Life Insurance
Life insurance news and analysis, with coverage of life insurance market trends, and of life insurance regulatory, compliance and legislative issues .
The Power of Story
By Bill CoffinA recent ad effectiveness study places State Farm's 9/11 tribute ads as one of the most effective in 2011. And while State Farm truly deserves its kudos, what could insurers be doing to gain similar success?
January 04, 2012
SEC Charges Texas Firm With Life Settlements FraudThe SEC on Tuesday charged Texas-based financial services firm Life Partners Holdings Inc. and three of its senior executives for their involvement in a fraudulent disclosure and accounting scheme involving life settlements.
January 03, 2012
Sun Life to Discontinue VA and Individual Life Sales in U.S.A Canada-based life insurer is exiting the variable annuities and individual life products markets in the U.S. not quite a week after ING announced it would be taking a huge charge as it too exited the U.S. variable annuities market.
January 03, 2012
Policyholders Getting Smarter, Leading to Charges for VA Products, Says Moody’sCharges related to changes in policyholder assumptions on variable annuities with guaranteed benefits may emerge among life insurance companies in the U.S., putting a dent in earnings and capital, according to a new Moodys report in the wake of INGs announcement that it would take a 4th-quarter charge to earnings.
January 03, 2012
Life Insurers Face Double Whammy in New YorkLife insurers based in New York have already made $52.6 million in payments to 7,934 beneficiaries as a result of the New York Department of Financial Services probe of insurer unclaimed property practices.
January 03, 2012
State vs. Federal, Round OneInsurance representatives on December 9 agreed at a Washington conference that the new Federal Insurance Office (FIO) is an important single point of contact at the federal level on insurance issues, especially international ones.
January 03, 2012
ING Group to Take $1.1 Billion Charge Against Fourth Quarter EarningsING Group, N.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands, announced in early December an estimated $1.1 billion (EUR $0.9 billion) earnings charge against the fourth quarter results of its U.S. closed variable annuity block of business. The adjustment includes a charge to restore the reserve adequacy to the 50% confidence level for the US...