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• New York Life Opts Out of Capital Program

  New York Life Insurance Co. announced Thursday that it will not participate in the Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program.

• Survey: Economy Is Forcing Insurers to Evaluate Compensation and Incentive Plans

  Current economic pressures are forcing many companies to take a hard look at their compensation and incentive programs to find ways to cut costs.

• Putting a Freeze on STOLI (Not the Vodka)

  Millions of Baby Boomers are on track to retire with inadequate savings, and many of those with in-force life insurance may try to raise cash by selling their policies to agents of the burgeoning life settlement industry.

• The State of STOLI Laws

  Insurance departments in Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, and other states use the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) Life Settlement Model Act, which addresses STOLI sales abuses.

• More Insurers Suffer Analyst, Ratings Downgrades

  A Goldman Sachs stock analyst downgraded Prudential and MetLife on Monday due to both companies' mortgage-related holdings.

• Hartford Hires Manager in Germany

  Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. hired Stephan Schinnenburg as general manager of its German office in Frankfurt.

• Survey: Administrative Efficiency Is Top Business Need for Insurers

  Eighty-seven percent of participants in a survey from Fiserv Insurance Solutions responded that policy administration, the core system for maintaining insurance coverage information, was most likely to be one of the next three large-scale projects they tackle.

• ACORD Selects Progress for Schema Development

  Insurance data standards association ACORD selected Progress DataXtend Semantic Integrator (SI) from Progress Software Corp. as its mapping and schema generation development environment for the ACORD Standards Framework.

• Most Agent-Friendly Insurers Identified

  A new survey of 7,400 independent agents and brokers has assessed the performance of property/casualty carriers when interacting with brokers and agents.

• New York Life Taps Exec to Run China Units

  New York Life International LLC, the global arm of New York Life Insurance Co., announced Tuesday that it had promoted Gary Bennett to executive vice president and chief executive officer of its China operation.

• Japanese Life Insurer Files for Protection

  Marking one of the first Japanese failures as a result of the global financial crisis, Japan's Yamato Life Insurance filed for bankruptcy protection late last week.

• Big I Study: Agents Holding Firm

  The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big "I"), an Alexandria, Va., association that represents 300,000 agents and brokers, released its annual Best Practices Study.

• Jackson Adds a Withdrawal Rider

  Jackson National Life Insurance Co., a Lansing, Mich., unit of Prudential PLC, launched a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit for its variable annuities.

• Can the Insurance Community Pull its Head out of the Sand?

  Insurers that focus on operational efficiencies, cost reduction versus growth and risk management will find it especially difficult to experience success born of innovation.

• Life Settlements Require an Experienced Partner

  A look at the main objectives of providers and life settlements brokers in today's changing market.

• Huntington Insurance Expansion Targets Three States

  Huntington Bancshares Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, plans to extend its insurance operations into three largely untapped states in its territory: Michigan, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

• Insurance Woes

  Insurance penetration in early September had fallen to new lows since Moody's Investors Service placed triple-A insurers Assured Guaranty Corp. and Financial Security Assurance Inc. on review for downgrade.

• Axa Selects Annuity Leader

  Axa Equitable Life Insurance Co. announced that it promoted Claude A. Methot to executive vice president of life and annuity product development.

• Big Names Pondering Purchase of AIG's Life Businesses

  As American International Group Inc. seeks to resolve its liquidity crisis, some potential buyers are no doubt eyeing the insurance giant's diverse group of life insurance businesses.

• Huntington Names Insurance President

  Huntington Bancshares Inc. promoted Pete Dunlap Friday to president of its Huntington Insurance division.

• Insurance Blogs Abound

  A recent insurgence of online blogs that have the ability to aggregate information on insurance technology and provide perspectives on it are popping up like weeds in a cornfield.

• INN Reveals 2008 Women in Insurance Leadership Award Winners

  Insurance Networking News released the results of its Women in Insurance Leadership program, a special designation to honor female insurance executives who have made a significant impact on their businesses.

• LIMRA: Mid-Year Individual Life Premium Stagnant

  Universal life (UL) was the only individual life insurance product to produce more new premiums in the first half of 2008 when compared to the first half of 2007.

• Penn Mutual Adds Variable Life Product

  Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. has launched a variable universal life product.

• Arthur J. Gallagher Buys Wm. W. George

  The insurance brokerage and risk management services firm Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. of Itasca, Ill., has acquired Wm. W. George & Associates Inc., a retail insurance brokerage firm.

• North American Life Insurance Activity Flat in July

  North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was flat in July, off -0.2% year-over-year.

• Hartford Installs Europe Unit CEO

  Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. hired Marc Lieberman as president and chief executive officer of its European insurance arm, Hartford Life Ltd.

• Court Ruling May Increase Tax Refunds on Insurance Stock

  A court ruling last week by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims could increase claims for tax refunds by insurance policy holders who sold stock in insurance providers that went public.

• Be Your Own Life Settlement Broker

  As the life settlement industry grows at an accelerating pace, an increasing number of life insurance producers are opting to transact directly with life settlement providers.

• 5 Questions with Catherine Smith

  Catherine Smith is CEO of U.S. Insurance at ING. She went to California to meet with minority clients about their needs. She told us what she found—and what's she's doing about it.

• You Bet Your Life

  Clients' unwanted life insurance policies can be abandoned, surrendered, donated—or even sold in a rapidly expanding secondary market.

• Hancock Unveils Universal Life Rider

  John Hancock Life Insurance introduced a universal life insurance product that includes a cash-value-advantage rider, fixed loan rate, and reductions in limited-period-guarantee premiums.

• MetLife Posts a 19% Earnings Decline

  MetLife Inc. said its second-quarter profits declined 19% from a year earlier, to $915 million, or $1.26 a share.

• Illness May Accelerate Payouts from Prudential VA

  Prudential Annuities has added a feature that doubles the payout rate of its Highest Daily Lifetime Seven variable annuity option.

• New Director for New York Life in Mexico

  Mario Vela has succeeded William Beaty as director general and head of New York Life International LLC's Seguros Monterrey New York Life subsidiary in Mexico City.

• Wells Insurance Unit Buys Indiana Broker

  Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc. has announced its purchase of American Med-Scan Inc. in Carmel, Ind.

• Mathas Named CEO of New York Life

  Ted Mathas will assume the position of CEO of New York Life Insurance Co.

• Life Settlement Tutorials Slated For June

  Life-settlement transactions comprise a growing secondary market and can increase income for financial advisors. However, it's a market that financial advisors seem reluctant to participate in, according to a recent survey.

• MassMutual Promotes a Sales Exec

  Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. promoted Hugh O'Toole to senior vice president in charge of national sales and distribution for the company's retirement services division.

• MetLife Starts Universal Life Product

  MetLife Inc. has introduced a universal life insurance policy.

• Liberty-Safeco Seen as Start of a Wave

  Liberty Mutual Group's deal to buy Safeco Corp. is a preview of a consolidation wave that will concentrate market share among the nation's top insurance carriers.

• Wells Fargo Buys Flatiron to Beef Up in Insurance

  Wells Fargo bought Flatiron Credit on Thursday, a move the banking firm said will bolster its growing insurance division and let it enter the premium-finance business.

• MaxLife Fund Corp. Appoints Mr. Dan Schmitt, Mr. Randy Delkus and Mr. Daniel E. Kahan to its Board of Directors

  MaxLife Fund Corp. (OTC:MXFD) has appointed Dan Schmitt, Randy Delkus and Daniel E. Kahan to the Company's Board of Directors.

• Small life settlements trouble regulators

  As the life settlement business expands, regulators and attorneys worry over potential damage to policyholders.

• Betting on Death: Life Settlements Flourish on Wall Street

  A look at the history of life settlements and the impact that these popular financial instruments are having on the industry today.

• Phoenix Cos. Forms Life Settlements Unit

  Financial services provider Phoenix Cos. entered the life insurance settlements market by partnering with four brokerage general agencies to fom its Phoenix Life Solutions subsidiary.

• Legacy Planning

  Legacy planning isn't for every client, but for many, it can accomplish much more thansaving taxes.

• The Other Life Insurance

  Most clients with dependents needs term life insurance. Who needs whole or variable life?

• Meeting the Needs of Rich Retirees

  Tax-sheltered investment options and life insurance with private placement policies give the wealthiest investors the control they crave.

• Losing Faith in National Financial Partners

  As shares of the insurance sales company National Financial Partners fell from near 57 to below their initial offering price of 23, CEO Jessica Bibliowicz works to redefine the company's "life-settlement" contracts.

• The Neglected Asset

  Planners frequently overlook clients' life insurance policies, but these assets can be sold like any other.

• 5 Questions

  Keith Maurer is an in-house consultant at Low Load Insurance Services in Tampa, FLa. He spoke to us about the future of insurance products and the industry.

• 5 Biggest Estate Tax Mistakes

  Even experienced financial advisors can be flummoxed by the jungle of tax rules.

• What Retirement Means Now

  To your affluent clients, retirement anxiety has as much to do with emotional issues as financial ones. The newest thinking adds human capital--everything from earning capacity to feelings of personal satisfaction--to the funding equation.