Life Settlement News

21st Services, a leading longevity analysis firm and a provider of life expectancy evaluations to the life settlements industry, has announced a price reduction on the online version of its product, the eCLPR, for purchases made between July 1 and December 31, 2009. The product is available for $30 at 21stServices.com.

This is a limited-time promotion to introduce the eCLPR to insurance and financial planning professionals and life settlement brokers.

Longevity insight from a company with actuarial and underwriting expertise

* Remember this is not a full Life Expectancy (LE), in almost all cases can’t be used for biddiing, and doesn’t deeply review the insureds health.

The eCLPR is basically a tool that you can use to pre-screen clients.  This could save money from having to order a complete LE.  However, this will not subsitute the need of an LE and if this report comes back with a positive outcome then you will need to follow up with a full Life Expectancy certificate (LE).

For more information about 21st Services, go to 21stServices.com.

Read previous post about the eCLPR here at LifeSettlementPro.com:
New Prescreening Tool for Life Settlement Cases

Found a list over at Life Settlement License that is listing the licensing and regulation requirements for each state regarding life settlements. Looks like it will be helpful for agents and consumers.

Full list:
Life Settlement Licensing

Found this pretty interesting article from Christopher Westfall about the potential problems that may arise if Life Settlement Firms have continued loses… I think he is a tad bit harsh, but he does make some valid points. Here are some good excerpts:

As life settlement firms rack up losses — and sometimes collapse — expect the industry to come under attack from all sides. The broader life insurance industry as historically had a tenuous relationship with life settlement business since it blossomed in the 1990s. Insurers fear that the process of selling a policy to a third party as an investment is confusing to consumers and could create thousands of lawsuits as policyholders dispute the “insurable interest” of the contract.

In the meantime, don’t be surprised to see life-settlement losses crop up in some unusual places. Losses from life settlements reportedly are what initially brought down financier Danny Pang, who reportedly tried to cover up the life settlement losses with investor assets.

Even the Federal Reserve could be on the hook. AIG used assets from the largest life-settlement securitization to date — $2 billion –- to pay back a portion of its government loan.

Read complete article at:
Life Settlement Industry Next on Chopping Block

J G Wentworth Life Settlements a large purchaser or Small Face Policies, and Lower face value settlements is now in bankruptcy protection.

Read a clip over at Life Settlement Info:
Life Settlement Funder Bankruptcy

J G was very active in the small face policies and were quick to make offers with limited amount of information. (If I remember right they never required a third party life expectancy). I havent’ reviewed the full bankruptcy protection documents, but they are reorganizing and still operating their business.

I am not sure if you have current contracts with them to purchase a policy if they will still close. I am sure they will be re-examining these pending cases on a case by case basis.

If you have more info, please email us: editor@lifesettlementpro.com

The life settlement investing space is slowly gaining traction in the financial industry both by the growth of assets in the space and the performance of those specializing it. In fact the trade organization Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) confirms that up until now “capital from Wall Street, such as hedge funds and pension funds, still view this asset as too exotic, complex, and not transparent enough.”

However, that may change in 2009 after use of these instruments and understanding of them grows. In 2009 AIG used a securitization of an $8.4 billion pool of life settlement policies to repay its $1.2 billion loan to the Feds. British Virgin Islands-based Tranen Capital’s +2.49% return for March 2009 (+11.5% YTD) hopes that recognition from its top spot on the Barclay Hedge Rankings provide another indicator that these markets are not only viable, but have returns completely uncorrelated to the larger markets.

Tranen Capital, which also has offices in Boston, launched in July 2008. The Tranen Capital Alternative Investment Fund is now two months shy of its first anniversary and has managed to return 27%.

Tranen Capital’s strategy is to trade life insurance policies in the Life Markets Space, more commonly referred to as the Life Settlements Market. The Life Markets Space enables seniors to sell their life insurance contracts for more than the cash surrender value than they would otherwise receive from the Insurance Company. The credit crisis has helped create more supply as Seniors (65 or older) are looking for other ways to generate cash. In fact, the life settlements market is expected to grow to over $160 billion over the next several years, according to a Sanford Bernstein report.

According to the firm website: “Utilizing the various benefits of Life Insurance products, Tranen Capital operates a diversified strategy by managing variables of value, contestability and projected maturities, carrying the strategy forward by selecting from two options of the realization of profits, being a classic buy and hold strategy, where policies would be held until maturity.

For more information about Hedge Funds, visit Life Settlement Funds.

Source: HedgeCo and Opalesque