National Life Settlement Industry Group Recognizes Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, Elects New Officers
(Market Wire, May 24, 2007)
The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) again broke its own attendance records at the 13th bi-annual spring meeting last week in New York. More than 550 attendees gathered in what Executive Director Doug Head called "a historic, highly successful meeting."

Among other business, LISA members presented the inaugural Life Consumer Freedom Award to Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. Head says the award, which was initiated by the LISA Board and based on nominations from LISA Members, recognizes Commissioner Oxendine "for his recognition and support of consumer property rights," referring to the ongoing efforts of some critics of the life settlement industry to deny consumers the contractual rights to sell their life insurance policies.

A life settlement is the sale to a third party of an existing life insurance policy for more than its cash surrender value but less than its net death benefit. Such transactions are usually undertaken for the purposes of estate or financial planning.

Commissioner Oxendine reflected upon his experience at LISA, saying, "Attending the LISA meeting was an eye-opening experience; it is one that all regulators and interested legislators should have as it shows the real scope and professionalism of the settlement industry. I am honored to be the first recipient of LISA's Life Insurance Consumerism Award."

"We believe in consumer choice, and Mr. Oxendine obviously shares that view," Head says. "He and legislative and regulatory leaders like him have stood up for personal freedom for consumers. We firmly believe this includes the opportunity for people to be able to realize the value in the investment they have made in life insurance. No consumer should be obligated or locked into products that no longer fit their needs. Fresh thinking has helped people to break chains at every stage of American progress. Commissioner Oxendine is part of that effort."

Also at the meeting, LISA members elected two new board members and re-elected three others. New LISA board members are Russel Dorsett and David Hartman. Life insurance veteran Dorsett is Co-Managing Director of Select Life Settlement Corporation of New York and Texas. Hartman, formerly a Principal in a venture capital firm, is COO of Life Settlement Providers of Maryland.

Board members who were re-elected include Brian Casey, Richard Guilford and Ramiro Rencurrell. Casey is a partner in Lord Bissell & Brook, LLP, Atlanta; Guilford is chairman & managing member of Fidelity Assurance Associates, LLC of Washington, DC; and Rencurrell is President of Magna Administrative Services, Inc. of Coral Gables, Florida.

The remaining six board members are at the midpoint of their two-year terms and did not stand for election: Mike Fasano, M. Bryan Freeman, Scott Gibson, John McCarroll, Mike McNerney and Bill Potoczak.

Next month the new board will meet to elect officers.

Founded in 1994, the Life Insurance Settlement Association is the oldest and largest trade organization in the industry. Its goal is to promote the development, integrity and reputation of the life settlement industry, and to promote a competitive market for the people it serves. LISA now represents 150 members with a wide variety of interests in the industry. For more about the Association, visit www.lisassociation.org