Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

NEW YORK (AP) _ MetLife Inc. (MET) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $2.07 billion. The New York-based company said it had net income of $2.04 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were $1.35 per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.30 per share. The insurer posted revenue of $15.66 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $15.4 billion. For the year, the company reported profit of $5.12 billion, or $4.91 per share. Revenue was reported as $68.16 billion. MetLife shares have climbed 10 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen 9 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $45.20, a drop of 2 percent in the last 12 months. This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MET at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MET The post MetLife: 4Q Earnings Snapshot appeared first on InsuranceNewsNet.

Sun Life Financial teams up with NBA and Raptors to raise awareness of disease and promote healthy lifestyle

Company’s life insurance business unaffected following $1.6 billion deal with Protective Life Insurance Company

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman convicted of helping mastermind the killing of her husband nearly two decades ago has been sentenced to life in prison. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that a circuit judge sentenced Denise Williams on Wednesday, also giving her 30 years for conspiracy. Williams was convicted last December of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for her role in a case that recalled the plot of the Hollywood classic “Double Indemnity.” Prosecutors argued that she plotted the killing of her husband in a scheme to get a $1.75 million life insurance payout. Brian Winchester testified he had an affair with Williams and shot her husband in December 2000. Winchester helped authorities find Mike Williams’ buried body in 2017. Attorneys for Denise Williams maintained Winchester lied to get revenge. The post Florida Woman Gets Life In Prison In Murder-For-Life-Insurance Plot appeared first on InsuranceNewsNet.

By Darwin Bayston Insurance professionals have monitored the life settlements industry with a watchful eye in the aftermath of the significant market contraction a decade ago. But after working through some challenges related to regulation, capital flow and underwriting, the life settlements industry is coming off another year of growth in 2018 and seems poised to remain on that steady growth trajectory. Conning & Co. released an independent study of the market in November titled “Life Settlements: Continued Growth, Positive Outlook.” The report said, “The volume of new settlements continues to increase, a positive indicator for growth in the number of in-force life settlements.” Another independent market study conducted in 2018 was published last June by The Deal, in which they reported a 19 percent increase in life settlement transactions during the prior year. As we embark on a new year, we see three prominent trends in the life settlements industry. Direct-to-consumer marketing. In the early days of the life settlements space, providers and brokers focused on building a pipeline of financial advisors and other professionals (e.g., estate planning attorneys, wealth managers, etc.) in positions to identify clients who might benefit from selling their life insurance policies. In recent years,...

By Troy Korsgaden In the insurance business, we rely heavily on metrics — also known as analytics or data — to tell us where we stand in all areas of agency performance. But these critical numbers shouldn’t be something we analyze only at the end of each year or at the end of each quarter. We need to know where we stand at all times. Leveraging Data At The Agency Level The more data we have about our local customer base, the better job we can do of analyzing our potential ability to reach those customers. We need to be aware of global trends that affect our agencies. But to get the best use of numbers, we need to assimilate data in our own agencies about customers in the communities we serve. Here are some of the critical analytics we need to know about our own agencies at all times: How many policies and lines of insurance are on the books? How many households are on the books? How many businesses are on the books? A business is one of the major doors into a household. If we get the opportunity to serve a business owner, then we have a...

The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) today released a new video about people who found fulfilling positions in the industry and will host a free webinar on insurance career opportunities on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8473355-insurance-information-institute-insurance-careers/ The insurance industry estimated in 2013 it would need to fill 400,000 jobs nationwide by 2020. With record numbers of its employees aging out of the workforce, insurance companies are looking to recruit and hire their successors in all areas, from actuaries and analysts to information technology specialists and marketing experts. February is Insurance Careers Month. “Insurance is the backbone of the global economy and we need to invoke more pride about how important this industry is to American society and its economy,” said Sean Kevelighan, chief executive officer, I.I.I. “The Insurance Information Institute is making it a priority to engage with college students and young professionals and show them how many opportunities and career paths exist within the insurance industry. Whether the economy is up or down, there will always be a need for insurance.” The I.I.I.’s new video, “1: Your Career in Insurance,” highlights the unconventional stories of young professionals who are finding their niche in the...

Feb. 06–ST. JOSEPH — The jury hadn’t even taken their seats yet and John Lewis became overwhelmed with emotion as his murder trial was about to begin. As Berrien County Trial Court Judge Gordon Hosbein began to swear in the 14 jurors, Lewis wiped tears from his face. Tuesday was the first day of trial for Lewis, charged with premeditated murder in the Aug. 13, 2017, death of his wife, 55-year-old Carla Lewis. He was also charged with possession with intent to manufacture stemming from a marijuana growing operation found in his home. Sex, money and drugs can all be motives, but combined they were the motive for Lewis to “brutally execute” his wife, said Assistant Berrien County Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky, in his opening statements. Lewis, 49, is accused of shooting and killing his wife inside a small marijuana grow room in their home and then calling 911, saying two men had broken into the home and shot his wife and stole her car to get away. A grow room that would “ultimately become an execution chamber,” Vigansky said. In his opening, Vigansky detailed the evidence that would be presented in what is expected to be a two-week trial. The...

Such policies can make sense, but there are many instances wherein the sales pitch does not suit the customer