Halloween is behind us and many of you may have walked through a corn maze with your children or grandchildren at a local pumpkin patch. You may have found that maze easy to navigate, but how do you navigate through the confusing maze of life settlement information to help your client monetize their policy for fair market value (FMV) rather than settling for a discounted value?
The path you choose will determine how much value created ends up on the policy owner/sell-side of the negotiation table versus the buy-side. One wrong turn in the maze can take you and your client down a path that enhances investor returns at the expense of providing more value to your client. We will show you how you can help your clients make an informed decision about choosing the right life settlement company at a time when they are being bombarded with life settlement marketing that can often blur the lines between truth and fiction.
Securing independent representation for your client is the cornerstone of a successful life settlement.
An existing life insurance policy, including convertible term insurance, may contain significant value, beyond the cash surrender value (CSV), that can be accessed and monetized through a life settlement. A life settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy for an amount greater than the CSV, but less than the death benefit. How much added value your client receives is totally dependent on which life settlement company they choose to represent them. The good news is that there has been life settlement regulation in place for several years that requires licensing that distinguishes between a seller’s representative and a buyer’s representative. Securing independent representation for your client is the cornerstone of a successful life settlement.
Brokers vs. Providers
There are only two licensed entities that are licensed to handle life settlement negotiations. One represents the seller, the other represents the buyers. Licensed life settlement brokers are fiduciaries to the policy owner. Their sole responsibility is to represent the policy owner in the life settlement transaction and obtain the best offer based on your client’s situation and needs.
One wrong turn in the maze can take you and your client down a path that enhances investor returns at the expense of providing more value to your client.
On the buy-side, life settlement providers are licensed to represent the best interests of the buyers. Most advisors are unfamiliar with the term provider, which is often conflated with the term buyer. As a result, advisors often unknowingly end up on the wrong side of the negotiation table working with a provider. Consumers are even more vulnerable because of constant consumer direct ads from providers on television and social media. If your client responds to an advertisement and gets involved with a “Direct Buyer”, then they are in fact dealing with a provider. Buyers are behind the scenes and prohibited from getting directly involved with the seller. Buyers must be represented by a provider. The only way your client’s best interests are protected is through a broker-managed life insurance policy auction forcing providers to compete.
Your client should only use one broker that forces provider competition because all brokers access the same providers. If providers receive information from two or more brokers, control of the case is lost resulting in a more discounted offer to the seller. Providers can’t trust information that comes from more than one source. Also, sensitive client information is more secure if properly handled by only one broker. When providers are forced to compete that means your client’s case can be looked at by all available institutional buyers.
Two due diligence questions to determine if a life settlement company is on the buy-side or sell-side
Ask your potential life settlement resource these two questions:
Bottom line: There are only two licensed entities that sit at the negotiation table. Life Settlement Brokers represent your client’s best interests, Life Settlement Providers represent the buyer’s best interests. The first step is to verify right up front that the life settlement company you choose to help your client is a seller’s representative. Starting out on the right foot will help you have a big impact on the amount of additional value your client receives.
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Ashar Group is a nationally licensed life settlement brokerage firm and a qualified appraiser of life insurance for estate and tax planning, charitable donations of life insurance, and other aspects of financial and retirement planning. It’s what we do. By remaining deliberately independent and conflict-free, advisors trust Ashar to protect the best interests of the policy owner during a life settlement, thereby mitigating reputational or liability risk for the advisor.
Use our life settlement probability calculator to determine potential opportunities, or contact us today to learn more about the life settlement solution.
Every day at Ashar is a busy one—and we like it that way! Still, we have so much going on here that I savor the times I can snatch a few minutes to walk to buy a healthy sandwich for lunch, like today. This afternoon, I was walking back to our office when I spotted something green on the sidewalk. Hello, Andrew Jackson. Surprised at my good fortune, I tucked the bill into my pocket and forgot about it. When I found it again at the end of the day when I reached into my pocket for my keys, it was a nice reminder of that good moment.
Isn’t it a great feeling when you find an unexpected $20 bill on the sidewalk? Imagine how much better it would feel to find an unanticipated $2 million. While it sounds crazy, that’s exactly what happened to Robert*, a recent client of ours. (more…)
It’s not unusual to hear about a policyholder who abandons or cashes in their life insurance policy without first checking for its fair market value.. If they had appraised their policy, many would have found out that it could have been worth far more in the Secondary Market than what they received by simply letting the policy lapse or cashing it in with the insurance carrier that issued the policy.
Those familiar with the Secondary Market know that obtaining the best value for a life insurance policy doesn’t always come from the issuing company, and having a Secondary Market Valuation, SMV®, not only provides up to date information about what the policy is worth, it also can mitigate liability for trustees and fiduciaries that might have unknowingly surrendered or lapsed policies for minimal value.
The results can be life-changing and provide liquidity for retirement, caregiving, and lifestyle needs.
So what must an advisor and client do to ensure the best possible outcome? First, evaluate all options available to the client, including a life settlement. Next, work with a firm such as Ashar that is licensed to advocate on your client’s behalf. Their responsibility is to analyze the client’s probability of receiving an offer for their policy in the Life Settlement Secondary Market and guide the client and advisory team efficiently through the process, while minimizing potential pitfalls. A licensed broker, such as Ashar, is aligned with the client’s interests and will negotiate with their established institutional funding relationships to secure the best offer possible for your client’s policy. The goal is to facilitate a formal negotiation between institutional buyers and obtain multiple offers through this competitive bidding process.
By following these steps, you’re helping to ensure that your client is being dutifully represented, while you protect your reputation and limit liability. If you have any questions about the Secondary Market, please call us at 800-384-8080.
The Secondary Market for Life Insurance is a global market with a variety of institutional investors. It is comprised of private equity, pension funds, reinsurers and global banks. In a life-settlement transaction, a policyholder sells an existing policy for an amount higher than the cash surrender value, but less than the death benefit. The new owner pays the premiums and collects the death benefit when the insured passes. This is a win-win for both parties. Similar to a structured settlement or lottery buyout, the consumer receives a lump sum today and the institutional investor, such as the pension plan, can meet their future obligations.
Due to the complexities of the transaction, it is imperative to secure the services of an experienced and knowledgeable licensed broker to facilitate the case design, negotiation and closing process.
If you are considering valuing your policy, talk to a secondary market advisor such as Ashar Group who can guide you through the process. You can also go to https://ashargroup.com/policy-value-questionnaire/ to help you determine if your policy may qualify for a life settlement.
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Does your insurance policy qualify for a Secondary Market Solution?
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Turn your Term Life into Cash
The Secondary Market has become a safe and regulated environment for policy owners to liquidate insurance policies that are no longer necessary due to changes in estate tax law.
Many people are looking for new ways to enhance their current financial plan, and one new alternative is the Term Transformer.
This unique opportunity offers an alternative for your clients who have a convertible Term Life Policy that is about to be surrendered or lapse. The Term Transformer is designed as a simple and effective way to convert a term policy into a cash settlement.
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Life Settlements can fund Retirement and Long Term Care
With an increasingly aging population, the Secondary Market’s ability to quickly generate liquidity from unneeded insurance policies is becoming more relevant each day.
To explore the benefits of the Secondary Market, seniors can get a SMV®, Secondary Market Valuation, on their policies through their advisors. With an SMV® advisors have valuable information about the fair market value of the policy when helping clients make informed decisions regarding financial challenges.
The Secondary Market has changed the way we think about life insurance and planning, and cannot be overlooked for a family, individual or business entity who are contemplating any change in a life insurance policy. Before the emergence of the Secondary Market for life insurance, individuals with impaired health were unable to receive additional consideration above and beyond the cash surrender value.
Now, that same individual may be able uncover additional value by selling a policy in the Secondary Market. The Secondary Market also provides seniors a liquidity option when stock portfolios are still recovering and insurance premiums are still high or increasing.
In general, policyholders who benefit most in the secondary market are over 65, are not terminally ill, and have a life expectancy out to 15 years. Their policies would have face amounts of between $100,000 and $50,000,000 and must be at least two years beyond the policy issue date.
If you think it would be prudent for your client to consider alternatives like the secondary market, talk to an Ashar specialist. You can also go to https://ashargroup.com/policy-value-questionnaire/ to take the first steps in determining if a policy may qualify for a life settlement. It only takes a minute, and it could help save your clients thousands.
Ashar’s proprietary SMV®, Secondary Market Valuation, is a unique analysis performed by Ashar Group to assess the fair market value of a life insurance or annuity asset for planning purposes. How does this help your customers?
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A life settlement is a financial transaction that enables a policy owner to appraise and sell their life insurance policy. Similar to a piece of real estate or other valuable assets, the client can sell their policy to a third party for an amount higher than the cash surrender value, but less than the full death benefit.
Real Estate and Life Insurance/Annuities have a lot in common. More than you might imagine.
Both are valuable assets, both have a market value that can be hidden from view until evaluated, and both respond to the forces of supply and demand. Most importantly, if you decided to sell your home, you could sell it on the open market for a fair price to a qualified buyer. The same is true with Life Insurance and Annuities. But with Life Insurance and Annuities, the place to sell those is the Secondary Market.
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