As we end 2014 I wanted to post some observations from the past year. The TOLI business is not growing, at least not significantly. We are still feeling the estate tax filing threshold jump to an indexed $5M. As the number of prospects drops, so does the number of new clients. Yes, there are reasons other than estate taxes to hold a policy in a [...]
In my last blog, Turning the Battleship Around…Has it Started?, I wrote about Whole Life dividend trends and stated perhaps the dividend slide might be “leveling off and slowly trending upward.” I based that thinking on the fact that of the “Big 4” Whole Life carriers—Northwestern Mutual, Mass Mutual, Guardian Life, and New York Life, three had “either maintained or increased their dividend rate,” which I [...]
One of the great challenges facing those of us who manage life insurance has been the long-term trend in interest rates. This is particularly true with Whole Life insurance. As the chart below shows, the drift in dividends has sloped downward for the last 28 years. And, today’s environment is especially challenging as we wallow in historically low interest rates for fixed investments. The cash [...]
An interesting class action lawsuit filed in January of this year is unfolding in California. The case, Larry Grill et al v. Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, was brought against the insurance carrier for “concealing from its insureds the option of a life settlement in connection with their life insurance policies.” In an all too common scenario (which I am sure you have seen), the [...]
In a past blog entry entitled, What You (as Trustee) Need to Know About Equity Indexed Universal Life, I wrote about this popular life insurance product, Indexed Universal Life. One of the problems I spoke about was the sales practices of the agents (and carriers) providing the product. In the blog entry, I mentioned that some carriers and agents assume crediting rates in the policy that [...]
Over a year ago I wrote a Blog entry entitled Are You Sure That Guaranteed Universal Life Policy Is Guaranteed? In that Blog entry I wrote that the key to managing this type of policy is to “pay the policy premium in full and on time each and every year the policy is in effect EXACTLY as shown in the life insurance illustration”. As I mentioned [...]
Life insurance carriers have traditionally been a conservative lot when it comes to investing, with the vast majority of their investable assets in highly-rated bonds and a lower proportion in gold standard mortgages. The last few years have not been kind to anyone investing primarily in fixed investments, and that apparently includes life insurers. According to an article in Investment News, a poll taken early [...]
About a year ago in a Blog entitled, Another Life Insurance Carrier is Sold…Why This Sale May Be Bad News For You and Your Clients, I wrote about the sale of Lincoln Benefit by Allstate Corporation to Resolution Life Holdings, a company I reported “whose mastermind is Clive Chowdry, a well know British entrepreneur”. Two updates on the matter. First, Mr. Chowdry has moved on, at [...]
In my last entry, Underwriting Life Insurance….What Every Trustee Should Know, I wrote about the steps that should be taken to ensure the best pricing when purchasing a life insurance policy. The difference in underwriting offers can play a large role in the success of the ILIT you are managing. After all, keeping a policy in force over the lifetime of the Insured is much harder [...]
Recently, the Guinness Book of World Records announced the purchase of the world’s most valuable life insurance policy, a $201 million dollar policy. The previous record according to Guinness (although I have heard tale of cases that surpass both of these) was a $100 million dollar policy on David Geffen, a founder of DreamWorks Studios, who got his start working with up and coming California rock [...]
