This year’s disclosed deal value is nearly double that of the $10.61 billion in 2019 and is the highest amount on record for at least a decade.First half highlights include two large publicly listed PE firms buying insurance assets.

The largest deal was Apollo Global Management Inc.’s planned merger with retirement services company Athene Holding Ltd. in an all-stock transaction that implies a total equity value of roughly $11 billion for Athene.

The five big public PE firms — Apollo, Blackstone, The Carlyle Group Inc., KKR & Co. Inc. and Ares Management Corp. — have all bought into insurance companies over the past two years. The acquisitions are not all typical deals for sector exposure. Some of the firms have said their insurance company buyouts will sit on the balance sheet, provide synergies with PE and become a source of permanent capital.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, international tourist arrivals were down 95% in the first five months of the year, compared to the same period before the pandemic in 2019, according to the UN World Tourism Organization.