how many are in each city. The data confirm the larger trend that Realty Check has long observed. It's great news for developers and landlords still beleaugered by reduced property values and high interest rates. Advertisement But while Manhattan office attendance is clearly surging, is it truly back to 94.5% of pre-pandemic averages, as says? It sure looks that way on Park and Sixth avenues in Midtown, at Hudson Yards and Manhattan West, and at or near the World Trade Center. Office tower lobbies and sidewalks are busy as they haven't been since before March 2019. The large new leases and expansions we've reported since Jan. 1 — by Amazon, Aquarian Holdings, Amalgamated Bank and several law firms — testify to an appetite for space undeterred by 'hybrid' trends. Advertisement 3 Large new leases and expansions this year, including deals by by Amazon, Aquarian Holdings, Amalgamated Bank, and several law firms testify to an appetite for space undeterred by 'hybrid' trends. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST We've written repeatedly that large-scale office returns were taking place even before JPMorgan Chase, Apple, Alphabet and other major companies dragged employees kicking and whining to their desks this year. Even so, let's raise a few polite qualifiers about report. Ongoing conversions of scores of obsolete office towers to apartments removed a significant number of sparsely-populated office buildings from the inventory over the past three years — and, presumably, from analysis. Advertisement And we wish would share at least some of the locations it monitors — a lack of transparency that also afflicts the notoriously opaque, widely discredited Kastle Back-to-Work Barometer. 3 JPMorgan Chase, Apple, Alphabet, and other major companies this year ordered employees back to their desks. Christopher Sadowski But even after nitpickings, it's obvious that is immeasurably more accurate than Kastle's survey, which was mainly a marketing gimmick for the company's security services. The 'barometer' counts card-swipes only in mostly Class-B buildings where Kastle provides the services. Executives of the largest real estate companies, such as publicly-traded SL Green and privately-held Related Companies — neither of whose buildings are monitored by Kastle — have told us since mid-2024 that WFH was in the rear-view mirror and no longer a factor in decision-making by landlords or tenants. Even so, many media accounts continued to cite Kastle's lowball claims of 55% office occupancy as recently as last summer — until the preponderance of evidence made it wiser to ignore.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aquarian Holdings forms insurance division to enhance growth and synergies
Aquarian Holdings has announced the formation of Aquarian Insurance Holdings, aiming to 'optimise growth and synergies' within its reinsurance and retail insurance businesses. Aquarian Holdings, which manages insurance and asset management businesses, said the new division will provide a streamlined structure. Established in 2017, the company has expanded its asset management portfolio to nearly $22bn. Under founder Rudy Sahay's leadership, the company has also built capabilities across the life insurance value chain. The formation of Aquarian Insurance Holdings is expected to enable continued business growth and increased efficiencies. Aquarian Insurance Holdings will comprise Somerset Reinsurance, Investors Heritage and Hudson Life. Via Management Solutions will offer shared services and technology support. Somerset Re, based in Bermuda, focuses on capital-efficient reinsurance solutions for life and annuity insurers. It was acquired by Aquarian Holdings in January 2023. Investors Heritage, a US-based life and annuity insurer established in 1960, became part of Aquarian Holdings in 2018. Hudson Life, acquired and rebranded by Aquarian Holdings in 2022, specialises in providing insurance policies within New York State. Via, a third-party administrator, utilises technological expertise originally developed through Investors Heritage. Sahay said: 'We see opportunity within the insurance sector, and Aquarian Insurance Holdings is the next evolution of our portfolio. We will be able to leverage best practices and shared services across the organisation, specifically the technology expertise and leadership within our Investors Heritage business. All of which position us for continued growth and expansion.' John Frye, operating partner at Aquarian Holdings and president of Investors Heritage, and Jeff Burt, CEO of Somerset Re, will serve as Co-CEOs of Aquarian Insurance Holdings. Frye has served in senior leadership positions at Advisors Excel, Security Benefit and General Electric. Burt, who previously served as chairman and CEO of Somerset Re, will continue as co-CEO alongside Somerset Re's incoming CEO during the transition. His experience includes serving as president of Hannover Life Reassurance Company of America, where he led more than 100 structured reinsurance transactions. "Aquarian Holdings forms insurance division to enhance growth and synergies " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
