State insurance regulators Monday voted in favor of a proposal that would allow carriers to terminate an annuity living or death benefit if a client sold the contract over the secondary market.

Oklahoma State University’s athletic fund and Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. are embroiled in a legal flap over a failed charitable-insurance-funding plan.

Today, Russel Dorsett, President of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), released the following statement:

Responding to the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) policy statement that the securitizations of life insurance settlements should be prohibited by legislation and regulation, Jack Kelly of the Institutional Life Markets Association (ILMA) said “once again ACLI has chosen to mix apples and oranges when condemning the life settlement market. The recent policy statement issued by ACLI concerning securitization of life settlements is misplaced and incorrect.”

A new association has formed to transfer longevity and mortality-related risk to the capital markets in the same way that some of the world’s biggest perils, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, are protected against by shifting the risk to investors via catastrophe bonds.

Life settlement packagers target B-Ds. But private placements of policy-backed securities raise concerns among independent broker-dealers. For the first time they can recall, several independent broker-dealers have been solicited by life settlement companies to sell private placements of securities based on life insurance policies.

The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) has announced that the European Life Settlement Association (ELSA) has been named as an Honorary Member of the association, joining fellow European association BVZL as the second entity to receive the exclusive distinction.  Speaking to the appointment, LISA Executive Director Doug Head explained, “this move further strengthens our relationship with ELSA.  As the settlement market continues to grow and more capital flows from Europe, this relationship will be invaluable to both American and European interests.”

Life Partners Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: LPHI), a leader in the life settlements industry, announced today that it has been advised by Eide Bailly LLP that the firm has resigned as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm effective January 13, 2010.

The death of financier Danny Pang, who was found dead in September while facing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges of running a massive Ponzi scheme, has been ruled a suicide, coroner’s officials said on Monday.

In anticipation of the first-ever cross continental life settlement trade mission, event coordinators have released a complete and detailed agenda for public access. The 2010 Life Settlement Trade Mission (February 23-26) is a mutual effort by the two leading trade groups for their respective continents: in North America, the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) and in Europe, the European Life Settlement Association (ELSA). The stated objective of the Trade Mission is to establish “a new standard for accuracy of information and a realistic presentation of the challenges and opportunities in the life settlement marketplace.”

Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada filed two lawsuits against a Rhode Island estate attorney alleging ...

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:26 GMT

Richard "Rory" O'Connell is the new chief credit officer for Imperial Finance & Trading, a Boca ...

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:57 GMT

Two European firms have launched a fund in Luxembourg that will provide mezzanine financing to life ...

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:44 GMT

A committee of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) that explored whether insure...

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:37 GMT

Caleb Pitters left his director's position at the Credit Suisse Life Finance Group on March 1 to tak...

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:37 GMT

As investment banks and most hedge funds either back off or exit the life settlement market, provide...

Date: 2010-03-04

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) may consider writing model legislation to r...

Date: 2010-03-04

Georgia state Sen. Ralph Hudgens plans to convene a hearing Saturday before a national group of stat...

Date: 2010-03-04

Life settlement players in Europe said they support greater transparency in their market after an of...

Date: 2010-03-04

Prosecutors Decline to Take Up Deutsche Bank Case, Attorney Says Keydata International Fund Redempt...

Date: 2010-03-04

The first time I heard that phrase with reference to a Life Settlement investment was in a LISA Meeting in Georgia in 2001.   A member pointed out that longevity risk presented unique opportunities for investors in a realm that few investors had explored.  And explore it they did.   Attracted by the unsettled state of the law, many investors and advisors were drawn to the asset by expectations of high returns and of unique opportunity in which there was relatively little experience. 

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:58:02 +0000

Just because one investment bank is exiting the life settlement market does not mean that everyone is heading for the doors, according to interviews with executives in the life settlement market.

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:35:52 +0000

Stuart Hersch is president and CEO of Cantor Insurance Group, a division of Cantor Fitzgerald in New York. A lawyer and former entertainment executive, Hersch details how he and the life settlements market found each other.

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:52:59 +0000

London
Speaking to a crowded room of investors, providers, brokers and other representatives of the life settlement industry, Peter Smith, head of investment, the policy department with the Financial Services Authority, London, addressed the FSA’s position on how life settlements should be regulated, noting that there is a joint responsibility of independent financial advisors (IFAs) and providers to afford greater protection to investors.

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:27:32 +0000

Where have we been in 2009?  We saw dozens of new proposed laws and hundreds of communications with thousands of participants in a complex and changing industry.   And we survived.   The efforts of the Life Insurance Settlement Association fit, however in a changing landscape of clashing forces and it is sometimes difficult to explain that context.

Date: Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:13:57 +0000

An actuarial table that will create a benchmark for life expectancy providers is now finalized and will be officially released on schedule at the end of March, according to Scott Gibson, chair of a subgroup working on the project.

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:31:56 +0000

We have seen it before.    And we must stop it.

Tangential bad actors have tainted our industry and the beneficial services it provides to American seniors and to investors around the world.  So it was with considerable chagrin that I read of the latest charges in the state of Texas involving an elaborate scheme in which settled policies were being proffered as investments to investors who were not paying attention to the facts and investing with people who churned out story after story while just pretending to be seriously playing in the settlement space.

Date: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:17:47 +0000

David Mickelson turned a personal tragedy into a career that would allow him to help people avoid having similar experiences. He was already a successful business entrepreneur at the time but it was his brother’s unexpected death two decades ago that sent Mickelson on a new career path.

Date: Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:14:28 +0000

Mark Venn is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ClearLife, a data management and servicing company based in Alexandria, VA and London, United Kingdom. The following article is excerpted from his new book “Life Settlements and Longevity Structures: Pricing and Risk Management” co-authored with Jim Aspinwall and Geoff Chaplin.

Date: Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:29:53 +0000

“It has become a -- a very large business. It's a multi-trillion dollar business
now to sell life insurance policies for more than their cash value, but less than
the -- than the -- more than the surrender value, but less than the cash value,
and then bundle those up together, and then cut them into pieces of securities and sell them.”

-    SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro speaking to the House Agriculture Committee on September 23, 2009.   

Date: Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:50:08 +0000