HomeCategoryInsights - Longevity Asset Advisors

There are a number of fallacies about how micro-longevity underwriting works that seem to pervade the marketplace. One that I hear far too often goes something like this: “Life settlements accrue value every time the insured has a birthday.” The implication is that the passage of time alone (i.e., getting older) decreases life expectancy (LE). This...

In several recent conversations with clients, the topic of “off-market” life expectancy providers has come up…again and again. Most of these clients are concerned about the effect these operators are having on their business and the market in general. While most legitimate life settlement companies do not do business with these types of operators, many agents,...

Lately, in the life insurance world, the buzz is that electronic health care data will revolutionize underwriting. Someday…maybe, but not today. Why? Because much of what’s taking place now is the “digitization” of existing information, that is the transfer of information in documents into data, or bits and bytes, of information stored in databases and...

Recently, an “article” (the piece was more of a personnel update) included a statement from a former employee of an investment firm concerning the “ethical aspect” of life settlements. The statement, made by the employee, seemed to blame the asset class for the employee’s inability to perform in their role. In other words, “if I...

It happened again, and it happens all the time. In a conversation with an analyst in the early stages of looking at the life settlement business industry as a whole, and from an outsider’s perspective, a very common question arose as it often does: “So, after you underwrite a case, your actuaries calculate the life...

When a life settlement is created through the regulated sale of an unwanted or unneeded life insurance policy by the policy owner to a life settlement provider (i.e., the buyer or buyer’s broker), one of the documents signed by the person covered under the policy, (i.e., the insured), is a HIPAA-compliant authorization. This form is...

There continue to be those in the life settlement marketplace who promote online calculators as a quick, free means of determining life expectancy. As we’ve said before, life settlement calculators and underwriting are NOT the same things. Put another way, calculation is the last part of a thorough underwriting process, but without a proper underwriting process,...

We’ve touched on unlicensed activities generally and encroachment as one form of unlicensed activity to be concerned about. Another form of unlicensed behavior that has a significant impact on consumers, investors, and the industry at large involves the proliferation of investment programs promoted by inexperienced, unlicensed, and in some cases, unscrupulous parties. The risks to which these businesses expose...

Encroachment is defined by Merriam-Webster as “to enter by gradual steps or by stealth into the possessions or rights of another.” In the life settlement industry, there are several examples of encroachment taking place. Life insurance companies, unlicensed life underwriting companies, and unlicensed life settlement brokers and providers are encroaching on the marketplace in various...

If you use Google to search, you will find that there are many, many companies operating in the life settlement industry. However, a surprisingly large number of them are neither licensed nor registered with federal and state agencies — but they should be. Many of these unlicensed actors make all sorts of claims (and excuses)...