Author: endofuji_com

Co-founder and co-CEO responds to investor question Another quarter, another earnings call. Since going public on the NYSE, insurtech Lemonade has regularly selected top voted investor questions for its top team to answer during its quarterly financial calls. This time around there were shareholder question marks over just why Lemonade insiders are not buying into the brand – or at least putting their own money where their mouths are. “How can we expect investors to support the current team if insiders aren’t buying shares at today’s low levels?”, asked an individual named only as Darren, whose question was read out…

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Tie-up offers insights for the development of parametric insurance products AXA Climate has extended its strategic partnership with data analytics provider Planet Labs. The partnership offers satellite data-driven insights for the development of parametric insurance products to help protect farmers against the effects of drought. AXA Climate offers drought insurance services that estimate crop yield and losses. The parametric insurance product automatically triggers payouts within a few days of the end of a risk period, the companies said. This enables farmers, suppliers, processors and other agricultural stakeholders to quickly receive compensation. “With Planet’s unique satellite data, AXA Climate has been able to…

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Company veteran will oversee property, casualty, professional lines and more Chubb, the world’s largest publicly traded property-casualty insurance company, has announced the appointment of Mark Homan (pictured above) as division president, international property and casualty, for Overseas General Insurance, the company’s international general insurance operations. Homan currently serves as chief operating officer for the division, and will step into his new role on June 1. In his new role, Homan will be responsible for Chubb’s international commercial P&C business, including property, casualty, professional lines, energy and marine products, the company said. Homan will report to Juan Luis Ortega, executive vice president…

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In today’s fast-paced and unpredictable financial landscape, managing risk and achieving consistent returns is more important than ever. Life insurance companies have emerged as experts in this field, utilizing their vast resources and expertise to create well-diversified investment portfolios that deliver long-term value to policyholders. In this article, we will explore the factors that contribute to their success, including their focus on whole life insurance, understanding of interest rates and bond maturities, expertise in fixed income and guaranteed interest, and strategic asset allocation. As we delve into these key areas, you will better appreciate life insurance companies’ essential role in…

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Indexed universal life insurance (IUL) has been gaining popularity in recent years, thanks to its unique cash value accumulation and premium flexibility. However, policyholders are often unaware of the fees and expenses associated with IUL policies that could be eroding their savings. In this article, we’ll explore the hidden costs of IUL and how they can impact your long-term financial goals. For the most part, bad things involve a requirement to contribute additional premium later in life because, as the story always goes, the product failed to deliver. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of universal life insurance and shows the…

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Personally, I’ve always found the internal rate of return discussion silly. Some clients–mostly those who work in finance–ask about it. And since insurance software can calculate it, it does make life easier versus calculating it yourself. But for most people, the rate of return, in general, is an esoteric notion. Few people can tell me what having a certain rate of return really means to them. There are plenty of people, however, who believe that simply having a higher rate of return is always the better bet. There are a number of circumstances where I’d agree. But the pursuit of…

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Known by a few different names, and probably the most tweaked product in the industry, Whole Life (aka straight life in older circles) has a several centuries history of offering guaranteed death benefit for the entire lifetime of the insured. In the world of guarantees, nothing beats it, and it has been an anchor for conservative savings plans for just about as long as it’s been in existence. It’s also one of the most hotly debated products in the insurance industry as opinions run wild about its overall usefulness compared to other products that exist today. At its core, whole…

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I’ll be honest with you—writing this post makes me feel a bit like Jack Nicholson’s character in the movie “A Few Good Men”. Remember when Nicholson is being questioned by Tom Cruise in the most memorable scene from the movie and Cruise is demanding the truth? Nicholson replies, “You can’t handle the truth!” So, what in the heck does that have to do with calculating compound annual growth rates? Well, one of the biggest secrets within the investment industry is that mutual funds, variable annuities, and countless other products tied to the whims of the stock market, advertise their average…

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Back in July of this year, Forbes published an article that sought to “Sound the Alarm on Indexed Universal Life Insurance.” Here’s the article if you wish to reference it. The article, like all the others that came before it, makes multiple misstatements and peddles a lot of half-truths about universal life insurance. We’re going to address the accuracy of the author’s claims, which are largely false. Indexed Universal Life Insurance Is The Industry’s Most Profitable Product Right off the bat, the article claims that indexed universal life insurance (IUL) has been one of the life insurance industry’s most profitable…

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I own stocks. This shouldn’t be a big revelation to anyone. I think I’ve been pretty transparent about my beliefs that whole life insurance and indexed universal life insurance are complements–not replacements–to equities. Some–a lot actually–of my personal stock picking would likely be deemed a tad exotic–high risk for sure. And it’s worked out pretty well in my favor. So as a thought exercise I decided to do one of the dumbest things I could do and plug a few of these stock symbols into the Portfolio Visualizer and see what would have happened if I had skipped a whole…

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