Brookfield spun off its reinsurance arm in 2021 as a separately listed entity. However, the unit contracts administration and management services from its former parent.

Brookfield invests assets originated by Brookfield Reinsurance in North America as part of the services agreement.

Brookfield, Just Group and Pension Insurance Corporation declined to comment.

The move is part of a broader trend where deal houses such as Brookfield and Apollo Global Management have in recent years pushed into the life insurance and annuities industry in search of long-term capital to invest.

Private investors now oversee more than $900 billion of life and annuity assets in Western Europe and North America, according to an early 2022 report by McKinsey & Co.

For Brookfield, a UK deal would mark its first investment outside of North America through its reinsurance arm.

This year it hired former investment banker Shashank Bhalla as head of reinsurance in Europe to oversee efforts, one of the people said.

Bulk annuities have grown in popularity in the UK among pension scheme trustees, with close to 30 billion pounds ($36.64 billion) of pension liabilities transferred to the insurance industry last year, according to data by broker Aon.

Besides Just Group and Pension Insurance Corporation, existing players include Aviva, Legal & General, Phoenix Group and Rothesay Life. M&G re-entered the market this year.

The Bank of England has voiced concerns about the fast growth of the bulk annuities market, urging insurers not to "over-indulge in new business in the short run".

Britain represents a significant market for Brookfield to invest in, with 1.3 trillion pounds of defined benefit pension schemes in the UK private sector at the end of September 2022.

($1 = 0.8189 pounds)

(Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Amy-Jo Crowley and Iain Withers; Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Josie Kao)

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Amy-Jo Crowley and Iain Withers