Reader Comments of the Week

In response to MetLife Fails Federal Reserve “Stress Test”

Siri wrote:

“Frankly, if the American life insurance industry wants to go back to being well respected, the mutuals we still have will need to remain that way.

“Eventually, the competitive force of the mutuals providing a fundamentally better product will drive the stock companies out of the insurance industry, and they will be somewhat forcibly re-mutualized as their insurance divisions are assimilated by the remaining mutual companies.”

In response to Conning: Life Insurers Right in the Middle of a Big Opportunity

wkb4447 wrote:

“Our agency is focused on this problem and has been for the last 25 years. It’s our target market. But, we haven’t been getting any product support except in the last year or so. The industry is still putting a majority of its effort in the high net-worth market and the big case. There’s a good business reason for that, and we understand it in the brokerage world: a couple of big cases can make your year. To remain profitable in these low-interest environments and market instability, the need for big cases is even greater. In other words, the middle market is not buying, and when they do, it’s not a big case. We stay afloat through volume, and our operating motto is ‘sell lives.’”