LICA Announces Life Carrier Study of the Secondary Market for Life Insurance Is Seriously Flawed: The Study Misleads the Market

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2005--An insurer funded study of the secondary market for life insurance used flawed data, contained serious actuarial errors, and ignored the economic benefits of life settlements, two prominent economists have concluded in a report released today, the Life Insurance Consumers Alliance (LICA) announced.

The new report, which reviews the methods and conclusions of a Deloitte Consulting-University of Connecticut Actuarial Center report about the secondary market, is authored by Hal J. Singer, President of Criterion Economics LLC, and co-author of a groundbreaking study on the secondary market published in conjunction with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Professor Eric Stallard of Duke University, a highly credentialed actuary.

"The Deloitte/Carrier study was funded by three major carriers who have been highly critical of consumers' right to maximize the value of one of their largest investments, their life insurance policies. Carriers have steadfastly obstructed the growth of the secondary market since they prefer that policyowners terminate policies on the issuer's terms, even though settlements are worth several times more than cash surrender value," said Jim Butera, LICA president. www.lifeinsuranceconsumers.org