Corebridge Narrows Net Loss as Base Investment Income Offsets Variable Income Collapse
The life insurer posted a $16 million net loss in the second quarter, down from $660 million a year earlier, as steady portfolio gains replaced volatile investment returns.
Corebridge Financial (CRBG), the life insurance and retirement services company, reported a sharply narrower net loss in the second quarter as rising base investment income and fee revenue largely compensated for a collapse in variable investment returns.
Net loss available to common shareholders shrank to $16 million in the three months ended June 30, from $660 million in the year-earlier period and from $53 million in the first quarter. Adjusted after-tax operating income available to common shareholders slipped to $512 million from $672 million a year ago but edged up from $501 million sequentially, producing operating earnings of $1.12 a share — below the $1.22 posted in the second quarter of 2025 yet above the $1.05 earned in the first quarter of this year.
The quarter’s defining tension played out inside the insurance operating businesses’ investment results. Variable investment income, which fluctuates with market-sensitive holdings, plunged to $28 million from $193 million a year earlier and barely moved above the $22 million recorded in the first quarter. That shortfall was offset by a steady climb in base portfolio income, which rose to $3.02 billion from $2.78 billion in the year-ago quarter and $2.97 billion in the prior period. Base spread income followed the same trajectory, increasing to $898 million from $862 million a year ago and $883 million sequentially.
Fee income provided an additional cushion, rising to $325 million from $282 million in the second quarter of 2025 and $301 million in the first quarter. Underwriting margins excluding variable investment income held roughly steady at $345 million, compared with $350 million a year earlier and $331 million in the prior quarter.
Premiums and deposits — a proxy for new business flow — totaled $9.1 billion, down from $10.5 billion a year ago but up from $8.0 billion in the first quarter, suggesting demand recovered after a slower start to the year. The adjusted return on average equity followed a similar pattern, settling at 11.4% versus 12.9% in the year-ago quarter and 10.6% in the first quarter.
Capital returns slowed meaningfully from the first quarter’s pace. Corebridge repurchased $300 million of stock in the second quarter, compared with $1.3 billion in the first quarter, a period that included proceeds from a variable annuity transaction. Total shareholder returns fell to $412 million from $1.4 billion sequentially. Holding company liquidity declined to $1.4 billion from $1.7 billion at the end of the first quarter. Even so, the company’s ongoing buyback program has reduced weighted average diluted shares outstanding to 454 million from 550 million a year ago, a 17% contraction that lifted per-share results.
The results arrive as Corebridge and Equitable Holdings move toward a merger that received overwhelming shareholder approval, with roughly 99.96% of Corebridge votes and about 97.24% of Equitable votes cast in favor, representing approximately 82% and 86% of each company’s outstanding shares. Equitable’s own financial trajectory underscores the stakes: the company swung to a net loss of $1.04 billion in full-year 2025 from net income of $1.80 billion in 2024, dragged by higher operating costs, lower policy charges and fee income, and derivative losses. Equitable’s total equity attributable to Holdings turned negative at year-end 2025, falling to minus $74 million from $1.57 billion a year earlier, even as total assets grew to $318 billion.
The combined entity will inherit Corebridge’s improving base income engine alongside Equitable’s more volatile earnings profile. For now, Corebridge’s second quarter showed that steady growth in recurring investment income and fees can absorb the swings that variable returns deliver — a dynamic that will be tested as the merger closes and the enlarged company sets its capital allocation priorities.