Life insurance industry forecast positive

“Overall,” says Terence Martin, senior analyst at Conning Research, “the industry should continue to sustain historically strong margins, even in the face of lower investment returns and the need to support a growing capital base.”

Those words are based on the latest research from Conning Research and Consulting, whose data predict statutory net operating gain increases for 2007 through 2009. This comes despite a $5.4 billion drop in statutory net operating gains in 2006, down to $27.4 billion, according to “Life-Health Forecast & Analysis by Line of Business, 2007-2009.”