Joint Life Insurance: Policies Built for 2

Married couples looking for a way to lower the cost of life insurance or to make sure their estate is protected from taxes when they die may want to consider joint life insurance.

Not as common as individual life insurance, joint policies are designed to enable two people, typically spouses, to share in one life insurance plan. Joint life insurance comes in two flavors: first-to-die, which pays out to the surviving spouse after the first dies; and second-to-die, or survivorship, which pays a death benefit to the heirs after both spouses are gone.

"First-to-die and second-to-die generally have different purposes," says Steven Brostoff, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based trade association the American Council of Life Insurers. "Second-to-die can be used to help pay estate taxes and/or to provide a financial legacy to children, while first-to-die is more suited for young couples with children -- to replace lost income or services provided by the deceased parent."

Consumers may purchase a joint policy either as term life insurance, covering only a set number of years; or permanent life insurance, protecting one or both spouses for an entire lifetime. The most common way joint life insurance is sold is as permanent universal life, with a "cash value" savings component that grows, say insurance experts. "About 80% is in a version of universal life," says Kevin Finneran, a vice president with New York-based insurer MetLife.

Second-to-Die Protects Your Heirs
Second-to-die, or survivorship, life insurance is offered by a handful of insurers and is typically geared toward affluent people concerned about the potential for hefty estate taxes on what they leave behind. For 2013, the estate-tax exemption will be $5.25 million for individuals and $10.5 million for married couples, which means an estate has to be worth more than the threshold for the tax to kick in.

"Because estate taxes are only applicable to a small percentage of (very wealthy) people that die each year, those policies are very large," says Elaine Tumicki, corporate vice president of product research for LIMRA, an insurance and financial services trade group based in Windsor, Conn. The policies make up "a relatively small piece of the insurance market," she adds.

It's not unreasonable to estimate that a $1 million joint survivorship policy would be 20% cheaper than two $500,000 individual life policies, Finneran notes. Premiums and savings will vary based on the insurer and the age and health of the persons being insured.

Besides being economical, another benefit of a second-to-die policy is that it provides a level of protection to those whose health might bar them from getting their own individual life insurance policy. "It can be a way for a person who would not qualify for a single life policy to get some coverage, assuming the other spouse is insurable," Finneran says.

First-to-Die Helps Maintain a Lifestyle
First-to-die joint life insurance is less common than second-to-die, but it is sold by some better-known insurers. For example, State Farm offers a joint universal life policy in which the death benefit is paid when the first spouse dies. Coverage starts at $100,000 and is available for people ranging in age from 20 to 85.

A first-to-die policy may be the right product for married people who want a surviving spouse to be able to maintain a certain lifestyle but wants to pay less than the cost of two individual polices.
"It's only paying out once, so naturally it will be less than two payouts" and that makes the cost lower, says Brostoff, of the American Council of Life Insurers.

But don't expect a first-to-die policy to be substantially cheaper than two individual policies. There isn't enough of a market yet for this particular type of joint life insurance to drive premiums drastically lower, says Finneran. Plus, since there is only one payout, there may be a need for the surviving spouse to spend money on new coverage after the other dies.

Divorce Can Break Up the Joint
Whenever anyone considers a first-to-die or survivorship policy, one of those "let's not go there" but must-be-addressed questions is: What happens if there's a divorce?

In the event that the two members of a covered couple decide to go their separate ways, these insurance plans can come with optional riders or clauses that provide for the right to split the policy into two individual ones. Keep in mind that there can be restrictions on when the policy may be split, says Finneran, of MetLife. In some cases, a couple must be divorced for a certain length of time before the right to split the policy can be exercised.

Experts advise couples shopping for joint life insurance not to sign up for any policy before making sure a divorce clause is included. If it's not, find a different policy. You want a joint life policy that will allow you to disengage, says Tumicki, of LIMRA.

"Getting divorced is a very difficult question the couple needs to resolve before they purchase the (joint life insurance) policy," Brostoff adds. "Even though you don't want to think about it, it does happen."

Oceanside Selected as the 2013 Life Time Tri Championship Event

Life Time (NYSE: LTM), the Healthy Way of Life Company, today unveiled that the 2013 Life Time Tri championship event will be held on Sunday, October 20, 2013 in Oceanside, Calif. In its inaugural year, Life Time Tri Oceanside is expected to host more than 1,500 of triathletes as the final of 12 Life Time Tri events across the country.

“Oceanside is recognized worldwide as a sought-after triathlon destination,” said Kimo Seymour, vice president, Life Time Athletic Events. “Nestled between San Diego and Los Angeles, Oceanside is a challenging, scenic course—a truly unique experience for triathletes of all abilities—and the perfect conclusion to our 2013 Life Time Tri schedule.”

Life Time Tri Oceanside will start with a 1.5-kilometer swim in the waters of Oceanside Harbor, which has an average water temperature of 63-65 degrees in late October. Athletes will enjoy an ocean front transition before starting a 40-kilometer bike course along the San Luis Rey Mission Expressway. The 10-kilometer run course follows white, sandy beaches allowing for a spectator-fueled finish adjacent at the historic Oceanside Pier. To keep Life Time Tri Oceanside accessible to athletes with a concentration on short course format, as well as beginner athletes, the event also will feature a shorter sprint distance race.

“We are honored that Oceanside has been chosen from among some of the country’s most spectacular destinations to host Life Time Tri’s championship event,” said Leslee Gaul, chief executive officer and president, Visit Oceanside. “With its accessibility to major west coast markets, stunning beauty and tourism infrastructure, Oceanside will resonate with both athletes and spectators alike.”

Along with professional athletes from around the world, Life Time Tri events attract more than 25,000 elite and age group athletes each season. Professional and elite triathletes will compete in international-distance and relay team competitions on courses. To keep Life Time Tri races accessible to athletes of all ages, kids events are available in select markets.

To register for any of the Life Time Tri events, visit lifetimetri.com, the official website of Life Time Tri. You also can stay updated with the latest information from Life Time Tri on Twitter by following @LifeTimeTri and by liking the Life Time Tri Facebook page.

Life insurers eye Asia deals to boost profit - Moody's

European and U.S. life insurers will seek takeovers in booming Asia and put more money into riskier assets this year to bolster flagging profits, Moody's said on Monday.

The outlook for developed world life insurers is negative, Moody's said in its annual overview of the sector, with investment income under pressure from rock-bottom rates, and sales wilting as stagnant economies force consumers to retrench.

Life insurers will likely respond by buying up rivals in faster-growing emerging markets, and by increasing their investment in riskier assets that yield higher returns, Moody's said.

Recent emerging market acquisitions by European insurers include Prudential (LSE: PRU.L - news) 's takeover of Thailand's Thanachart Life in November (Xetra: A0Z24E - news) last year, and Zurich Insurance Group's purchase of Santander (Madrid: SAN.MC - news) 's Latin American insurance unit in 2011.
Insurers seeking to boost their investment returns could put more money into equities, infrastructure or direct commercial loans.

Sovereign and corporate bonds, traditionally seen as low risk, accounted for 62 percent of European life insurers' investment portfolios at the end of 2011, according to Moody's.

Central banks in the United States and Europe slashed interest rates close to zero to prop up the economy in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis, dragging down bond yields, and eating into insurers' investment income.

Life insurers in Germany and France, whose best-selling products are savings policies that offer customers guaranteed minimum returns, have been hardest hit. Many are cutting their guarantees and trying to sell more alternative products where investment risk is borne by the customer.

U.S. and European life insurers face a further threat this year from potential sovereign debt crises, amid lingering worries over the creditworthiness of peripheral euro zone countries, Moody's said.

Last year, Moody's downgraded the credit rating of Spanish and Italian insurers, and also changed the outlook for pan-European players Allianz, Axa (Paris: FR0000120628 - news) and Aviva (LSE: AV.L - news) to negative, reflecting their heavy exposure to bonds issued by critically-indebted euro zone nations.

Life cover cost could rise 20 pc to pay for tax changes

Life insurance premiums are set to rise as the insurance industry adjusts to a heavier tax regime.

The tax rules were reviewed after the Government become concerned that a shift in people's policy preferences had left life insurers undertaxed.

According to one industry operator, premiums need to rise by about $150 million to accommodate tax and other changes.

By the time grandfathering provisions come off in three years' time, he estimates premiums will be 15 to 20 per cent higher from when the changes took place in mid-2010.

Deloitte tax expert Greg Haddon says the old tax rules treated all life insurance policies as "whole of life", which had a large savings component.

That meant policies were largely taxed as an investment rather than income.

Over the last 20 years, however, most policy-holders have shifted toward yearly renewable policies, which are cheaper but don't make a payout on retirement.

Life insurers acknowledge the changes are fair but say they cannot absorb the full tax bill.

Milton Jennings, chief executive of Fidelity Life, said the tax changes had come at a time when low interest rates were eroding their investment income.

There was also "quite fierce competition in the life insurance market so you're not seeing rates going up too much".

"People have had about half the increases already and there's probably another half to go."

Haddon said insurers had a five-year adjustment period, which kept policies held before the changes temporarily at their old tax rates.

So "while they'll be paying more tax, they'll certainly be paying more tax in three years' time", he said.

Insurance company Tower agreed life insurance premiums needed to eventually rise 15 per cent but said they had to also reflect the market.

It had increased premiums for new policies 7 per cent in 2010 and another 3 per cent the following year.

"We'll be reviewing older policies towards the end of the grandfathering period, with a view to adjusting premiums as necessary," a spokesperson said.

Life insurance had changed markedly from the days of the once-popular whole-of-life policies, which were taken out by young workers or by their parents when they were born, Haddon said.

"You paid a very small premium each month and part of that premium went towards a savings so that by the time you retired there was a surrender value that you could get back."

Whole-of-life made sense when interest rates were low but were eroded by rising inflation, said Fidelity's Jennings.

The one permanent exception from the new tax rules is "level term" policies, which keep premiums static for an agreed term of sometimes 50 years.

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Jennings said level-term contracts were "golden" and holders should hang on to them.

"The sad thing is, I see people cancelling these contracts and going back to YRTs (yearly renewable term policies) to get it cheaper, but that's just absolute madness."

In 2008 Treasury estimated the extra tax take from the changes would be a net $9m by 2012.

The IRD says that figure would apply to 2013 because the changes were made later than expected.

Pro-life protesters march on US court

Tens of thousands of pro-life supporters have converged on the US Supreme Court to protest its landmark decision 40 years ago this week that legalised abortion in America.

Organisers of the annual March for Life on the National Mall in Washington on Friday expected a record crowd surpassing last year's turnout of 400,000, even with sub-freezing temperatures.

Cheering on the demonstrators from the Vatican was Pope Benedict XVI, who sent his best wishes via Twitter.

'I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life,' the pontiff tweeted on his Pontifex account.

Tuesday was the 40th anniversary of the Roe versus Wade decision in which the highest court in the land ruled that abortion was a strictly private matter between a woman and her doctor.

The 1973 decision is seen by the pro-choice camp as a breakthrough for women, but the pro-life movement - with support from the Roman Catholic and conservative Evangelical churches - sees itself as rapidly gaining ground.

'Being pro-life is the new normal... Americans are becoming more pro-life,' Jeanne Monahan, 40, the youthful new leader of March for Life after last year's death of its 88-year-old founder Nellie Gray, told the crowd.

In a Gallup poll last year, 50 per cent of respondents identified themselves as pro-life - in contrast to 41 per cent who were pro-choice, down from 56 per cent in 1995.

Fitch Affirms Minnesota Life's IFS Rating at 'AA-'; Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings of Minnesota Life Insurance Company (Minnesota Life) and its subsidiary, Securian Life Insurance Company at 'AA-'. Fitch has also affirmed the rating on Minnesota Life's surplus notes at 'A'. The Rating Outlook is Stable.

The rating affirmation reflects Minnesota Life's strong balance sheet fundamentals and conservative risk profile. The ratings also consider the company's moderately weak earnings relative to similarly rated peers, as well as macroeconomic challenges and a strong competitive environment in its core markets, within which the company often faces insurers with greater scale and resources.

Minnesota Life's strong balance sheet fundamentals reflect the company's solid capitalization, low operating leverage, and low financial leverage. The company's risk-adjusted capitalization, which is a key factor supporting the company's ratings, remained strong and stable in 2012. The company reported a risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of 518% of the company action level at Dec. 31, 2011, and Fitch expects the company to report and RBC ratio in excess of 500% for Dec. 31, 2012.

In addition to the company's strong risk-adjusted capitalization, Minnesota Life's solid balance sheet fundamentals are supported by its low statutory operating leverage of 4.6x as measured by adjusted liabilities to total adjusted capital, as well as low financial leverage of approximately 5% on a GAAP basis.

Fitch notes that Minnesota Life's liquidity profile continues to be very favorable. The company's results benefit from its large, investment-grade, publicly traded bond portfolio and stable liability structure.

Minnesota Life's conservative risk profile reflects balanced, diversified sources of revenue that serve to moderate earnings volatility, although growth in fee income related to capital market performance could add further volatility in the future. While the company's product lines have produced below average combined profitability relative to similarly rated peers, Fitch acknowledges that the company's products are reflective of management's mutual insurance company philosophy. Fitch also takes a favorable view of Minnesota Life's high quality career agency distribution channel and strong technology-based service platform, which Fitch considers to be beneficial to its group life and retirement services product lines.

Fitch expects Minnesota Life's near-term operating profitability to moderate somewhat, as recently favorable mortality experience reverts to historical averages. Over the course of 2013, Fitch anticipates the company's profitability as measured by GAAP-based return on equity to be between 6% and 7%, which is within current rating expectations. In addition, Fitch believes that intense market competition will continue to challenge the company in its efforts to generate profitable top line growth over the next year, and low interest rates will likely pressure spread income.

Minnesota Life, the primary operating subsidiary of Securian Financial Group, is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota and reported total admitted assets of approximately $28.1 billion and capital and surplus of $2.1 billion at Sept. 30, 2012.

Sun Life Financial named as one of the 2013 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World

For the third year in a row, Sun Life Financial is the only North American insurance company named among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World for 2013.

Sun Life is one of 10 Canadian companies across all industry sectors to make the Global 100, and this is the seventh year that the company has appeared on the list.

"At Sun Life, sustainability means having the ability to assure our customers, employees, distributors, shareholders and communities that we are in business for the long term," said Mary De Paoli, EVP, Public & Corporate Affairs and Chief Marketing Officer, Sun Life Financial. "It is embedded in our decisions and processes, and demonstrates to our customers that we are focused on keeping our promises and living up to our mission of helping customers achieve lifetime financial security."

"Sun Life is proud to be among the Global 100, which validates the work we are doing to make life brighter for generations to come," De Paoli said. "People are increasingly seeking to work for and do business with companies that are aligned with their values, and Sun Life's inclusion in the Global 100 affirms to our stakeholders that we are focused on the issues that matter to them."

In the last year, Sun Life has been reducing energy consumption in its offices and data centre; building on its long-standing leadership in the Canadian financial services industry by continuing to invest in clean and renewable energy projects; strengthening reporting of its broader sustainability performance; and joining networks of like-minded organizations focused on advancing sustainability goals.

The Global 100 list was announced today by Corporate Knights magazine at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland . Recently recognized as the world's most credible corporate sustainability ranking by Rate the Raters, the list consists of the 100 top-performing companies worldwide on a range of sector-specific sustainability metrics.

Other recognition
In addition to its Global 100 ranking, Sun Life is ranked first out of 244 companies in the Globe and Mail's eleventh annual review of corporate governance practices in Canada . Sun Life is also on the Corporate Knights' 2012 Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada list, as well as the FTSE4Good and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America indexes. Sun Life is the "Most Trusted Life Insurance Company" in Canada , according to the 2012 Reader's Digest Trusted Brand consumer survey.

Allianz Life to Donate $1,000 Per Lehman Birdie at 2013 Allianz Championship

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life) today announced that it will be donating $1,000 for every birdie made by Allianz-sponsored golfer Tom Lehman at the upcoming Allianz Championship. The donations will be shared between Junior Achievement of South Florida and the Southeast Florida Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Allianz Life partners with Junior Achievement and the Alzheimer’s Association in the Twin Cities because of their focus on improving financial literacy and providing services to seniors.

“We’re excited that Tom is partnering with us again this year to support Junior Achievement and the Alzheimer’s Association and help us further our goals of enhancing financial literacy and senior service programs,” said Allianz Life Chief Marketing Officer Nancy Jones.

In this challenge, every time Lehman shoots a birdie, Allianz Life will donate $1,000 split between Junior Achievement of South Florida and the Southeast Florida Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. The Allianz Championship runs February 4-10, 2013, at the Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Florida. Allianz Life will present representatives of the two groups with their donations at the tournament’s closing awards ceremony on February 10.

With 13 chapters in Florida, Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. The Alzheimer’s Association enhances efforts for researching a cure and provides support and educational services to Alzheimer’s patients, families and caregivers. The Southeast Florida Chapter serves 7 counties including St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami/Dade and Monroe.
The Allianz Championship is the Champions Tour's first tournament of the early-season Florida swing. The tournament includes such legends of golf as Bernhard Langer, Corey Pavin, and Allianz-sponsored golfers Tom Lehman and John Harris. The Golf Channel will be televising all three rounds and tournament event proceeds will benefit the Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

Giant Mars crater shows evidence of lake ... and maybe life?

New photos of a huge crater on Mars suggest water may lurk in crevices under the planet's surface, hinting that life might have once lived there, and raising the possibility that it may live there still, researchers say.

Future research looking into the chances of life on Mars could shed light on the origins of life on Earth, scientists added.

The discovery came from a study of images by NASA's powerful Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that revealed new evidence of a wet underground environment on the Red Planet. The images focused on the giant McLaughlin Crater, which is about 57 miles wide and so deep that underground water appears to have flowed into the crater at some point in the distant past.

'The deep crust has always been the most habitable place on Mars.'
- Joseph Michalski, of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.
Today, the crater is bone-dry but harbors clay minerals and other evidence that liquid water filled the area in the ancient past.

"Taken together, the observations in McLaughlin Crater provide the best evidence for carbonate forming within a lake environment instead of being washed into a crater from outside," study lead author Joseph Michalski, of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., and London's Natural History Museum, said in a statement.

A wet Mars underground
Space agencies have deployed many missions to Mars over the decades to explore how habitable its surface may have been or is today. However, the Martian surface has been extremely cold, arid and chemically hostile to life as we know it for most of the history of Mars.

Instead of scanning the surface of Mars for life, scientists have suggested the most viable habitat for ancient simple life may have been in Martian water hidden underground.

On Earth, microbes up to 3 miles or more underground make up perhaps half of all of the planet's living matter. Most of these organisms represent some of the most primitive kinds of microbes known, hinting that life may actually have started underground, or at least survived there during a series of devastating cosmic impacts known as the Late Heavy Bombardment that Earth and the rest of the inner solar system endured about 4.1 billion to 3.8 billion years ago.

Since Mars has less gravity — a surface gravity of a little more than one-third Earth's — its crust is less dense and more porous than that of our planet, which means that more water can leak underground, researchers said. Wherever there is liquid water on Earth, there is virtually always life, and microbes underground on Mars could be sustained by energy sources and chemical reactions similar to those that support deep-dwelling organisms on Earth.

"The deep crust has always been the most habitable place on Mars, and would be a wise place to search for evidence for organic processes in the future," Michalski told SPACE.com.

While researchers currently have no way to drill deep underground on the Red Planet, they can nevertheless spot hints of what subterranean Mars is like by analyzing deep rocks exhumed by erosion, asteroid impacts or materials generated by underground fluids that have welled up to the surface.

Such upwelling would first occur in deep basins like McLaughlin Crater — as the lowest points on the surface, they would be where underground water reserves would most likely get exposed.

Scientists focused on McLaughlin Crater because it is one of the deepest craters on Mars. McLaughlin is about 1.3 miles deep and is located in Mars' northern hemisphere.

The mineral composition of the floor of McLaughlin Crater suggests there was a lake made of upwelled groundwater there. Channels seen on the crater's eastern wall about 1,650 feet above its floor also hint at the former presence of a lake surface.

Michalski was actually originally trying to disprove the idea that groundwater breached the surface in many locations on Mars.

"Lo and behold, there was strong evidence for that process in this crater," he said. "Science is special because we are allowed to change our minds."

An ancient groundwater lake
The researchers estimate that a lake existed at McLaughlin Crater for an unknown duration between 3.7 billion and 4 billion years ago. "That makes the deposits as old as or older than the oldest rocks known to exist on Earth," Michalski said.

Mounds seen on the crater floor may have come from landslides or subsequent meteor impacts. These are important because they may have rapidly buried crater floor sediments.

"That is really cool because rapid burial is the scenario that is most advantageous for preservation of organic material, if any was present at that time," Michalski said.

Since life on Earth may have begun underground, learning more about any underground life that might have lived — or may still live — on Mars could shed light on the origins of life on Earth, researchers said.
"We should give serious consideration to exploring rocks representing subsurface environments in future missions," Michalski said. "That doesn't mean drilling, but instead exploring rocks formed from upwelling groundwater, or rocks naturally exhumed from the subsurface by meteor impact."

Michalski noted that some people may ask, "'Why do I hear about the detection of water or possibility of life on Mars all the time?' The answer is because Mars is habitable in more ways than we ever realized for many years, and we are finding water in many forms and environments on Mars — many more than we predicted for a long time."

The ingredients for life the researchers describe, "including energy sources, would have been more available early in Mars' history, but it doesn't take too much imagination to picture a scenario in which the subsurface is habitable today," Michalski said. He cautioned, however, "that is much different from saying that life is there today."

Life Coaching: Changing People’s Lives

In these trying times, when many people reach life's lowest of lows, there are those whom they can turn to and seek professional counseling to help them get back to the right path.

One such professional counselor is Maribel Dionisio, a confessed relationship expert who has attended numerous seminars and workshops on family and relationships. Listening to the client first, that is, letting him think about his problems before giving any advice, is her approach.

For Dionisio, "The style is essentially to listen to the person concerned. Many people want to be listened to. Maybe, they can empower themselves, but they need a listening ear."

Unlike others who give advice immediately, Dionisio allows her clients to think about possible solutions to their problems first, as they know better their situations.

Initially having a penchant for numbers, Dionisio pursued business management at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), but along the way she discovered she didn't like numbers much.

"My job prior to fourth year college was [in] human resources, that's why I became more aware that [relationship counseling is] what I enjoyed," Dionisio said.

Her job back then had people coming to her for consultation about their problems but realizing that she had limited knowledge, she decided to pursue further studies in family ministry.

Another expert in the field is Pia Nazareno Acevedo, who is used to giving seminars and workshops in Southeast Asia on sales and marketing, life management, finding true success, and the ABCs of parenting. Armed with a master's degree in family ministry, Acevedo has since ventured into global online education for family relationships and personal life transitions.

At 25, Acevedo has become an in-demand executive and performance coach, quitting her high-paying corporate job to establish The OneCORE Success Center, one of the first local organizations that help individuals to try and be the best persons they can be.

Both Dionisio and Acevedo are co-founders of the Love Institute. They are life coaches who people turn to to get through life's adversities.

Life coaching is a profession strikingly different from regular consulting, mentoring, therapy, or counseling. It addresses life's specific concerns, including personal projects, transitions in personal life, relationships or career, and discovering possible obstacles or challenges.

In life coaching, the client is the sole expert in his entire life, who truly knows who he is and what he needs, the only one who can think of what's best for him. Life coaches are there to discover what the client's personal "best" might be, letting him or her make choices that create an effective, balanced and fulfilled life.

Pan-American Life Insurance Group Launches Its Operations In Mexico

Pan-American Life Insurance Group (PALIG), a leading provider of insurance and financial services throughout the Americas, announced today the launch of its operations in Mexico with an initial investment of 4 million dollars, and an offer of two of its portfolio products of International Major Medical Insurance and Personal Accidents coverage. This expansion into the Mexican market exemplifies the natural evolution of the Group's constant growth and confirms the more than a century old commitment that Pan-American Life has had with Latin America and the Caribbean, where the company operates in twenty two countries. 
   
The Mexican subsidiary received the authorization from the Department of Revenue and Public Credit (SHCP) to operate and market its Major Medical Expense Insurance (Pan-American WorldAccess & Pan-American PreferredAccess) and Personal Accidents products, and will be under the general supervision of Julio Verduzco. Mr. Verduzco will be responsible for the implementation of a distribution channel composed of agents, promoters and brokers with a highly specialized profile to provide services to clients in Mexico.
Pan-American WorldAccess and Pan-American PreferredAccess fall under the umbrella of Pan- American Life's new Private Client concept, which will provide a one-stop, full service life and health insurance benefit for high net worth individuals. Through these International Major Medical plans, individuals seeking international health insurance will have access to a dedicated concierge service and first class health benefits, delivered through an extensive network of medical providers in Mexico, the U.S. and the rest of the world. The clients will receive all of these benefits without the traditional actuarial limitations and with policies on pre-existing conditions and waiting periods that are different than those of the competition.

"The launching of these products in the Mexican market responds to the need to cater to a Premium potential clientele segment that requires medical insurance that provides coverage in hospitals in the United States and the rest of the world including global specialists," stated Julio Verduzco. "This offering is one of the many ways in which we aim to provide superior service and exceptional value to our distributors/producers and their clients."

In addition, Jose S. Suquet, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Pan-American Life Insurance Group, declared "Our constant growth in Latin America is the key to our company's success. The launching of operations in Mexico, which has one of the most consolidated economies of the region, extends the Pan-American Life Insurance Group's geographic reach and reflects the confidence that we have to take part in one of Latin America's leading markets of personal insurance." The personal insurance market has an approximate value of: $12,836 million (60% of the market, as of December 2011).

The hosts of PALIG's launch event, which took place on the exclusive 51st floor of the Torre Mayor of Mexico City, were Jose S. Suquet, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Pan-American Life; Julio Verduzco, Country Manager of Pan-American Mexico; Michael Carricarte, Senior Vice President of Pan-American Life Insurance Group and President of Pan-American Private Client – International Major Medical Insurance and Robert DiCianni, Senior Vice President International for Pan-American Life.

Pan-American Mexico has the goal to establish a position of leadership in the International Major Medical and Personal Accident Insurance market in Mexico.  Pan-American Life which has a history over a century old is the leading insurer in the industry of personal insurance in the countries of the region in which it operates. Among them are: Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador and Panama, among others.

Allianz Life Earns Repeat Ranking on FORTUNE’s List of 100 Best Companies to Work For

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life) today announced that it has been named to FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for the second straight year, ranking 59th on the list. In the 2013 edition, FORTUNE highlighted Allianz Life’s commitment to employee development as one of the hallmark’s of a good employer. Based in Minneapolis, Allianz Life is a leading provider of retirement income and protection solutions, including fixed and variable annuities and life insurance for individuals, and employs more than 1,700 people at its corporate campus.

“As one of only two Minnesota companies selected, we’re honored to repeat on the prestigious FORTUNE 100 list,” said Allianz Life President and CEO Walter White. “This achievement is the result of the passion and dedication of our employees, who strive for excellence as we help Americans reach their financial and retirement goals. Our culture of innovation and collective drive to be the best make Allianz Life a great place to work and positive part of the community.”

In addition to the recognition from FORTUNE, Allianz Life received the Minneapolis Star Tribune Top Workplace award (June 2012) and the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Best Places to Work award (August 2012). Allianz Life continues to offer a number of employee development and leadership opportunities such as My Career, an online library of employee development resources and OPEX, an Allianz Group-wide quality and change management approach from parent company, Allianz SE. Allianz Life launched additional employee-focused workplace enhancements in 2012, including the Women’s Leadership Exchange, a new and powerful multi-level mentoring and coaching model for the development of women leaders.

“Employee development and recognition is one of our five business priorities,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Suzanne Zeller. “We will continue to help employees focus on their personal and professional growth and reward them for their contributions.”

To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, FORTUNE partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America; 259 firms participated in this year's survey. More than 277,000 employees at those companies responded to a survey created by the institute, a global research and consulting firm operating in 45 countries around the world. Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the results of the institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction, and camaraderie. The other third is based on responses to the institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition programs, and diversity efforts. Any company that is at least five years old and has more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible.

Life Insurance Companies Gets Technical Coverage as They Shake Up Operations in Increased Premiums Environment

Companies in the life insurance industry could be in for a solid 2013, as life insurance premiums are predicted to rise both this year and next. Globally, life insurance premiums are projected to increase by approximately 3%, according to a recent Swiss Re study. Several companies in the industry like, MetLife Inc. (MET) and Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW), have also been taking steps to improve their businesses by divesting non-core assets, growing their presence abroad and securing top executives to head up operations. See how the following companies, Genworth Financial Inc.(1), MetLife Inc.(2) and Prudential Financial Inc.(3), which are in the Life Insurance industry have been performing over the past years and how they are expected to perform in 2013.

MetLife's recently completed the sales of its bank deposits for $6.4 billion. This move follows the company's move away from the home loan segment last year as MetLife continues to recalibrate to its core insurance business. MetLife will be releasing its Earnings report on February 13th, 2013.

Genworth Financial has also been selling non-core holdings with the aim of refocusing on its core business. The company has been considering alternatives for two of its non-core businesses which include an international division that offers lifestyle protection insurance. It is planning to boost this business value with the objective of selling it in the next few years.      

Asia and Latin America have been a specific focus for a number of life insurance companies of late, as countries such as India and Brazil offer great growth potential. A lack of health protection for many individuals combined with a growing affluent population in the aforementioned countries is fuelling demand, and those that can service that demand could see sales and profits rise.

While the industry looks poised for a solid year, there are a number of industry specific challenges. Competition in the industry remains spirited, and with interest rates remaining low, returns on funds held have been an issue for some like Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU). That being said, a recovering economy in the U.S. coupled with strong foreign demand could lead life insurers higher this year.

HDFC Life launches two pension plans in kerala

HDFC Life, one of India’s leading life insurance companies, on Tuesday announced the launch of 2 pension plans in Kerala.

While HDFC Life Pension Super Plus is a regular premium unit linked plan, HDFC Life Single Premium Pension Super is a single premium unit linked plan.

Announcing the schemes, Sanjay Tiwari, Vice President-Strategy and Products-HDFC Life told reporters here that they were the first private life insurance company to bring back pension plans to customers under the new regulatory regime.

There has been good response to the schemes so far all over the country, he said adding so far Rs 100 crore had been collected as premiums.

The two schemes are designed to build a sizeable corpus for post retirement income and offers assured vesting value with minimum guarantee benefits, he said. Both the plans offer assured benefit on death and vesting.

HDFC Life Pension Super Plus offers assured death benefit of total premiums paid to date accumulated at a guaranteed rate of 6 per cent per annum and an assured vesting benefit of 101 per cent of total premiums paid. HDFC Life Single Premium Pension Super offers assured benefit of 101 per cent of total premiums paid on death and vesting.

HDFC Life has also launched a traditional annuity plan—HDFC Life New Immediate Annuity Plan. As per IRDA’s new guideline, customers need to purchase immediate annuity from the proceeds of the Pension Plan from the same company.

Tiwari said in India there was a paradigm shift in retirement trends and the increase in life expectancy.

Individuals opt for retirement as early as at 40-45 years and go on to live beyond 80-85 years.

This emerging trend is expected to boost the Annuity market substantially in the next few years, he said. The entry age of HDFC’s Immediate Annuity Plan ranges from 30-85 catering to the diverse spectrum of customers across all age bands with 11 different annuity options for both individual and joint lives, he said.

The minimum purchase price of Annuity is Rs 2 lakh. For customers whose purchase price is Rs 2.5 lakh and above will have the benefit of higher annuity rates, he said.

Does son get taxed with Mom's life insurance?

Dear Insurance Adviser,
I recently transferred ownership of my permanent life insurance to my son. I cannot afford the whole life policy anymore, and he doesn't want to pay for it. I paid $79 a month for the past 15 years. I took out a couple of loans over the years. Right now, the cash surrender is less than $4,000. I say there are no taxes due. I have paid more into my policy than the loans I have taken out and the dividends that have been paid to me. My son wants to know if he is going to be stuck paying taxes. I want to pay for my cremation with the money from cashing in the policy. What form should he use on his tax return? I have researched, and I say there won't be any taxes due. Please help. Thank you so much.

-- Disappointed Mom
Dear Disappointed,
What you describe is a tough situation. You can't afford to continue paying premiums, and your son, who apparently can afford them, doesn't want to pay. Kind of a Catch-22!

Unfortunately, because you transferred the ownership to your son, only he can make a decision as to what to do about the policy. He can drop it. He can cash it in and take the $4,000 tax-free. The only mistake you made was not talking to a life insurance expert, who could have explained your options better, before you transferred the ownership.

Your life insurance policy will not be taxable. First, because your cash value is less than the premiums paid, there should be no taxes on the cash if you surrender the policy. And dividends are always tax-free. Second, if you keep the policy, there is no taxation of life insurance benefits paid to the named beneficiary, which I assume is your son.

Besides surrendering the policy, here are some other options that might make sense. They're available to you with a whole life policy, and you don't have to make another premium payment for the rest of your life. (Hopefully your son will go along with your wishes.)

Extended term life insurance. You can trade in the cash and receive a prepaid term life insurance policy for the same death benefit as you now have that will cover you for several years into the future. This is a good option if you are not in good health.

Reduced paid-up whole life insurance. You can exchange your existing policy for another whole life policy for a lesser death benefit that will be paid up, without any further premiums due for as long as you live.
Now that I have answered your questions about taxes, I have a question for you: Since the purpose of life insurance for you is just cremation expenses, why not take the cash and dividends, and use them to pay for a prepaid cremation? (Hopefully, your son will do the eulogy at no charge!)

Life Is Difficult But Rewarding Under This 'Umbrella'

What is the best way for a writer to reflect life? For most of us, it's probably the traditional novel that has sat on our nightstands the most: the sprawling, linear tale, told from birth to death. For Will Self, the most lifelike story is told inside out, from the minds of the characters, without a narrator, a filter or any explanations along the way.

His new novel, Umbrella, is set around a mental asylum in North London in three different time periods. It's a sprawling, fragmented, stream-of-consciousness story, centered on Zack Busner, a psychiatrist at the asylum, and one of his patients, Audrey De'Ath (whose name becomes Death and then Dearth as the book progresses), who's been catatonic for decades due to encephalitis lethargica — the "sleeping sickness" that Oliver Sacks wrote about in Awakenings.

"We meet her first in some childhood scenes, in the mid-1890s," Self tells NPR's Rachel Martin. "Then comes the First World War, by which time Audrey has become a feminist, and in the First World War she becomes a munitions worker." At the end of the war, Audrey is struck down by the encephalitis epidemic that was raging across Europe, affecting millions of people. "A third of them died," says Self, "a third of them recovered completely, and a third of them appeared to recover completely, but then a year, two, maybe three or four years later, fell into these Parkinsonian catatonic states, and this is what happens to Audrey," who remains in an asylum until 1971, when Dr. Busner awakens her with an experimental drug.

Umbrella is a challenging read, requiring investment on the part of the reader. It's intensely nonlinear, layering experiences and time periods on top of each other, laced together with the characters' internal monologues. "The part of me that writes the books writes what he wants to write, and always has done," Self says. "But the part of me that lives in the world and understands the book trade and what people like to read ... all the time that the writer was writing this book, I was standing at his shoulder, looking over his shoulder and thinking, 'My God, you've really blown it this time,' you know, this is going to be a disaster, nobody's going to read this book." But, Self adds, Umbrella seems to be finding an audience with relative ease.

Enlarge image
Will Self is a British author and journalist. His latest book, Umbrella, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Polly Borland
And Self says he did have a structure in mind when he sat down to write the book. "Umbrella overall has the structure of an umbrella," he says. "It's tightly furled to begin with, it opens out, it shelters, and then in ... a rather harrowing scene, the umbrella, like Audrey, is blown backwards as she relapses into this encephalitic coma." Self adds that working with several different timelines at once means he absolutely must have a clear idea of what he's doing.

Umbrella has no chapters, few paragraph breaks — there's almost nowhere for the reader to pause and reflect on what's going on in the narrative. You just have to soldier on. "This is one of the paradoxes of modernism," Self says. "There are two main techniques that I employ in Umbrella that people think of as distinctively modernist, and they're techniques that writers will be severely warned off on their creative writing programs, where in fact they'll be largely taught to write terse, Hemingway-esque sentences ... in the simple past, you know, with a third-personal narrator."

Modernist fiction, Self says, gets rid of the third-person, past-tense narrator. "Instead, everything is in the continuous present. The paradox of modernism is, writers make the decision to work with the continuous present, and to work with ... stream of consciousness, as it's called, for emotional reasons, and the main emotional reason is verisimilitude. I mean, this is what surprises people: Life is not in the simple past." Thinking and speaking, he adds, are happening now, not in the past — and all at once, in a grand mix-up. "And in order to try and express that on the page, stream of consciousness and continuous present are, to my way of thinking, very, very powerful techniques."


Book Reviews
'Umbrella' Is A Twisted Modernist Masterpiece
But many readers crave a more linear form of storytelling, with common points of reference — birth, love, triumph, death. "People tend to think of their lives as having a dramatic arc, because they read too much fiction," Self says. "So, in other words, they are partaking in a communal shape-creating process all the time ... but the reality of our life, our lived life, is very few people's lives have a linear structure, and almost nobody's life majorly turns on a coincidence, the way that most plots do. It just doesn't happen that way.

"Lives don't divide up into chapters," he continues. "People don't just talk, while nothing's going on in their head, and then respond. You know, none of these things actually happen. But it is enormously reassuring, and a good ordering principle for the kind of ghastly incoherent and largely inchoate mess that human consciousness is. And I'm inclined to think that all we actually have is experience."

Life, According to Life of Pi

Walking into the cinema to watch a movie adaptation of a book you haven't read has its perks. In my case with Life of Pi, not knowing what to expect at all was like free-falling – an alternating wonderful and somewhat painful experience.

Directed by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain) and with a screenplay by David Magee (Finding Neverland), this film adaptation of Yann Martel's critically-acclaimed novel of the same title (published in 2001) tells the incredible story of Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, a free-spirited boy from Pondicherry, India and his survival at sea for 227 days after tragically being shipwrecked somewhere in the Pacific. Accompanied only by a Bengal tiger and his then unripe yet beyond-his-years set of philosophical beliefs, the story is as spiritually and emotionally as it is visually stunning (better bring your own Kleenex).

The plot unfolds through a series of flashbacks that spans most stages of Pi's life (as effectively portrayed by four different actors); from the origins of his remarkable name, to how he got around to merging Christianity and Islam with his Hindu upbringing, to meeting the girl of his dreams, to being forced to move out of his homeland, being tossed around by the sea for 227 days and living to tell the tale to a local novelist in Montreal, where he settles down in his latter years. The novelist, whose career stands at a crossroads of sorts, hopes to hear a story that would make a good book and supposedly "make him believe in God", as the common family friend who led him to Pi put it. And Pi does just that – tell an incredible story about a perilous but triumphant journey. But does it succeed in making the writer "believe in God"? We'll leave that question unanswered.

Life Care ready to open Ooltewah rehab center

Three years after shuttering an aging nursing home in Orchard Knob, Life Care Centers of America is shifting most of that licensed capacity to a new $16 million rehabilitation facility opening next month in Ooltewah.

"We're opening a beautiful facility at a highly visible site," said Beecher Hunter, president of Life Care Centers of America, the nation's biggest privately owned chain of nursing homes. "Given the proximity of this center to our Cleveland headquarters, it's almost a signature facility for us."

The 120-bed Life Care Center of Ooltewah bears little resemblance to the former 153-bed nursing home on North Highland Park Avenue that Life Care closed in November 2009 after state health inspectors cited the facility for numerous problems. The new Ooltewah center at Snow Hill and Mountain View Roads includes a high-tech rehabilitation gym, courtyards with water fountains and gardens, wood-paneled library, a private dining room with linen-covered tables, a beauty salon and spa and a doctor's suite where an inhouse physician provides medical care.

Life Care is opening the Ooltewah facility next month and has begun recruiting the first of what is expects will eventually be up to 150 employees for the center.

Adjacent to the 75,562-square-foot, single-story nursing home, an affiliate company of Life Care Centers, Century Park Associates, is building a three-story assisted living center with 100 units.

The new Ooltewah nursing home is the fourth new center Life Care Centers has opened in Tennessee in two years. Life Care opened a 108-bed nursing home and rehabilitation facility in January 2011 in Hixson and shortly after added two other centers in Nashville.

Nationwide, Life Care Centers, which celebrates its 43rd anniversary this month, operates 220 nursing homes in 28 states and employs more than 22,000 employees, Hunter said.

Scott Goins, the executive director for the new Ooltewah facility, said workers are putting the finishing touches on the complex and patients should start moving in in three weeks. He hopes to have the facility 60 percent occupied by the end of the year and full within a couple of years similar to Life Care's experience at its new Hixson facility.

"We've tried to create a very welcoming, home-like atmosphere here," he said.

The new director of the Ooltewah complex returned to Life Care Centers, where he previously worked for 10 years, after working for eight years for the 39-unit Grace Healthcare chain in Chattanooga.

"Life Care is kind of like home to me, and the opportunity to be a beautifal facility like this is truly a blessing," he said.

Most patients at the new Ooltewah facility will be on rehabilitation programs for no more than three months. At a similar Life Care Center in Hixson, the average length of stay is 37 days and most patients are covered by Medicare or private insurance plans.

The new gym includes a NASA-developed Ultra G machine that allows patients to gain strength and walking abilities on a low impact treadmill system. The device is similar to an AquaCiser used for rehab, except the Ultra G uses air instead of water so those recovering from surgery or wounds are able to use the machine without risk of infection.

The Ooltewah complex also includes high-tech exercise equipment in its 4,100-square-foot gym, and the facility has diverse walking paths, kitchen and bathroom settings and other environments to help patients learn how to take care of themselves to return to a home or assisted living facility.

Life Care was sued last fall by the federal government for allegedly making Medicare claims for unnecessary therapy services, but the company said it "strongly disagrees with the allegations" and contends that its rehabilitation programs actually save the government money.

Life Care is one of the first companies to use a new Tennessee law to allow for inhouse physician care at a nursing home for patients who opt to get such care from a doctor stationed at the facility. Hunter said having a full-time physician at a center in Florida since 2009 helped has helped to cut the number of patients who must go back to a hospital from 43 percent down to only 8 percent.

"We think it improves care, and is much more convenient for our patients," Hunter said.

The new Ooltewah center is only a few miles from another Life Care facility in Collegedale and the new Century Park assisted living center is within a couple miles of that company's Greenbriar Cove in Ooltewah.

"This is the fastest growing area in this whole region and with the access of I-75 here this facility should attract those needing rehabilitation from a wide area," Goins said.

'A Life In Friendships' Is A Life Well-Lived

You know how sometimes in life you make a friend, and at first you want to talk to her all the time, feverishly telling her details that, by their very personal nature, will bind you to this other person forever, or so you hope? But inevitably, of course, friendships shift and change and become something different from what they initially seemed.

I think books can undergo a similar transformation. You start reading a book thinking it's going to be one thing and one thing only, but after a while you realize it's gradually become something else, too. And so you feel a complicated set of emotions that replace your initial one-note purity.

I sort of felt this way about Susanna Sonnenberg's memoir She Matters: A Life in Friendships. Initially, I found myself drawn right in to the author's friendship vortex, fascinated by the knowing observations and beautiful writing she's applied to this most compelling of subjects. Here's Sonnenberg writing about an intense summer camp friendship, described to Judy Blume perfection:

"She stood next to me and we held in our stomachs when Greg La Rosa ambled by and said, 'Hi.' She explained marshmallow spread as we sat down with trays of Fluffernutter sandwiches ... She made me a peach-pit ring, and I made her a peach-pit ring.

"On my last day we said, 'How can I live without you?' "

What surprised me in this memoir was that, as the narrator gets older, her friends sometimes reveal that they certainly can live without her. There are bad, raw friendship breakups in this book. In one scene, Sonnenberg receives a letter from a girl who had been her college roommate 25 years earlier: "What she remembered of our acquaintance was that she hated me," Sonnenberg says.

And as a young mother, after a relaxed lunch with a friend, Sonnenberg gets an email that has the bluntness of a wartime telegram: "I can't be friends with you anymore," the woman says. And in yet another encounter, a vulnerable Sonnenberg asks a friend if she and her boys can come over that evening. The friend puts her off, asking to do it another night. Sonnenberg eventually confronts her, saying how hard it had been for her to ask for something specific.

"Well," [the friend] says, "my time."

To which Sonnenberg replies, "But I should count!"

That line serves as the heart of this book, because of course the author does count — not only to her friends, at least much of the time — but also to her readers, who will surely admire her honesty, intelligence and lack of vanity, and be occasionally taken aback by her unrelenting intensity. As a result, the book becomes not only what I initially thought it was — an affecting, emotional and nostalgic look at the ways in which women form bonds — but also just as much a study of the boundary issues that can crop up between friends and threaten to ruin everything.


Susanna Sonnenberg is the author of a previous memoir called Her Last Death.

Marion Ettlinger/Courtesy of Scriber
Sonnenberg, who's aware of her passions and ambivalences, and doesn't hide from them, made me think about what a friendship is, anyway. After all, you're not related to these people, you're not married to them (although in one compelling episode, she does become lovers with a friend), so what exactly do you owe each other? What are the rules? And why do they keep changing all the time?

It should also be mentioned that the author's first book was also a memoir, about her dramatic, unstable, druggy mother, one of those people about whom other people probably said, "She was larger than life." A life-sized mother would have been just fine, for it's easy to see how having such an overwhelming mother might not only damage a daughter's friendship here and there, but also heighten a daughter's need for caretaking, love and attention from all female friends, forever. The author certainly is well aware of this, and she never tries to hide it, but simply gets it all down on paper.

But here's the funny thing: Had Susanna Sonnenberg written an empowering look at all the gentle women friends she's loved over the years, her book wouldn't have been interesting at all. Instead, I think, she's written something that interests, exhausts, moves, perplexes, impresses and yes, matters.

End-of-life care: 'Shortfall in NHS services'

There is a shortage of specialist end-of-life care in England, causing unnecessary suffering, experts say.

People dying with the most complex conditions, such as cancer, dementia and heart and liver failure often need support from a range of professionals.

But a report - produced by end-of-life doctors and nurses - said many were going without the help they needed.

The Department of Health said it a new system for funding palliative care is expected to be in place by 2015.

Specialist end-of-life care requires teams of professionals, including doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and pharmacists to work together to help manage pain and disability in the final year of life and ensure patients are treated with dignity and compassion.

As well as helping to achieve as comfortable a death as possible, the support can also reduce costs to the NHS by keeping people out of hospital, said the report, produced by a host of specialist bodies including the Association of Palliative Medicine and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

'Paralysis'
Not everyone who dies needs such help as some deaths are sudden or unexpected.

Continue reading the main story
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Start Quote

Palliative care has the ability to save the NHS money and improve the care of patients”

Dr David Brooks
Association of Palliative Medicine
But the ageing population means there is a growing number of people with complex, long-term problems that need carefully managing at the end of life.

The report said it was estimated that between 160,000 to 170,000 people a year were currently receiving specialist end-of-life care.

The groups said this was a "significant" shortfall on the numbers who needed help. It said more than 350,000 people required some form of end-of-life care, the majority of whom would benefit from specialist care.

Dr David Brooks, vice-president of the Association of Palliative Medicine, said: "There is a shortfall in services that needs to be addressed. Palliative care has the ability to save the NHS money and improve the care of patients."

It comes after there has been mounting concern about one part of end-of-life care, the Liverpool Care Pathway.

Complaints
At the end of last year there were suggestions the regime, which allows doctors to withdraw treatment in the last days of life, was being misused in places.

Relatives of dying patients had complained that their loved ones had been put on the pathway without consent.

Professionals working in the field had agreed to launch a review into how the system was working, but that was then put on hold when ministers said it should be done independently.

That review has yet to start, although the government is expected to announce details of it in the coming weeks.

Dr Brooks said the profession was keen to find out what had gone wrong, but he said the controversy and wait for the review had created a "bit of paralysis".

"It is important we get this right and tackle what was happening, but there is a little frustration it is taking some time."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "People should receive the very best care possible, right up until the end of their lives.

"We have committed to developing a per-patient funding system for palliative care and our pilots are now under way, with plans to have the new system in place in 2015.

"In 2011, the independent Palliative Care Funding Review report identified a gap between need and provision of palliative care.

"We have already developed and started implementing an End of Life Care Strategy, which aims to raise awareness and standards of end of life care for all those who need it, whatever their condition and wherever they are being cared for.

"Commissioners need to be clear about what their local needs are, and commission the right services to meet them."

World Financial Group: Life Insurance Myths Lead to Gaps in Coverage

Though many consumers believe that they understand the potential benefits of life insurance coverage, a recent report notes that misinformation about life insurance abounds, which leads many consumers to obtain inadequate coverage. The study, reported by Insurance Networking News, lists several particular groups who are at risk for underinsurance: large families, unmarried parents, women, and individuals with common health afflictions such as asthma and depression. The study was noted by World Financial Group, Inc. (WFG).

WFG and its independent associates believe that it is important to educate clients about the different life insurance options available. Commenting on the study, WFG notes that it is best to know as much as you can about life insurance and be sure to understand your options when it comes to choosing coverage that is right for you and your current situation.

According to the report many consumers do not understand the life insurance options available to them. In particular, many consumers believe that the cost of life insurance is as much as three times the price of what it truly is, which is a major factor in coverage gaps among particular consumer groups.

The study finds that life insurance coverage gaps are common among large families, in which only one parent may carry coverage and, in some cases, neither parent is covered. The reasons for this gap in coverage are misinformation about the cost of life insurance, paired with low incomes and/or the high expenses of raising children. The study also finds that many women, including married women, lack adequate coverage. In fact, 43 percent of married mothers do not have life insurance at all.

WFG's independent associates educate individuals and families about all aspects of life insurance and believe in providing consumers with the information they need to make educated choices.

The study noted in this release was reported by Insurance Networking News on December 17, 2012.

World Financial Group, Inc. is a financial services marketing company whose affiliates offer a broad array of financial products and services. WFG's independent associates, located throughout North America, strive to help individuals and families often overlooked by the financial services industry to plan for their financial futures, advocating the power of choice for clients through agreements with several of the financial and insurance industries' leading companies.

WFG is a business unit of the Life & Protection (L&P) Division of Transamerica. Through L&P, the Transamerica companies offer a wide array of life and health protection solutions with a common purpose: to protect families and their dreams. With more than a century of experience, Transamerica has built a reputation on solid management, sound decisions and consumer confidence.

'Life term till death will deter rape'

A minimum punishment of life imprisonment till death without any remission will be the best deterrent for rape rather than the present 10 years, former Bar Council of Delhi Chairman KC Mittal has said.

Sending a slew of suggestions to the three-member panel headed by former Chief Justice of India JS Verma, Mittal said punishment for eve-teasing, stalking, outraging the modesty, sexual harassment at workplace and kidnapping also must be made more stringent.

The Verma commission was appointed to recommend changes in anti-rape laws.
He said life imprisonment with remission in case of good behaviour should be made the maximum punishment for juveniles involved in heinous crimes. "Future scope for reformation should not be completely obviated," Mittal said.

He also suggested introduction of a GSM-based SOS system. The application helps an individual relay SOS signal to a central security room which can activate the nearest police van.

"Indian women today do not confine to traditional and conventional roles but play a crucial role in nation-building. They work day and night and even travel during odd hours and wait at bus stands which expose them to eve teasing, harassment and violence", he said.

Noting that safety and security of a woman was the prime duty of the state, he said offenders should be adequately punished so that it acts as deterrence for others as well. Mittal said CCTVs should be installed at all prominent places and male and female police should be on duty at public places.

Sun Life CEO Bets on Smaller Acquisitions for Growth

Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) rallied 40 percent last year as investors rewarded decisions to shed riskier assets and emphasize insurance and wealth management. Chief Executive Officer Dean Connor says the narrower focus can still boost earnings in 2013.

“This is a transformational change for Sun Life that substantially de-risks the company, strengthens our balance sheet and provides funding for smaller acquisitions that can move our strategy forward,” Connor said in an e-mail interview yesterday.
Enlarge image Sun Life Financial Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dean Connor

Sun Life Financial Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dean Connor said, “I think investors appreciate the clarity of the strategy and the speed of execution.” Photographer: Norm Betts/Bloomberg

Canada’s third-largest insurer agreed to sell its U.S. annuities unit to a firm owned by Guggenheim Partners LLC for $1.35 billion in December, reducing risks from exposure to U.S. equity markets while focusing on its North American benefits and wealth-management business and growing in Asia.

The divestitures helped send the stock to its best gains since the Toronto-based company soared 189 percent in 2000, its first year as a public company. It was the third-best performing North American insurance stock and the best Canadian financial stock in 2012.

“The challenge will be to grow their earnings,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research with MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Toronto, which manages about C$4 billion ($4.1 billion), including Sun Life shares. “I’m not sure if they’ve got the capital to do something with the profit from the Guggenheim deal. Will they make acquisitions or will they plow it back into their existing line of business? They need to do something to balance out the fact that there will be less revenue from their risk assets.”
Growth Challenge

Sun Life rose 0.5 percent to C$27.14 at market close in Toronto.

Sun Life’s earnings have been volatile in recent years as global capital markets have fluctuated. Exposure to U.S. annuities increased obligations to clients as stock markets plunged during the financial crisis, while the lowest interest rates in at least half a century makes it harder for insurers to generate profit on funds backing policies.

The company recorded a net loss of C$300 million in 2011, down from a high of C$2.22 billion in 2007. Revenue was C$22.6 billion last year from C$27.6 billion in 2009. Sun Life will report profit of C$1.46 billion, or C$2.43 a share, for 2012, according to the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue is estimated at C$20.3 billion.
Rising Rates

Earnings will be reduced by about 22 cents a share in 2013 after the sale of the annuities business, the company said. While the business generated 10 percent of Sun Life’s earnings, it also produced 50 percent of its equity risk and 35 percent of its interest risk, said Connor, who took over as CEO in December 2011.

“We see good organic opportunities in each of our four pillars of growth -- Canada, U.S. group benefits and voluntary benefits, asset management and Asia,” Connor said in the e- mail. “I think investors appreciate the clarity of the strategy and the speed of execution.”

Sun Life shares outpaced Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC) and Great-West Lifeco Inc. (GWO), the largest and second-largest Canadian insurers and was third in the North American market, behind American International Group Inc. (AIG) and Allstate Corp. (ALL)

Rising interest rates will lead to higher returns for Sun Life because of its fixed-income heavy portfolio, Craig Fehr, Canadian market strategist with Edward Jones & Co., said on the phone from St. Louis. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney reiterated Dec. 4 that he may raise interest rates as the economic expansion progresses, though economists do not expect an increase from the 1 percent benchmark rate in 2013, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Wake-up Call

Fehr rates the stock a buy, as does TD Newcrest Inc., while Credit Suisse rates it outperform, the equivalent of a buy. Eleven analysts say hold the stock and three say sell, according to ratings compiled by to Bloomberg.

Not all analysts have applauded Sun Life’s moves away from capital markets. Manulife will replace Sun Life as the best- performing insurer in Canada in the next six months as assets tied to global growth gain in the new year, said Bob Decker, who manages investments in financial companies at Aurion Capital in Toronto.

“The removal of some of the growth component of Sun Life was a wake-up call that this is a structurally different business than it used to be and quite difficult to grow in an environment of low interest rates,” Decker said in a phone interview. “2013 should be different because interest rates are going to rise and we’ll see a strong rally in equity markets. Sun Life may miss out on the benefits of that.”
Hedging Instead

Aurion, which manages about C$5.5 billion, sold its Sun Life shares around the time of its U.S. annuities sale. The insurer’s stock slipped 3.9 percent on Dec. 17 when the deal was announced. Decker manages Manulife shares.

Manulife has aggressively hedged its exposure to equity markets and interest rates, achieving hedging targets two years ahead of a 2014 goal last quarter.

“Unfortunately Sun Life can’t go right back to their acquisitive ways once they’ve signaled to the market that they’re shedding riskier businesses,” Decker said.

The sale of the U.S. annuities business, which Connor said is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013, will leave them with about C$1.9 billion in cash at its holding company following the transaction.
Right Acquisitions

Sun Life doesn’t “need acquisitions to grow,” Connor said. The company expanded its asset management capabilities in China in 2012 with the creation of Sun Life Everbright Insurance Asset Management Co. and created a new life insurer in Vietnam, PVI Sun Life, in partnership with PVI, a property and casualty insurer in the country.

“But the right acquisitions can also create value for shareholders,” he said. The company made a small acquisition in the Philippines in 2011 that included a bank distribution relationship. “The first full year of sales and profitability are encouraging.”

In Canada, the company has positions in group benefits and pensions and individual insurance. MFS Investment Management, the company’s Boston-based asset-management subsidiary, “is firing on all cylinders” with a record US$303 billion under management as of the third quarter, Connor said.

Sun Life will boost profit from acquiring wealth management units in deals under C$500 million, according to Peter Routledge, analyst at National Bank Financial.
Drank Kool-Aid

“I hope they stay away from the U.S. and invest in Canadian wealth management assets,” he said in a phone interview from Vancouver. “Everyone drank the Kool-Aid that ‘we have to be a big North American life insurer, get our name on a football stadium’ and Connor was unsentimental when he came on board. And in the end it worked to the company’s benefit.”

Sun Life needs to rely on acquisitions and wealth management for growth since the “best-case scenario” for life insurance companies right now is a rate hike in mid-2014, Routledge said.

“I don’t think there will be many headlines coming out of the company next year -- and that’s a good thing,” Nakamoto said. “Investors will be worrying less about the stock. This year was about setting the course and next year will be keeping on that course.”

Pro-Life and Feminism Aren’t Mutually Exclusive

From its early beginnings, feminism was a young women’s movement. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Charlotte Lozier and so many others began their suffragist work in their 20s. These women — the original feminists — understood that the rights of women cannot be built on the broken backs of unborn children. Anthony called abortion “child murder.” Paul, author of the original 1923 Equal Rights Amendment, said that “abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.”

So the pro-life movement hasn’t changed the meaning of feminism, as has been suggested. It was the neo-feminists of the 1960s and ’70s who asked women to prize abortion as the pathway to equality.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, along with a group of mostly Democratic women, started the Susan B. Anthony List in 1992, the so-called Year of the Woman, when numerous pro-choice women were elected to Congress. Dannenfelser, then in her mid-20s, saw a need to support more pro-life women running for elected office. Twenty years since the organization’s founding, we now have two pro-life women in the Senate, 17 in the House, four in governorships and hundreds more in state legislatures.

Pro-life feminism has captivated a new generation of young women who reject the illusion that to be pro-woman is to be pro-choice. Gallup polling showed that among 18-to-29-year-olds, there was a 5% increase in those labeling themselves “pro-life” between 2007–08 and 2009–10. The past few years have seen the emergence of young leaders like Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America, who is responsible for organizing more than 675 pro-life groups on college campuses across the nation, and Lila Rose of Live Action, whose undercover video work has forced the abortion industry to confront and amend practices it cannot defend, as well as dozens of other future leaders who have assisted our organization as staff members and interns. During the past two summers we’ve had young female leaders join the SBA List from Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of California, Berkeley. These passionate defenders of women and unborn children return to their campuses ready to lead pro-life groups and educate their classmates on the tragedy of abortion.

Not only does this young generation of pro-life women shun the notion that abortion somehow liberates women; it views abortion as the civil- and human-rights cause of our day. Abortion is an injustice that permeates our society. Forty years after Roe v. Wade, we realize that a third of our peers are not here to share our progress and our hopes. It is our loss as well as theirs.

In his letter from a Birmingham, Ala., jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” It is in this same spirit of King and the original feminists that young pro-life women are rising up in increasing numbers to say abortion is a radical injustice that affects us all and must end. Achieving this will require more efforts to extend our understanding of the equal rights of the disabled unborn, prevent rape and make this crime against women a thing of the past, expand adoption and make the benefits of modern prenatal care and specialties like fetal surgery more available, so that even younger and sicker children can be spared an early death.

Our fight transcends elections and legislative battles because our fight is in our hearts. This is why, 40 years after Roe, our movement is still growing. We won’t give up; we can’t give up. Our fight is for life.