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.”

Life Partners, a Waco, Texas-based provider, said it plans to discuss spinning off more than $100 m...

Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:45:00 PST

PolicyOptions, a life settlement brokerage based in Irvine, Calif., said it has acquired the life s...

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:30:00 PST

Rumson Capital, a Jenkintown, Pa.-based life settlement broker, filed a counterclaim last week agai...

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST

A bank auction of 100 life settlement policies that was scheduled for today in New York has been pos...

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:30:00 PST

Absolute Life Solutions, based in New York, has begun operations with the purchase of two policies ...

Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:30:00 PST

An insurance company's edict that insurable interest is required on policy transfers violates long-s...

Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:30:00 PST

There may be a wave of bank foreclosures and life settlement auctions that could supply the tertiary...

Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:30:00 PST

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) plans to begin drafting a new model act req...

Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:30:00 PST

The sponsor of life settlement legislation in California that seeks to rein in the insurance departm...

Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:30:00 PST

A federal court decision says Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada can't retain premiums if it rescinds ...

Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:30:00 PST

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. – Ephesians 4. 1-3

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:14:13 +0000

From July 7-11, state legislators from all across the nation will meet in Boston at the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ 2010 Summer Meeting to discuss the many timely and pressing issues regarding insurance regulation.

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:23:12 +0000

North Dakota state Rep. George Keiser’s start in politics began when he took the lead, speaking out on a community issue that ultimately resulted in a place on the Bismarck City Commission. Keiser’s willingness to voice the community’s opinion and his understanding of the challenges of running a business re-enforce his grass roots sensibility. That sensibility complements his ability to address some big picture issues including life settlements. Life Settlement Review spoke with the representative, R-47th District, Bismarck, about how this balance helps with his activities in the state legislature and at the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, Troy, N.Y., where he is president-elect.

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:35:02 +0000

Any effort to place settlements in their rightful context for investors, policy owners, or public policy makers requires communication. And Communication requires a common vocabulary of mutually understood words. Only these will allow for expectations to be managed in a settlement situation for investors or for consumers.

Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:35:42 +0000

The life settlement industry is at a crossroads. After five years of steady growth, the volume of life settlement transactions in 2009 was significantly lower than the peak of 2007-2008.Capital market difficulties contributed to fewer transactions.

Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:18:19 +0000

As one listens to Brian Pardo, chairman and chief executive officer of Life Partners Holdings, Inc. in Waco, Texas, the perception of an independent
thinker comes to mind. After all, who would think to take an inactive geology company and use the shell to create an entirely new business? And, what average CEO would collect a Wooly Mammoth and it on display in a building right behind his corporate headquarters? Pardo offered his views on the life settlement industry and where it stands right now during this interview with Life Settlement Review.

Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:24:48 +0000

Opportunities come in various forms.

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 21:12:23 +0000

When Michael Fugler discusses life settlements, you get a sense of an industry that is on the cusp of major change. In fact, during his conversation with Life Settlement Review, he says that the industry is “turning a bend. Right now we have turned a bend and are looking at a straightaway.” LSR wanted to know what Fugler, head of global capital markets with Welcome Life Financial Group, Boca Raton, Fla., sees on the road ahead and how it differs from what he sees in the rearview mirror.

Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 14:01:50 +0000

Life and viatical settlements provide a real alternative to people who consciously choose to sell their life insurance because of unique circumstances in their lives.

Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 14:17:59 +0000

Managing the risk of a Cost of Insurance (COI) rate increase on in-force policies is an important consideration for all life settlement investors. If a
rate increase occurs, the consequences could be very serious.

Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 15:23:05 +0000