April 6, 2009
Published By Seeking Alpha
Publish Date 04/01/2009
In February, Option ARMageddon published thoughts regarding the troubled state of the insurance industry. First we noted that insurers were seeking to change their regulatory capital requirements in order to avoid harming shareholders—say by cutting dividends or raising incremental capital. We also wrote that, at the corporate level, many companies are ridiculously over-leveraged. Finally we noted how state insurance guarantee funds aren’t actually funds: there’s no money in them and they would most likely be unable to withstand a systemic event.
All of this raises tricky questions for policy-holders. Your policy is only as good as the company that stands behind it. What happens if the company disappears? How can you protect yourself, especially if existing safety nets—the guarantee funds—look so unsafe? These are scary questions, which is probably why few people are asking them. (more…)
April 6, 2009
PR Newswire, 02 April 2009
Washington
The Life Settlement Institute (LSI), the leading organization representing secondary market providers for life insurance, responded today to a statement made by Mr. J. Bruce Ferguson, senior vice president for state relations at the American Council of Life Insurers in Washington, in an article published by Bloomberg on March 26, 2009. (more…)
April 1, 2009
Publish Date 03/26/2009
Martin Fagan investigates the rise of insurance policies as an attractive defensive asset class.
What Investment, 26 March 2009
It has taken a banking crisis, a stock market collapse, a global credit crunch and interest rates falling to almost zero per cent to make endowments fashionable again. (more…)
April 1, 2009
Publish Date 03/30/2009
PRNewswire, 30 March 2009
Ontario, Calif.
Americans, no doubt have lost nearly half of their savings. Many are looking at cutting expenses to survive the economic downturn. Seniors, lacking the promise of living another forty years to recover their losses, are considering cashing in their life insurance policies to get by, says Frank N. Darras, the nation’s leading disability and long-term care insurance lawyer. (more…)
April 1, 2009
Publish Date 04/01/2009
Professional Wealth Management (PWM), 1 April 2009
Longevity is an investment risk centred around how long people live.
It has low volatility because life expectancy changes are slow to emerge and mortality tables are adjusted only once every seven years. It is typically segregated into two types, micro-longevity and macro-longevity. (more…)
March 23, 2009
By: Russel Dorsett and Steve Shorrock
Wealth Management Business, 18 March 2009
The emergence of a secondary market for life insurance policies (commonly referred to as “life settlements”) has created an exciting new option for unneeded or unwanted policies. To capitalize upon that opportunity, however, most people will need professional help. The underlying asset (life insurance) is inherently complex, as is the process of putting a policy “up for sale” and maximizing the value; successfully completing a life settlement is not a “do it yourself” project. (more…)
March 23, 2009
ONLYFinance.com, 17 March 2009
Due to the financial downturn and falling house prices, many seniors who want to move into assisted – living centres are struggling to do so.
Therefore, admissions workers are helping clients find funding through life insurance policies, selling the face value of a life insurance cover to an institutional buyer, which then becomes the owner and beneficiary. (more…)
March 16, 2009
1888 Press Release, 13 March 2009
Business Trends TV is producing a new series focusing in on educating consumers on the latest financial advances that are surrounding Life Settlements. (more…)
March 10, 2009
By: Daniel Grote
CityWire, 05 March 2009
Adviser firm London Asset Management (LAM) is launching its own alternative asset fund of funds as it seeks to exploit what it says is a gap in the market. (more…)
