Author: Greg Winterton

Life settlement trade group the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) proposed amendments to the National Council of Insurance Legislators’ (NCOIL) life settlement model act at NCOIL’s Spring National Meeting on 12 April. Coventry First co-founder and Executive Chairman Alan Buerger, a former LISA Chair, was LISA’s witness before Chair, Rep. Carl Anderson (S.C.), Vice Chair, Sen. Vickie Sawyer (N.C.), and the members of NCOIL’s Life Insurance & Planning Committee. Buerger presented LISA’s proposed amendments, which focused on two areas identified by LISA members as essential to serving consumers: electronic commerce and consumers’ access to their licensed producers’ expertise. “Because of…

Investment manager Hudson Structured Capital Management has closed HS Mohawk Fund I LP,  a life-insurance focused continuation fund. The fund closed with $175mn of commitments, led by StepStone Group. In connection with the closing, HSCM has also named Gokul Sudarsana its Chief Investment Officer for Life Insurance, in addition to his role as Chief Actuary. “We are delighted to announce the successful closing of the fund and continue to be a trusted capital partner to our portfolio companies and drive value creation for our investors,” said Sudarsana. “This transaction marks an exciting milestone in our growing life insurance franchise, and…

UK Regulators analyse Funded Reinsurance risks in Pension Risk Transfers; PRA raises portfolio recapture concerns.

UK Regulators analyse Funded Reinsurance risks in Pension Risk Transfers; PRA raises portfolio recapture concerns.

It’s well documented that the pension risk transfer (PRT) market in the UK has a human capital problem, in the sense that there aren’t enough people to fill the vacancies in the space. Greg Winterton spoke to TC Jefferson, Managing Partner at executive search firm The Plenum Group, to learn more about the going on in the space.  GW: TC, there is plenty of coverage in the trade media about this apparent ‘challenge’ that firms in the pension risk transfer market face when it comes to hiring. Just how ‘real’ is this issue?  TCJ: Thanks Greg. I can assure you…

UK Regulators analyse Funded Reinsurance risks in Pension Risk Transfers; PRA raises portfolio recapture concerns.

Last orders have been called for the UK pension fund of diamond specialist De Beers with a £870m ($1.1bn) full buy-in deal that will see all current pensioners and deferred members transferred to Pensions Insurance Corporation (PIC). In a 2 April news release, PIC said that 1464 current pensioners and 473 deferred members of the scheme, which is sponsored by De Beers UK, would transfer across from the pension fund. Hymans Robertson and Barnett Waddingham provided the De Beers trustees with actuarial advice on the transaction. PIC was given legal advice by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang (CCMNO) and the De…

Red hot pension risk transfer market creating competition for talent

Despite their industry now being two decades old (in its current form), life settlement asset managers still, occasionally, have to undertake the role of educator when discussing the asset class with a potential new investor.  One question that is known, anecdotally, to come up is: ‘Why would anyone want to sell their life insurance policy?’   After all, in many countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, you can’t sell it, so those less familiar with the nuances of Grigsby vs Russell – and the multi-billion-dollar industry that the case created (albeit approximately 90 years later) – will not know…

Like most asset classes in the alternative credit market, the life settlement industry has had an interesting few years as macroeconomic changes have impacted fundraising and deal flow. Greg Winterton spoke to Anna Bailey, Managing Partner at asset manager Chestnut Capital Management, to get her thoughts on the current state of the space.  GW: Anna, let’s start with something general. What’s your view of the impact of the macroeconomic environment of the past few years on the life settlement market – on both fundraising and deal flow?  AB: The market is still steadily growing – not quite the way I…