Investments - Narrative (Detail)	3 Months Ended							3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended									0 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 AAA Investments	Mar. 31, 2014 Athene Holding Ltd.	Dec. 31, 2013 Athene Holding Ltd.	Mar. 31, 2014 AAA and AAA Guarantor - Athene L.P.	Mar. 31, 2014 Senior Loan Fund	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Loan Fund USD ($)	Mar. 07, 2011 HFA and Other Investments USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 HFA, GSS and Other Investments USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 HFA, GSS and Other Investments AUD	Mar. 31, 2013 HFA, GSS and Other Investments USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 HFA, GSS and Other Investments Minimum AUD	Mar. 31, 2013 HFA, GSS and Other Investments Minimum AUD	Mar. 31, 2014 HFA, GSS and Other Investments Maximum USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 HFA, GSS and Other Investments Maximum USD ($)	Apr. 29, 2014 Subsequent Event	Apr. 29, 2014 Subsequent Event Athene Holding Ltd.	Apr. 29, 2014 Private Placement Athene Holding Ltd. Subsequent Event USD ($)	Apr. 04, 2014 Private Placement Athene Holding Ltd. Subsequent Event USD ($)
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Net assets of the consolidated funds	$ 2,176,100,000		$ 1,971,100,000
Ownership stake	0.06%			72.50%	1.70%		2.50%												3.80%
Membership interest					45.00%	45.00%
Consideration received on sale of stock																				80,000,000	1,048,000,000
Sale of stock, price per share																				$ 26	$ 26
Ownership percentage by parent	68.00%																	51.50%
Company invested in the Apollo Credit Senior Loan Fund, L.P.									26,000,000
Senior secured, floating rate loans or cash or cash equivalents								90.00%
Non-first lien fixed income investments and other income generating fixed income investments								10.00%
Company investments (including expenses related to the purchase)										52,100,000
Aggregate principal amount										50,000,000
Stock options issued by HFA										20,833,333	20,833,333	20,833,333
Denominators to calculate exchange rate	$ 0.98
Dividends declared in excess	6,000,000
Percentage of interest on investments in convertible notes	6.00%
PIK interest income included in interest income in the condensed consolidated statements of operations											900,000		800,000
Ordinary shares of HFA at an exercise price												8.00		1.00	1.00	$ 0.93	$ 1.04
Change in unrealized losses/unrealized (loss) gain	$ (223,296,000)	$ (51,891,000)									$ 18,000,000		$ 4,000,000