A life settlement involves the purchase by a third party of a life insurance policy which has become unnecessary or unwanted. Life settlements are a relatively new part of the financial services universe, but they represent a large market which is experiencing exponential growth.

Life settlements offer consumers and their professional advisors a whole new set of options. Prior to the development of a secondary market for life insurance, an unwanted or poorly performing policy could only be allowed to lapse, be surrendered for the cash value or converted to one of the settlement options dictated by the insurance company. A policy which qualifies as a life settlement has a market value which is higher (often significantly higher) than the policy's cash value. The proceeds from a life settlement can be used during the insured's lifetime for business, personal or charitable purposes. It's also often possible to provide new coverage on a more efficient basis.

Co-Managing Directors Russel Dorsett and Steve Shorrock have decades of experience in executive positions in the life insurance industry.

A Texas native, Russel Dorsett is known globally and has been a principal speaker at conferences and conventions around the world. He has served as a senior executive for a number of major companies, including eight years as the Managing Director and CEO of AIA Australia and AIA Superannuation Company. Dorsett also had regional responsibility for AIG¹s life and pension businesses in Australasia. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and has held the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation for over 25 years.

Steve Shorrock served as President/CEO of Bankers Life of New York from 1990 to 2003 and increased sales dramatically to $25 million during his tenure. He also served as CFO of Bankers Life¹s parent company, the AmerUs Life Group. Prior to moving into private practice, Shorrock served as COO of Improved Funding Techniques, Inc., an independent actuarial, consulting and administrative firm specializing in highly customized qualified plans for high net worth individuals. Shorrock has a MBA in Finance from Temple University and has achieved the designations of Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Certified Long-Term Care Consultant (CLTC) and Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI).

You can contact Select Life Settlement Corporation at 713-557-9443 or mail@selectlife.net

People in the News (Houston Chronicle, April 22, 2006)
Select Life Settlement Corporation has hired Elizabeth Ramirez as Operations Manager.

The Unique Benefits of Using Life Settlements and Life Insurance for Charitable Giving
June 19, 2006-Charitable giving programs can be funded in a number of ways, but life settlements and life insurance offer some unique advantages and flexibility. Programs are available that provide immediate and longer-term giving options.

“Because the death benefit of a life insurance policy is generally many times the premiums paid, gift dollars can be leveraged. Charitable gifts of life insurance can also reduce or avoid completely some combination of income, estate, gift or capital gains taxes,” commented Steve Shorrock, Co-Managing Director of Select Life Settlement Corporation. “There are varied ways to utilize the advantages of using life insurance for charitable giving.”

Below are several techniques that illustrate the benefits of using life policies in charitable giving:

• Sell an existing life policy, through a life settlement, and donate the proceeds to a charity.

• Buy a new policy on your life or another family member and make a charity the owner or beneficiary.

• Give an existing policy to a charity, making a charity owner of the policy.

• Change the beneficiary of an existing policy to a charity.

• Gift life insurance policy dividends to a charity.

• Direct a highly valued taxable asset to a charity and replace the value of the asset with new life insurance.

To better illustrate the power of life insurance in charitable giving, below are two actual examples that LifeVentures Corp helped to achieve:

Example #1 – Life Settlement
Our clients, a married couple both in their late 70’s, made the decision they no longer needed or wanted their life insurance coverage. Their policy, which was a second-to-die contract, was purchased to offset future estate taxes at their death. As the government has steadily increased the value of the estate exempt from estate taxes, this couple no longer had an insurance need and decided to proceed with a life settlement. A life settlement is the sale of an existing life insurance policy to institutional investors, often providing a cash benefit to the insured’s at multiples of the policy’s cash surrender value. The couple also wanted to give to their charity now versus after their death.

The couple sold their $250,000 second-to-die policy, through a life settlement, for $105,000 and donated the proceeds to their charity. Not only did the charity receive a tax free donation of $105,000, the couple was able to take a $105,000 tax deduction! A win-win for all parties involved!

Example #2 – Purchase of a New Single Premium Life Insurance Policy
Our widowed client had a bank Certificate of Deposit (CD) of $100,000 that was earmarked to be given to charity at her death. The client wished to maximize the potential of this gift, while providing flexibility in case she needed the money. She also wanted to eliminate the taxes she paid each year on the interest earned on the CD. In order to maximize her gift to charity, provide future flexibility if required and eliminate the tax on her CD earnings, she purchased a single premium life insurance policy with a guaranteed death benefit of $200,000 with no future premiums ever required. She retained ownership of the policy, made the beneficiary the charity at her death and retained financial flexibility. In the future if cash is needed, she can take withdrawals from the policy’s cash value, which continues to grow on a tax deferred basis. Another win-win for all parties involved!