74% of Insurers Plan to Reach Private Debt Through Separate Accounts: A GP Playbook for Pitching an Insurer That Wants a Bespoke Mandate

A survey of 463 senior insurance executives, released on 27 October 2026, found that 41% name private debt as the area where they want to increase allocations, and that 74% plan to reach private debt through separate accounts or bespoke mandates. A day before it, Japan's Meiji Yasuda said it intends to lift its commitment to Man Group's strategies to about $1.25 billion over three years, focused on private credit, with a preferred-partner role attached. Together they describe an LP that wants to shape the mandate, not buy a standard fund. The steps below are our advice, built on those figures, and not guidance from the survey or from any insurer. Our market view of the survey sets out the full set of numbers.

What the figures say, and what they do not

The release does not make the base of the 74% explicit, so we read it as a share of respondents, a count of insurers and not a share of capital. The survey does not report mandate sizes, and it does not say how large a separate account has to be before an insurer will consider it. The same survey found that 84% of insurers describe their asset management approach as hybrid, mixing internal and external capabilities, and that 49% expect to use external managers more over the next 12 months. Read together, they suggest insurers are building teams that expect external managers to work as an extension of their own, which changes how a pitch should sound.

Step one: decide if you can run a mandate

A separate account is an operating commitment, not only a legal wrapper. Before you approach an insurer, check that your team can run to custom investment guidelines, produce reporting in the insurer's format, and handle a client who may have its own compliance and risk reviewers. If you cannot, say so to yourself now, because an insurer's diligence team will find out within a few meetings. If you can only do a commingled fund, consider whether a feeder or a side arrangement is possible with your counsel, and be clear in the first meeting about what you can and cannot offer.

Step two: lead with the mandate, not the fund

An insurer that wants a bespoke mandate will care about guidelines before it cares about your target return. Open with what you would let the client set: eligible borrowers, concentration limits, rating or credit-quality floors, and the reporting it needs. Bring a draft set of guidelines that shows you have done this before, and be ready to explain which parts you would never change. A short paragraph on how your track record would be shown in a mandate, as realised results per strategy, will carry more weight than a long deck. Keep your DDQ and your diligence materials current, and see our guide to building an LP diligence pack.

Step three: answer the capital question early

Insurers think about how an investment is treated for capital and reporting purposes. We cannot say how any individual insurer or regulator treats your strategy, and the survey does not either. What a GP can do is raise the topic first: ask who on the insurer's side reviews structure and capital treatment, and offer the information that person will need. Do this before you send a long document, not after.

Step four: expect a preferred-partner dynamic

Meiji Yasuda's arrangement with Man Group, which includes a preferred-partner role, shows where some insurers are heading: a small number of deep relationships. If the insurer you are approaching already has one, do not pitch against it. Pitch around it, with a different part of the credit market, a different geography or a different structure. To see how one insurer's deal is built, read our note on Meiji Yasuda's plan for Man Group. For the people side, our piece on a Swedish insurer that widened its CIO's remit shows how to map who has worked with a decision maker before.

Step five: agree terms that survive a side letter

A separate account usually comes with negotiated terms. If you also raise a commingled fund, an insurer may ask for rights in a side letter. Decide in advance which rights you can offer one investor without creating a problem for others, and write down the answer so your team gives it consistently.

Step six: be ready before the conversation starts

The survey found that 76% of insurers expect to increase private markets allocations over the next 12 months, down from 94% a year earlier. That horizon means mandate conversations are likely to be live now, and that fewer insurers are adding than last year, so the ones that are will be choosy. Have your draft guidelines, a sample report and a named contact ready before the first call, and be clear who on your side can answer questions on structure. A manager who can show a complete package in one meeting will stand out against one who promises to follow up.

What to watch next

Watch whether the share of insurers choosing separate accounts rises or falls in the next survey, and whether more insurers pair a mandate with a preferred-partner role. The insurers on our insurer LP list are where these conversations will happen, and FundLinx members can see which institutions are active in your strategy.

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