A report from Boston-based Aite Group LLC sees moderate growth potential for the life settlements industry in face of a constrained capital environment and decreased taste for innovative financial products brought on by the credit crisis.

Authored by Aite Group Senior Analyst Clark Troy, the 58-page report says the industry is in need of technical innovation, with difficulties in estimating the life expectancies of the insured also causing uncertainties. Nonetheless, Aite Group estimates that the life settlements industry will recover from a sub par 2009 to transact approximately US$13 billion annually from 2010 to 2013.

“As a non-standardized institutional financial services market, the life settlements industry supports a rapidly changing ecosystem of technology vendors and service providers,” Troy says. “Best practices and delivery paradigms for service providers have not solidified. Service providers are competing vigorously to establish pre-eminence, and position themselves for various industry growth scenarios.”

Source: InsuranceNetworking.com

Maine Life Settlement Law

After news the last couple weeks ago about Maine regulation, it looks like some clarification was needed.

A bill has been proposed in Maine that would clarify a state law requiring life insurance companies to notify policy holders of their option to sell their policy rather than let it lapse.

The new bill, LD 1523,  seeks to amend PL 2009, c. 376, which was signed into law in June by Gov. John Baldacci. That law requires life insurers to inform individuals that there are alternatives, including life settlements, to surrendering their policy or allowing it to lapse.

The new legislation would clarify that c. 376 applies to policies with death benefits of at least $100,000, where the policy owner is at least 60 years old or is terminally or chronically ill.

The bill, sponsored by Representative Charles Priest (D.), has been referred to the state House Committee on Insurance and Financial Services.

Here is an very interesting article about the new California Life Settlement Laws that Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger just put into effect…..

Here is an excerpt:

The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has just ruled on how California Life Settlement business can be conducted. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into a law a bill to regulate the state’s life settlement market that includes a ban on stranger-owned life insurance policies. Click HERE to read the rest of the article….