All articles by LII editorial
LII editorial
Extortion attempt by individual against New York Life backfires
Californian Anthony Digati, 52, stands accused of choosing extortion as a novel approach to expressing his dissatisfaction with the performance of a variable universal life insurance product he purchased from New York Life (NYL), a company for which he once worked as an agent and manager According to his indictment by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, Digati assaulted NYL in February this year with an attempt to coerce them into paying him $198,303 four times the premiums he had paid.
Dark days for Quinn Insurance
Major disruption to Irelands private health insurance market has been averted by the Financial Regulators decision to allow Irish general insurer Quinn Insurance Limiteds (QIL) health insurance unit Quinn Healthcare to trade as normal
UK equity release extends slide
Continuing a downtrend which began in the fourth quarter of 2007, activity in the UKs equity release market fell further in the opening months of 2010, data from industry body Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) revealed. SHIP reported advances in the first quarter of 2010 totaled £213.4m ($330m), down 12.9% compared with both the same quarter of 2009 and down 7.9% compared with the fourth quarter of 2009
MetLife pays up for federal law violation
A contravention of the US Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by MetLife, the US largest life insurer, has been resolved by a non-prosecution agreement reached between it and the US attorney for the southern district of California, Karen Hewitt According to Hewitt, MetLife madems of dollars in improper payments to obtain the business of a San Diego insurance brokerage firms clients
Genworth’s wake-up call to advisers
A clients satisfaction with a financial adviser can be judged by the length of time that client retains his or her services This common perception could not be further from reality, reveals a study by US investment management and consulting firm Genworth Financial Wealth Management (GFWM), a unit of insurer Genworth Financial Many financial advisors believe that if they have had a client for 12-plus years, then that means their clients are satisfied
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FSA cracks down on bad pension switch advice in UK
Advisers in the UK providing poor pension switching advice to consumers are in for costly surprise, warns the Financial Service Authority (FSA) The regulators warning comes after its completion of follow-up work to improve pension switching advice that will see a number of firms required to carry out past business reviews dating back to April 2006
Sun Life chosen as Canada’s top life insurer
Sun Life has emerged as Canadas most trusted life insurer in publisher Readers Digest Associations 2010 Canadian Trusted Brand awards programme conducted on its behalf by opinion research firm HarrisDecima In winning the award Sun Life edged out its two largest rivals, Great-West Life and Manufacturers Life
US fixed annuity sales plunge
Fixed annuity sales in the US extended their falling trend in the fourth quarter of 2009 by slumping to $19.6bn, 43% lower than in the final quarter of 2008 and 11% down from the previous quarter, reports fixed annuity research firm Beacon Research.
Auto-underwriting finally accepted in US
US life insurers have been slow in adopting automated underwriting but are finally accepting it as a solution, reveals a report authored by Clark Troy, a senior analyst with consultancy Aite Group Troy explained that automated underwriting is the life insurance equivalent of straight-through processing
Delta Lloyd exits German life market
Marking the end of the road for Dutch composite insurer Delta Lloyd is to cease writing new life business in what it views as no longer being a core market Though Delta Lloyds decision fits its strategic focus on the Netherlands and Belgium, the rationale for its decision presents a sobering view of Germanys life market The insurer stressed that, despite its large size and great potential, Germanys life markets structure is a major impediment to further progress of its wholly-owned unit Delta Lloyd Germany (DLG)