Brookfield is moving to combine its parent company with its wealth solutions business as the global investment giant deepens its Bermuda footprint and pushes ahead with plans to build what it described as a “fully integrated insurance and investment organisation” with nearly $200 billion in insurance assets.

The Bermudian-based company, which forms part of Brookfield Corp’s insurance operations, said the proposed merger of Brookfield Corp and Brookfield Wealth Solutions marked “the next evolution” of the business as it scales its insurance platform and simplifies its corporate structure.

In a quarterly letter to shareholders, chief executive Bruce Flatt said the combination would allow Brookfield to “fully utilise” an additional $145 billion in permanent capital, including cash, equities, real estate and other investments, to support the growth of its insurance operations.

“Simply stated, few other insurance businesses in the world will have access to this scale of excess capital to add to their equity base,” Mr Flatt said.

Brookfield Wealth Solutions reported first-quarter distributable operating earnings of $438 million, broadly unchanged from a year earlier. Net loss widened to $602 million from $282 million, which the company attributed primarily to market-to-market movements on public equity investments.

Sachin Shah, chief executive of Brookfield Wealth Solutions, said: “We have built a scaled and well-capitalised insurance platform with a resilient portfolio of $180 billion insurance assets today. Our established United States platform continues to expand its product and distribution capabilities, and we are now a leader in the United Kingdom pension market.”

The company completed its acquisition of Just Group plc, a major player in the British pension risk transfer market, during the quarter and originated $5 billion in annuity, pension and funding agreement sales.

Brookfield has also been increasing its Bermuda presence through the development of Brookfield House on Front Street, which will serve as headquarters space for Brookfield-linked operations on the island.