Life Settlements

Abstract

Over the past two years, the secondary market for life insurance policies, known as life settlements, has grown in the United States to a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Life settlement transactions have increased in volume and are likely to remain attractive due to the yields, the uncorrelated nature of the asset, and the flexibility available in structuring transactions that can accommodate investor preferences. Life settlements often can provide an alternative to seniors of which they were not previously aware. As the universe of parties that can facilitate life settlement transactions expands, more seniors will be presented with the possibility of doing a life settlement and the volume of transactions will increase. As the life settlement market continues to grow, the number of third-party service providers, such as verification agents and medical underwriters, is also likely to increase. The result will be a more robust and efficient market that will enable the participants to continue to benefit from this unique asset.