Dan Young Letter to Editor on Life Settlements
Dear Editor,
I read your article regarding life settlements and the response thereto (Viatical settlements stage comeback to insurers’ chagrin, April 2014 edition). I would add to the conversation that the ability to sell a policy is very clearly a benefit to seniors. When one has an asset, the ability to monetize it is based on the transparency and robustness of the market. So, if one owns a widely traded stock and no longer wants it, the click of a mouse can create liquidity. Conversely, if one owns shares of a closely held private company, he or she may be unable to turn that share into cash.In the case of an insurance policy, for more than 100 years, the only way to create liquidity was to surrender the policy back to the insurance company. Because this was the only option, the surrender value has historically been much lower than the value…
Read the full Investment & Insurance Journal article:
