The next major financial crisis won’t start in the banks—it will start in the Life Insurance sector. That is the urgent warning from legendary financial analyst James Grant, founder of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer.
In this interview with Jeremy Szafron, Anchor at Kitco News, Grant details how the “Search for Yield” has pushed insurance giants into dangerous Private Credit and Private Equity allocations—assets he describes as “inherently junk” and completely lacking price discovery. He warns that policyholders and retirees could be the “unknowing participants” in the next great deleveraging.
Grant also dissects the sudden spike in Repo rates, accusing the Federal Reserve of becoming a “puppet master” that has lost control of the bond market. He breaks down the AI bubble (calling data centers the “Pyramids of Egypt”), explains why the economy is hanging by “dental floss,” and gives his latest forecast for Gold at $4,200 and Silver’s “Trump-like” volatility.
Recorded on December 9, 2025
Follow Jeremy Szafron on X: @JeremySzafron (
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro: The Repo Rate Spike
01:28 Interview Start: James Grant on “Suppressed Price Discovery”
03:39 The Fed is “The Puppet Master” (Is Secret QE Back?)
20:22 The AI Bubble: “Pyramids of Egypt”
23:31 Financing “Future Junk”: The 30-Year Bond Trap
24:15 The “Terrifying” Mismatch in Tech
25:31 James Grant: The Economy is Suspended on “Dental Floss”
27:14 Private Credit is “Inherently Junk”
30:58 The “False Calm” & Hidden Leverage
33:33 THE WARNING: Life Insurance is the “Epicenter” of the Crisis
38:58 The Japan Carry Trade: A “Damaging” Unwind Coming?
42:24 Gold $4,200 & The “Reciprocal of Faith”
45:21 Conclusion
#JamesGrant #Gold #Recession #Fed #LifeInsurance #PrivateCredit #Economy #KitcoNews #JeremySzafron #Silver #Investing #Crisis
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The videos are not intended to provide trading advice, and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. Kitco News, its anchors, producers, and reporters are not responsible in any way for the performance or actions of any sponsor, advertiser or affiliate of Kitco News. In no event will Kitco and its employees be held liable for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use of the content in this video.
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39 Comments
James Grant just warned that the "Life Insurance" sector – and by extension, many retirement annuities – is the "epicenter" of the next crisis due to risky private credit exposure.
QUESTION: Does this change how you view your own retirement planning? Do you trust that these major institutions can weather a credit crunch, or is Grant right that they are holding "junk"?
Let us know your thoughts below! 👇
Insurance is a scam like a good favor
He’s not wearing a bow tie!
I find it odd that he claims this administration is self serving when they are uncovering all of this fraud.
Who was the idiot Fed Reserve that kept interest rates at 0.25% from 2009 for at least a decade, and successfully forced the Life Insurance companies to take higher risk investments. The US Fed Reserve and all of Congress are competent abomination(s).
The data centers need yo be discontinued building and take down the ones built. Citizens are totally against them and eventually they will have yo be done away with anyhow, for this readon and all you cited. Far, far too expensive, thw citizens cannot keep up with their bills all already continually rising, the fraud in the school taxes, the insurances frauds, the food costs exploding, now oil will be making gas prices explode,. The costs of electricity will rise even further because of these data centers, that are going up EVERYWHERE at once. Like doubling the electricity bills of consumers!! Get real. We won't sir back and take it. NO WAY. On top of that insult and theft, these data centers suck up almost ALL of the water in their vicinities! IT IS CLEAR TO US THOSE BUILDING AND PLANNING THESE, HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CARE FIR HUMANITY. Obviously, for humans need lots of water for different purposes, yo SURVIVE. We are aware and will be fighting back. It's way padt now " this is enough"!!
The guy can't talk…ugh. C'mon you gotta do better than this if you want an intelligent audience.
I would like to add a few clarifying points to this discussion.
First, all life insurance companies are regulated at the state level. If an insurer operates in 50 states, it is subject to oversight from 50 separate state insurance departments. While regulatory rigor does vary by state—as James noted—the strongest regulatory states often set standards that influence insurer behavior nationwide.
Second, life insurance companies operate under a fundamentally different capital and leverage framework than banks. Insurers cannot lever their reserves or assets in the way banks do. Premiums received are required to be backed by corresponding reserves to match long-term liabilities. In simple terms, a dollar of premium is matched by a dollar of liability support—dollar for dollar—making insurers far less sensitive to short-term interest rate swings and asset valuation volatility.
Third, it is important to bifurcate the conversation within the life insurance industry:
Mutual companies versus stock companies
Life insurance premium and liability structures versus annuity premium and liability structures
Each of these operates under different incentives, capital dynamics, and risk profiles.
Using a broad brush and lumping all life insurance companies into a single category ignores the meaningful diversity within the industry and can lead to inaccurate conclusions.
Brilliant conversation, gentlemen! Thank you James and Jeremy. I agree also.
Wake up ! When a retied president of a company ears one billion dollars a year, please stop searching for where the money went… Internet and communications have destroyed the system equilibrium. The exagerated pay of some people compared to the pay the workers make…. Example, Amazon promises to cut intermediaries from makers and buyers, now they kill intermediaries and replace them. Please think in reality, not theory.
Nice to see an interview with someone who does real research in a real office.
Kitco, the big kid table!
Yes, big tech's AI push is a bid to Hornswoggle the public into paying for big tech's infrastructure. Great wasn't save on the liability side of The ledger. Spechullybifbyou don't have the cash to build it yourself.
Insights galore! As always excellent!
Homosexual western war mongering countries lurves wars and destructions and of course Joenocide and Uranus wide open 👐
Market is not crashing because of unlimited money printing which will quickly turn into hyperinflation.
what a refreshing guest
Seems to me it is time to have an entity of finsncial regulatirs overseeing private credit…t likes of your guest …honest vision .thanks
James Grant is as sharp as a tack at 79 years old. Great interview.
Nothing changes until the Federal Reserve is abolished. Cmon Americans we hold all the power. We're being held hostage and no one is coming to save us.
Sir James Grant is the dogs bollocks- love the man, buy his books!
Isn't life insurance invested in 30 year mortgages so not liquid.
Such exciting times as gold gains as spegtacular silver surge shines
Please bring him back for another interview. He is a genius! 😊
When I was young I was impatient with people. Now I’m patient, which is a gift. This gentleman’s speech cadence would have made me pass on this video when I was young. Now I’m in full awe of the brilliance of this man. He’s an absolute genius. This is a fantastic video. Thank you very much for letting us view this interview of a genius.
Contrary to popular belief, the people who want to join the Fed's MO is to ONLY gain exclusive info on the true health of the economy and most importantly have the knowledge of the direction they are going to manipulate the economy for personal financial gain. It's ALL about FINANCIAL GAIN.
Mr. Grant,
Very nice to be introduced to you, thank you for sharing your knowledge and taking the Time from your day to do so, Thankyou.
Uh,uh,uh,Um,uh,uh,Um,uh, uh, uh, Um…Did you get all that?
Why is it that the public understand this controlled demolition of the ponzi scam understand better of what is going on than you so called "financial experts" Do you understand how ignorant and stupid you look? We know that Japan is the chosen one to sink the ponzi ship.
He look,s worried !!!
James Grant nailed it on so many points. You have the best guests on your channel.
You heard it from the best, Jeremy asks some of the best questions . Excellent work
James is a lucid deep thinker, and thanks for having him on. Time to look for the weaklings in the life insurance sector for a "big short."
The "good Ole boy" system is alive and well.
Ceo's earning millions in salaries shows how corrupt
Companies are. Sorry for anyone getting caught in this mess.
Jim Grant is fantastic, I hope he is well. Jeremy did an excellent job
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