Media

Advisor: "Hi, Jim. I’m recommending you invest $10,000 of your portfolio into that investment I was telling you about." Client: "Hmmm, okay Gina. If you think it is a good idea. By the way, how much of this investment do you own?" Advisor: "Are you kidding me, Jim? I wouldn’t touch that investment with a 10-foot pole!" Do you think the client will invest their money into the investment mentioned in this situation? Not likely! The lesson here is one that my parents taught me when I was still quite young. They told me...READ MORE >>

It’s a scary, volatile market with asset correlations that may result in making emotional investment decisions. Instead of letting your emotions get the best of you, hit the pause button and take a look at smart alternatives. When historical valuations tell you that both stocks and bonds are expensive, it’s time to search for products that can put up decent risk-adjusted returns regardless of any economic cycle.....READ MORE >>

Morris Adams is worried about running out of money to pay his wife's caretakers so she can remain at home. His wife, Ruth, suffers from depression and some dementia, and he has paid for aides to assist her for the past eight years. Adams, an accountant who works during income tax season, reached out to Manulife last year with a proposal to sell his $250,000 life insurance policy back to the insurance company...READ MORE >>

Many American families today are facing financial security challenges and need to know their life insurance policies may be able to be monetized to help them address those financial needs, according to E. Benjamin Nelson, a former two-term U.S. Senator from Nebraska....READ MORE >>

Financial professionals spend a lot of time talking about volatility, and with good reason. It's every investor's worst enemy. Over time, it can harm your returns. Mark Twain once wrote: "There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: When he can't afford it, and when he can." I would add a third and fourth time...READ MORE >>

The NZ$35 billion ($25.3 billion) New Zealand Superannuation Fund has committed NZ$200 million ($145 million) to New York-based Apollo Global Management’s Financial Credit Investment III, a life settlements strategy. The commitment was awarded to Apollo on 19 May 2017. This transaction by the NZ Super Fund is its third life settlements investment with Apollo Global...READ MORE >>

For the first time in more than two decades, life expectancy for Americans declined last year — a troubling development linked to a panoply of worsening health problems in the United States. Rising fatalities from heart disease and stroke, diabetes, drug overdoses, accidents and other conditions caused the lower life expectancy evealed in a report released Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics...READ MORE >>

In the August 2016 issue, the article on Life Settlements titled "Are Life Settlements Right for my Clients?" looked at the industry from the perspective of clients that owned life insurance that they no longer needed, wanted or could afford, and it made the point that selling (or settling) a policy might be right for them as compared to their other alternatives of lapsing or surrendering the policy. Today we examine the exact same question, but from the perspective of the other side of the transaction: Are life settlements something my clients should be investing into to help them achieve their financial goals and reduce risk in their portfolio... READ MORE >>

Has anyone ever told you that it isn’t the destination that matters, it’s the journey? They probably weren’t talking about retirement planning or investing. The saying certainly can and does apply. If you have read anything at all about behavioral finance you know that it is human nature to want to do the wrong thing at the wrong time when it comes to investing. Buy high and sell low, anyone? I bet you know more than one client who has been that route. Helping clients make it comfortably to and through retirement is what matters. READ MORE >>

In January, a Rancho Mirage couple filed a class-action lawsuit against Lincoln National Life Insurance Company for failure to disclose the life settlement option. A U.S. District Court filing in Riverside County reveals allegations of fraud, elder abuse, and unfair and fraudulent business practices, and seeks punitive damages and injunctive relief on behalf of the class. READ MORE >>

According to The Deal’s Life Settlement Report, Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) has made its second major portfolio purchase in less than eight months, beating out Blackstone Group LP and Monarch Alternative Capital LP for the $4.168 billion Fortress Investment Group LLC portfolio. READ MORE >>

AA-Partners, Ltd., a life settlement consulting firm for institutional clients, reports that January’s market activity was much stronger than that of the year-ago period, with significant volume upticks across all market segments in both the secondary and tertiary markets. READ MORE >>

Market activity in the life settlement space continues unabated. Below please find a brief recap of some of the more noteworthy developments in Q4.READ MORE >>

In 2012, Governor Jerry Brown introduced a broad plan to improve governmental efficiencies in California. Pursuant to his plan, the California Department of Corporations, which formerly regulated fractional life settlements, has merged with the Department of Financial Institutions to become the Department of Business Oversight. READ MORE >>

Appetite for longevity-linked assets continues unabated. According to The Deal’s Life Settlements Report, market activity in September included McKinsey & Co.’s winning bid for the $135 million Quality Investments BV portfolio. READ MORE >>

According to The Deal’s Life Settlement Report, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company confirmed the purchase of a $300 million life settlement portfolio in July. READ MORE >>

In recent years, a secondary market for life insurance policies, known as the life settlement market, has developed in the United States. This market enables policy owners wishing to discontinue their life insurance policies to realize the market value of their policies.READ MORE >>