Author: Greg Winterton

UK industry group the Equity Release Council (ERC) published its quarterly update recently, showing a market that has returned to growth for the first time in a year; both new customers and total lending in the market increased (10% and 8% respectively) from the second quarter of this year.  Market activity remains suppressed when compared to recent years, however. The first three quarters of 2023 have delivered three of the five lowest periods of activity since at least 2017, and the number of new plans agreed nosedived at the end of 2022 (although that has plateaued, perhaps indicating a natural…

In September, the US Federal Reserve maintained interest rates at 5.5%, the first pause in what has been a rising rate environment since early 2022. Similarly, the Bank of England kept its interest rate at 5.25%, the first time since 2021 that the rate had paused.  So, in October, we asked our readers whether they thought that this marked the end of the recent rising interest rate environment.   In a rare turn of events, Life Risk News readers were split; 42.1% said they thought that the rising rate environment had now seen its peak, and 42.1% said that there were…

A recent report published by asset manager Conning suggests that the life settlement industry is poised for continued growth in the coming years. Life Risk News’ Greg Winterton spoke to Rob Haynie, Managing Director at life settlements broker Life Insurance Settlements, Inc, to get his views on how the life settlement market has done in 2023 and what his expectations are for 2024.  GW: Rob, let’s start with 2023. At the end of last year, you told Life Risk News that you expected the main reasons why seniors look to sell their policies to be covering medical bills and simply…

Deal flow in the life settlement industry’s secondary market can be separated into two main channels – the direct-to-consumer market, where insureds sell their policies to a licensed life settlement provider, perhaps because they have seen or heard TV or radio advertising – and the intermediated channel, where life insurance agents, accountants, attorneys and wealth managers work with their client to sell their policy via a licensed life settlement broker.  In the intermediated channel, deal flow from the wealth manager – registered investment adviser (RIAs) – cohort is on the rise. And the increased activity is coming from what is,…

Life settlements industry group, the Life Insurance Settlements Association, has announced its 2024 leadership. John Dallas, President of Berkshire Settlements, will be the group’s new Chair next year, succeeding Sherry Duarte, Managing Director of Fifth Season Financial. Duarte will transition to the role of Immediate Past Chair and remain a member of LISA’s Executive Committee. No new board members were added this year, but Neal Jacobs, Managing Director of Finance at Coventry, will serve an additional three-year term. “I look forward to working with this Board of Directors to further advance LISA’s mission,” said Bryan Nicholson, LISA’s Executive Director. “The…

British trade body the Equity Release Council (ERC) published its most recent quarterly update this week, showing a market that has returned to growth for the first time in 12 months. The ERC said that total lending increased by 8% in the third quarter of 2023, with £716m of deals being closed, up from £663m in Q2. The number of new plans agreed in Q3 was 7,379, up 10% on Q2’s 6,682. Of these, there was a broad split when it comes to product choice: 53% opted for drawdown lifetime mortgages, taking an initial withdrawal up-front with more held in…

UK consulting firm Hymans Robertson recently surveyed 250 finance and pension decision-makers in UK companies, covering a range of topics including: respondents’ strategic pension priorities over the next few years, respondents’ views on defined benefit (DB) endgame strategies, the impact of the Pension Schemes Act 2021 on company planning and financial activity, respondents’ views on future retirement provision and government policy, and corporate and trustee governance. The results suggests that almost half (48%) of UK defined benefit pension schemes intend to insure their plans via a buy-out solution in the next decade. However, 45% of these schemes are concerned about…

Aquarian Holdings is taking a minority stake in life settlements investor Obra Capital. Aquarian is a diversified holding company with interests in businesses including insurance, asset management, real estate and technology; the firm is replacing Reverence Capital, which has been an investor in Obra since 2019. “This transaction provides Aquarian with access to additional alternative investment capabilities, strengthening our expanding financial services platform,” said Rudy Sahay, founder and Managing Partner at Aquarian. “We look forward to working with Obra as it grows and benefitting from the many synergies between our firms.” Obra Capital – previously Vida Capital until a re-brand…

The rising interest rate environment of the past 18 months has had a significant impact on the alternative investment industry, with fundraising across all the main segments – hedge funds, private equity, private debt, real assets – falling in 2022 and then again this year as global capital allocators pivot to assets that are perceived as having lower risk, higher liquidity and now, for the first time in more than a decade, an acceptable yield.  The impact has certainly been felt in the life settlement market.  “You can get a four-week US treasury bill for around 5% at the moment,”…

Life Risk News UK Pension Risk Transfer Consultants roundtable