Download Life Risk News Volume 3, Issue 12, December 2024

The PHL Variable Life Insurance Company rehabilitation news story was a significant one in the life settlement market this year, but plenty of other topics and trends impact the space both now and going forward. Greg Winterton spoke to Simon Erritt, Senior Managing Director at Coventry Capital and Rob Haynie, Managing Director at Life Settlements Inc, to get their views on some of these, and their impact, in Credit and Liquidity Risk Back in Focus but Life Settlement Market Looks to 2025 With Optimism. 

The total surplus of the approximately 5,000 defined benefit pension schemes in the UK reached a new record of £300bn in September according to PwC, which has brought with it the luxury of choice with regards to scheme’s end-game options. So, rather than rushing to seek an insurer-led buy-out, some trustees are considering other solutions. Samantha Downes spoke to Charlie Finch, Partner at Lane, Clark & Peacock, to get his views in To Buy-Out, or Not To Buy-Out? 

The life settlement market received a small but not insignificant boost recently, as the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) made some amendments to its Life Settlement Model Act at its annual meeting in San Antonio, TX, just before the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. Greg Winterton spoke to John Dallas, CEO at Berkshire Settlements and current Chair at industry group the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), and Brian Casey, Partner at Locke Lord, to see what they thought about the change in Latest Version of NCOIL Life Settlements Model Act Provides Welcome Update to Outdated Processes. 

The life settlement market has changed significantly since its inception 20 years or so ago, maturing and stabilising in terms of the processes and the firms participating in it. Still, change is constant, and so Bryan Nicholson, Executive Director at LISA explains what is changing at the organisation and its plans going forward in Taking the Next Steps to Better Serve the Life Settlement Market, a guest article. 

The 2024 edition of the Life Insurance Fact Book – the American Council of Life Insurers’ annual review into the inner workings of US-based life insurance company balance sheets – was published in early November. Roger Lawrence, Managing Director at WL Consulting, took a look at the top-level takeaways from this year’s edition in US Life Insurance Industry Posts Solid 2023 Despite Macroeconomic Challenges, a guest article this month. 

A range of events in the past few years have had a significant impact on mortality in the UK, and arguably the outlook is as unclear as it has been for some time. Greg Winterton caught up with Cobus Daneel, Chair of the CMI Mortality Projections Committee at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, to find out what is top of mind in the mortality actuarial world as we look ahead to 2025 in this month’s Q&A. 

Data from consulting firm WTW, published at the beginning of this year, shows that aggregate longevity swap insurance premium in the UK pension risk transfer (PRT) market was the lowest in 2023 for at least five years but a recent transaction shows that the appetite for these deals remains. Greg Winterton spoke to Shelly Beard, Managing Director at WTW, to get her thoughts on the space in Longevity Swaps are Back? They Never Went Away.