Des Moines-based F&G Annuities and Life announces it will layoff 192 workers on June 2

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• F&G Annuities and Life, based in Des Moines, will lay off 192 employees effective June 2.
• The company cited the layoffs as a move to “efficiently scale the business and ensure long-term success.”
• The Des Moines metro area has seen a decline in finance and insurance jobs since 2017.

Des Moines-based F&G Annuities and Life has confirmed that it will be laying off 192 workers effective June 2.

The company did not confirm how many of the employees would be from Des Moines and how many are from its “remote functions.”

The Greater Des Moines Partnership listed F&G’s employment at 571 in its 2024 list of the region’s largest employers.

“This is in alignment with the company’s goals to efficiently scale the business and ensure our long-term success. We are providing support to impacted team members, including a comprehensive separation benefits package,” F&G wrote in a statement to the Register.

The layoffs come after F&G lost money on some investments, a hit to one of the rare local financial services companies that has grown in recent years.

The cuts follow a May 7 financial disclosure that showed F&G lost $25 million in the first three months of the year. Most of the loss is the result of the company’s bad bets. Accountants determined that F&G lost about $234 million on equity options, the contracts that investors purchase that give them the ability to buy or sell stock in the future.

The value of an equity option goes up when the targeted company’s stock price increases after the investor buys the contract. When the price goes down, the value of the contract decreases. (Alternatively, an investor can bet that a stock will decrease in price in what is known as a “short.”)

In an earnings call after the disclosure three weeks ago, F&G CEO Christopher Bunt blamed the bad quarter on “the volatility of the overall environment, the majority of which we believe to be temporary in nature.”

The company’s bad bets came as President Donald Trump raised and lowered tariffs on several countries, setting off a frenzy on Wall Street. Reflecting the broader U.S. market, the Standard & Poor’s 500 decreased about 4% in the first three months of the year, the period when F&G lost $25 million. The index plunged further in April, when Trump announced steep tariffs on China. The market has since recovered as Trump and Chinese officials have decreased the tariffs against each other, although the tariffs still remain much higher than they were before Trump took office.

The S&P is up about 5% from April 1 through early Wednesday afternoon. Through the wild swings, the index is flat through the first five months of the year. By comparison, the index increased 12% during the first five months of 2024.

In addition to the losses from equity options, F&G’s investments in bonds decreased in value by about $3.46 billion. The company does not recognize those losses on its income statement because the assets could increase in value. Those losses include investments in U.S. treasuries and corporate bonds — most significantly, in a category that the company’s accountants describe as “services, media and other.”

F&G’s stock traded at $31.75 on Wednesday afternoon, down about 12% from where the price stood before the financial disclosure.

Established in 1959, F&G is headquartered in Des Moines at 801 Grand Ave. and offers life insurance and annuity products through a national network of financial professionals, according to the company’s website.

Finance and insurance jobs in the Des Moines metro have been trending downward since 2017 led by Wells Fargo, which has shed over 1,200 workers in 81 separate layoffs since April of 2022.

Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected].

Tyler Jett is an investigative reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected], 515-284-8215, or on X at @LetsJett. He also accepts encrypted messages at [email protected].