Life Risk News: Volume 1, Issue 2, June 2022
ESG pervades all areas of finance, and the life risk industry is no exception. But for holders of longevity risk, and in particular life settlement investors, the perception is that they can’t be aligned to the ESG movement. Arguably, those holding that view can’t see the woods for the trees, and so we spoke to Jonas Martenson of Ress Capital, and Rob Haynie of Life Insurance Settlements Inc. to explore this issue in this month’s cover story, Life Settlements Not Such an Unlikely ESG Ally.
At the onset and during the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the many themes to emerge was that of comparing its effect on the population to the 1918 Influenza pandemic or the SARS pandemic of 2003 this was also of particular concern to holders of mortality risk, such as life insurance companies and life contingent structured settlement investors. We spoke to Matthew Edwards of Willis Towers Watson to learn more about the effects of the pandemic in Mortality Risk Holders Thinking About Covid-19 Pandemic Impacts.
New for this month, and something that you’ll see in future issues of Life Risk News, is a litigation bulletin. These bulletins will examine the outcome of recent litigation in the life risk market, and this month, we have two articles from ArentFox Schiff discussing the outcome of two recent cases in the life settlement market, Estate of Ann Rink, by its Executor, Michael Rink v. VICOF II Trust and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska v. Estate of Phyllis M. Malkin.
The European life insurance market is facing several challenges and opportunities that are going to shape the future of the industry. Chief among these is an aging European population, which is having a polarizing effect on how insurers service their clients, as well as how they win new ones. Peter Manchester of EY discusses some of the immediate challenges that need to be addressed at a much more rapid pace than most retirement-focused companies are used to moving in a commentary article, How To Navigate European Life Insurance and Retirement Trends.
Another commentary piece this month comes from James W. Maxson of EM3 Law, LLP. Life Settlements Due Diligence: Legal Counsel’s Perspective, sees Maxson explain the characteristics of life settlements that make legal due diligence particularly important for both managers and investors.
Our Q&A for this issue is with Chris Anderson of EY. Anderson is an actuary, and we spoke to Anderson to learn more about the impact of longevity on insurance companies and capital markets participation in life risk from an actuarial sciences perspective.
Finally, this month, we go to MedTech. Advancements in technology that are enabling more tailored risk assessment and treatment of the individual will have a profound impact on how companies and investors with exposure to longevity risk price that risk and construct their portfolios. We spoke to Nicola Oliver of Medical Intelligence to ask Why Longevity Investors Should Pay More Attention to Med-Tech Trends.
As always, if you’re interested in getting in touch, whether that’s with an idea for a topic that you’d like to see covered, or just to offer some feedback, please do so at greg@liferisk.news or send a note to the team at editor@liferisk.news. In the meantime, on behalf of ELSA, we hope you enjoy this second issue of Life Risk News; click the link below to download the PDF magazine.
Greg Winterton, Contributing Editor, Life Risk News