Life settlement market data is somewhat hard to find, recently the GAO/Government Accounting Office released a report on the life settlement industry. In the report it was determined that there exists a number of regulatory agencies and inconsistencies governing life settlements and these inconsistencies have the potential to pose threat to consumers and brokers alike.
Life settlement market data has shown that the industry grew rapidly up until 2009 when the financial crisis and economic down turn markedly slowed the business. Life settlement market data, per the GAO report, showed that in the year 2009, over 2,600 policies were settled with a total face value of $7.01 billion, this was down from a 4,505 high in 2008. A total of $890 billion was paid to policy owners and $90 million in commissions were paid to brokers in 2009. For 2008, nearly $13 billion in policies were settled. More than $2 billion was paid to policy owners. Broker’s received over $280 million in commissions.
This data shows the decline in life settlements and closely follows the decline in the financial markets. The data is a useful tool to help determine the current marketability of your policy. A strong market may increase the value of your settlement and/or increase the desire of a settlement company to make an offer on your policy. If you are looking to sell your life insurance policy be sure your life settlement broker keeps abreast of current data. A policy with no offers today may have value in the future as the market changes. For more information please click on LIVEpdq.