Recent News

Life settlements, which have had a long, but not always illustrious history, are an essential financial services tool in today's marketplace. The challenge now is to ensure that settlements are transacted fairly, and that consumers and the professionals who serve them are guided by clear and consistent regulation. Read more...

Institutional investors are serving as a driving force behind changes in the life settlement industry that are bringing it in line with more traditional financial services products, according to a study by Conning & Co. Read more...

Alan Buerger wants to show investors the upside of death. The former insurance salesman runs Coventry First LLC, which lets investors essentially bet on - and profit from - other people's demise. His company is in the business of buying rights to life-insurance policies. In an arrangement known as a "life settlement," Coventry pays the holder a lump sum for the policy now, takes over paying the premiums for as long as the insured person lives, then collects the benefits - generally worth far more - when the person dies. Continue...

Steven Weisbart, chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute, said conditions are ripe for insurance-linked securitizations to become mainstream insurance products. Weisbart, who became chief economist of the institute in July, also sees huge prospects in the market for securitization of life settlements. Continue reading...

In June, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) issued a poorly considered series of amendments to its Life Settlements Model Act. The amendments seem less about addressing stranger originated life insurance (STOLI) and more about rolling back consumer rights. Instead of limiting abuses, NAIC actions bring a renewed hostility toward life insurance consumers. Continue reading...

The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) has published a major data report confirming the historic and present value to consumers provided by the life settlement industry. Commissioned by LISA, the Data Collection Report serves to analyze the growth, averages, and trends of the life settlement industry for 2004 and 2005. More...

IN the offices of American Viatical Services in Kennesaw, Georgia, Phillip Loy trades in death for British investors. "Insurance companies," he explains "want a person to live longer than the company estimates. We, on the other hand, want the person to die before their life expectancy." Continue...

Experts from the life settlement industry recently met with regulators in Puerto Rico in a public hearing to discuss the Puerto Rican Life Settlement Act. An essential function of the process was to achieve a point of common understanding about what a settlement is - and what it is not..... Read more...

Life settlement -backed securities have seen tremendous growth in the past 12 months. The life settlement market expanded in 2006 to approximately $12 billion. While this number is still a fraction of what some predict will be the size in 10 years, it still represents a significant increase over the prior year.... Continue reading...

The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) today applauded the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) for its continued progress on a model life settlement law for use by the legislatures of the states.... Click here for more...

Life insurance settlements allow seniors to sell unwanted life insurance policies for cash. Retirees can capture more value by using the life settlement than they would by simply turning their policy over to their insurance provider for its stated cash surrender value -- often three to five times the cash value.... More...

If you're a senior citizen about to let your life insurance policy lapse or turn it in for a low surrender value, you might want to shop it around. A $10 billion marketplace has emerged over the past few years enabling seniors to sell their life insurance policies for a lump sum... Read more...

The annual World Wealth Report, issued today by Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and Capgemini, found that wealth management firms are moving toward more dynamic, needs-based client service approaches, applying advanced segmentation and analysis to the traditional assets under management (AUM) model that was once embraced as industry standard... Click here for more...