Fitch Ratings has assigned a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'A' to Apollo Global Management, Inc. (AGM), the ultimate parent company of Apollo Asset Management (AAM; Long-term IDR 'A'/Stable) and Athene Holding Ltd. (Athene, Long-term IDR 'A-'/Stable).

The Rating Outlook is Stable.

At YE22, AGM's unconsolidated assets consisted of $177 million of investments, $585 million of subsidiary receivables and $1 million of goodwill.

Key Rating Drivers

AGM's rating reflects its full common stock ownership of Apollo and Athene, the absence of double leverage at the holding company level, strong and largely unconstrained upstream dividend capacity from AAM and common jurisdiction with AAM in the U.S. These positive factors are offset by weak standalone liquidity resources and the lack of a formal liquidity policy at the holding company level to independently support ongoing debt service, the potential for regulatory constraints on upstream dividends to AGM from Athene and the lack of common jurisdiction with Athene Holding Ltd., which is Bermuda-domiciled.

Fitch expects that Athene and its insurance subsidiaries will continue to maintain a separate capital structure from AGM and AAM and that its funding and regulatory capital needs will continue to be addressed at Athene and not AGM. Should AGM begin to provide liquidity or financing support to Athene, it could result in the downgrade of AGM's rating to the same level as Athene's.

For more information on the key rating drivers and rating sensitivities underpinning AAM's ratings, please see the Rating Action Commentary entitled 'Fitch Affirms Apollo Asset Management at 'A'; Outlook Stable' dated Oct. 31, 2022.

For more information on the key rating drivers and rating sensitivities underpinning Athene's ratings, please see the Rating Action Commentary entitled 'Fitch Upgrades Athene's Ratings to 'A+'; Outlook Stable' dated May 19, 2022.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade:

Negative rating actions for AAM or Athene;

Should Athene's capitalization begin to exhibit material deterioration or if AGM were used to support the liquidity, funding and/or regulatory capital needs of Athene and the insurance subsidiaries, AGM's rating would be downgraded to the same level as Athene's.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive rating action/upgrade:

Positive rating actions for both AAM and Athene. Fitch cannot envision the rating of AGM being higher than the rating of AAM or more than one notch higher than the rating of Athene.

Best/Worst Case Rating Scenario

International scale credit ratings of Financial Institutions and Covered Bond issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction) of four notches over three years. The complete span of best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories ranges from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings are based on historical performance. For more information about the methodology used to determine sector-specific best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/10111579

REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING

The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.

ESG Considerations

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit www.fitchratings.com/esg

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