Aviva USA granted patent for fixed indexed life insurance

Aviva USA has been granted US patent for 'maximization of a hedged investment budget for an index-linked insurance product' by the US Patent and Trademark Office.The patent involves Aviva's risk management processes related to the minimum guarantees on its indexed universal life insurance products.Thomas Godlasky, CEO of Aviva North America, said: "The granting of this patent underscores Aviva's commitment to innovation in the area of product development.

"It is truly a testament to the outstanding work being done by Aviva's product development team. As a company, our primary focus is on providing the best products and services to our customers, and the innovation behind this patent exemplifies that commitment."

news source : http://www.insurance-business-review.com/

The 5 Basic Forms Of Life Insurance

If you're like I used to be, you can get confused with all the different life insurance policies. Trying to understand what is what can be difficult at times. Here's an easy to understand look at the 5 different types of life insurance and what they are.

Annual Renewable Term Policy

Without a doubt, this is the most typical form of life insurance sold. With its level death benefit it is generally used to satisfy any outstanding bills and debts in the unfortunate event of your passing away. This life policy is relatively inexpensive for younger people. As you get older the more expensive the policy costs. Annual renewable term life is the purest form of lifeinsurance available.

Decreasing Term Life Policy

A decreasing term life policy decreases each year that the policy is in force. Why would you need a policy like this? It's mainly used to pay off a mortgage in the event of your death. Every other type of lifeinsurance other than decreasing term has a level death benefit.

5-Year and 10-Year Term Life Policies

5-year, or 10-year term life policies are for people who need level protection for a set number of years only. They are generally very inexpensive and are non-renewable.

15-Year and 20, 25, and 30-Year Term Life Policies

More of these term policies combined are sold than any other type of term life insurance. You can choose the length of term life coverage you need and pay a set level premium for that number of years.

These policies work very well with families with children. For example: you have a child that is 5 years old and you want to be sure that your spouse and child are taken care of in the event of your death. Your family will need to have sufficient cash on hand to not only meet the day to day needs of life, but to also have enough for your child's education. This can be a substantial amount of money.

A 15 or 20-year term life policy would fill this need perfectly. The premiums for this type of policy are also very affordable.

Whole Life Policies

This category also includes universal life, variable universal life, and variable whole life insurance policies. These life insurance policies will cost you much more per month with their premiums, but they also help you accumulate cash over a longer period of time. You can think of these types of policies as lifeinsurance with a savings account attached.

Premiums on whole life are set at the time you purchase the policy. Your age and health will determine the amount of your premium. As you pay your premiums you're also building cash value in your policy. Although the returns are not as high as you can get with other investments, you also have the lifeinsurance benefit in the event of your death.

Variable life, and variable universal life policies, can give you an even higher rate of return due to their returns being based on various investments.

news source : http://www.bestsyndication.com/

Citi offers $250m to hedge fund investors

Citigroup is coming under pressure to bail out investors in one of its troubled hedge funds, in another embarrassment for a company already among the biggest losers from the credit crisis.

The company has begun quietly asking private clients to accept a $250m compensation package, in return for dropping legal claims against the company. Banks which have sunk an estimated $1.6bn into the fund are also examining their legal options.

The problems stem from Citigroup's Falcon Strategies hedge fund, an investment vehicle that traded mortgage bonds, government debt and a range of credit derivatives, which began experiencing big losses when the credit markets ran into difficulties last summer. Thousands of Citigroup clients – advised to invest in the fund by brokers at its Smith Barney wealth management division – face being wiped out.

And three big regional banks, including Wachovia, one of the largest in the US, have also been forced to write off large parts of their investments, after putting some internal lifeinsurance money into Falcon. Wachovia posted a $315m loss on life insurance assets, largely as a result of its $1bn exposure to Falcon. Fifth Third of Cincinnati is suing the investment advisers which suggested it sink $612m into Falcon and which, it alleges, failed to pull the money back out again when the first signs of trouble emerged.

Citigroup is not involved in Fifth Third's lawsuit but it does face a class action from private clients. The action is being led by Robert Zeff, a Smith Barney client in Florida, who put $500,000 into the Falcon fund. He says the fund was marketed to clients as "an extremely low-risk investment".

news source : http://www.independent.co.uk/

Bank-owned life insurance at record levels

Bank-owned life insurance hit $120.4 billion in assets in 2007, up 15.9% from the previous year, according to Michael White Associates LLC. BOLI is a form of life insurance policy bought by banks on its directors or officers. The bank is the beneficiary of the policy and all premiums are tax-free, as is the capital appreciation in the contract, allowing the banks to fund employee benefits on a tax free basis.

Large top-tier bank holding companies — those with more than $500 million in assets — reported holding $117.5 billion in BOLI assets, up 16.4% from the previous year’s figure of $101 billion. Stand-alone institutions without a bank holding company reported $2.5 billion in BOLI holdings, down slightly from $2.9 billion in 2006. Bank holding companies with assets between $1 billion and $10 billion had the highest incidence of BOLI ownership, with 315 out of 375 holding companies reporting BOLI assets. “Overall, it’s a good tax-advantaged product for the banks in terms of non-interest income and a way to cover certain liabilities for providing benefits to employees,” said Michael D. White, president of the eponymous firm in Radnor, Pa.

news source : http://www.investmentnews.com/

Insurance carriers gear up for VA product season

As the weather heats up in May, so does the competition among insurance carriers that are releasing new features for their variable annuities. Offerings this season include enhanced riders as well as glitzy subaccount choices, or the investments within variable annuities, from Metropolitan LifeInsurance Co. of New York, Nationwide Financial Services Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, and Toronto-based Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, along with others.

"Right now, it's a situation where folks are trying to get a sliver of the competitive angle, primarily in withdrawal benefits," said Richard Byrne, vice president of product management at Massachusetts Mutual LifeInsurance Co. of Springfield. "The arms race in the living-benefits world is crazy."

A key month on insurers' product development calendar, May marks a time when insurance companies update VA prospectuses to include their most recent annual financial statements. Because re-registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission is costly, carriers tend to time product changes so they can be incorporated in the updated prospectus.

Afterward, the companies devote their summers to training their wholesalers on the new features, promoting the product to advisers and gearing up for the selling season in September.

"This is a big effort with client seminars, ads. We're constantly developing products in the pipeline," said Mary M. Fay, senior vice president and general manager of Sun Life's annuities division.

news source : http://www.investmentnews.com/

Insurance carriers gear up for VA product season

As the weather heats up in May, so does the competition among insurance carriers that are releasing new features for their variable annuities.

Offerings this season include enhanced riders as well as glitzy subaccount choices, or the investments within variable annuities, from Metropolitan LifeInsurance Co. of New York, Nationwide Financial Services Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, and Toronto-based Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, along with others.

"Right now, it's a situation where folks are trying to get a sliver of the competitive angle, primarily in withdrawal benefits," said Richard Byrne, vice president of product management at Massachusetts Mutual LifeInsurance Co. of Springfield. "The arms race in the living-benefits world is crazy."

A key month on insurers' product development calendar, May marks a time when insurance companies update VA prospectuses to include their most recent annual financial statements. Because re-registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission is costly, carriers tend to time product changes so they can be incorporated in the updated prospectus.

Afterward, the companies devote their summers to training their wholesalers on the new features, promoting the product to advisers and gearing up for the selling season in September.

"This is a big effort with client seminars, ads and [public relations]. We're constantly developing products in the pipeline," said Mary M. Fay, senior vice president and general manager of Sun Life's annuities division.

news source : http://www.investmentnews.com/

ICICI Prudential garners 68% growth in new biz premium

JAIPUR: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance firm has garnered retail new business premium of Rs 6,684 crore till March 31, registering a growth of 68 per cent over the last year, a top official said. The company had raised retail new business premium of Rs 6,684 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, company's Sr Vice President Poonam Bhardwaj told a reporters here today, adding that ICICI Prudential has underwritten nearly 3 million retail policies during the period.

Durimg the period, ICICI Prudential Life's capital stands at Rs 37.72 billion. ICICI Prudential Life has one of the largest distribution networks among private life insurers in India. It has over 952 branches in addition to 1,004 micro-offices and an advisor base of 291,000 in the country, she said, adding in Rajasthan alone there were 187 micro-offices for rural people.

news source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/