Latest Life Insurance Headlines

All the headlines from our Life Insurance Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Some Insurers Including Allstate Might Not Need Federal Funds

May 18 2009 // Government approval for billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout funds for life insurers is dividing the industry into haves and have-nots, with Ameriprise Financial Incand possibly others rejecting the government’s...

The Hartford Says It Will Not Sell P/C or Life Insurance Units

May 18 2009 // Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said it plans to keep its U.S. property/casualty and life businesses, after winning approval last week to tap $3.4 billion of federal bailout funds. Chief Executive Ramani Ayer...

Hartford, Prudential Among Life Insurers Approved for Treasury Funds

May 15 2009 // At least four U.S. insurers won approval on Thursday to raise billions of dollars through the government’s bank bailout plan, the U.S. Treasury Department said. Hartford Financial , the No. 4 U.S. insurer and beset...

AIG Reports $4.35 Billion Q1 Loss

May 7 2009 // American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today reported a net loss for the first quarter of 2009 of $4.35 billion compared to a net loss of $7.81 billion in the first quarter of 2008. The loss was less than the $5 billion...

Berkshire’s Buffett: Life Insurers Took ‘Crazy’ Financial Risks

May 5 2009 // Billionaire Warren Buffett on Sunday criticized some life insurers for taking on “crazy” financial risks by selling variable annuities, or retirement products that promised unrealistic guarantees to buyers. The...

Regulator Sees Mergers Coming in Weakened Life Insurance Sector

Apr 29 2009 // U.S. life insurers, weakened by the global financial crisis, are in for mergers and regulators will not shy away from playing matchmaker to deal with weak companies, Eric Dinallo, New York’s insurance superintendent,...

Weakened Life Insurers May Get Federal Aid

Apr 10 2009 // U.S. life insurers, already weakened by the global financial crisis, are expected to report their worst-ever quarterly results in the coming weeks, stoking expectations that federal funds will be needed to prevent the...

Insurers Find Geithner Regulatory Plan Unclear on Federal Role

Mar 27 2009 // The nation’s insurance industry found some things to like and not to like in Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s proposed restructuring of financial services regulation. While Secretary Geithner said that any...

AIG Collapse Effect on Life Insurance Sector Overstated: Analysts

Mar 13 2009 // AIG’s recent claims that its collapse could threaten not just banking counterparties but also decimate the broader U.S. life insurance industry are alarming but also largely unproven. The contention was made in a...

Report: Japanese Insurers Sompo, NipponKoa to Merge

Mar 12 2009 // Japanese non-life insurers Sompo Japan Insurance and NipponKoa Insurance plan to merge, an industry source said, in the second deal in less than two months in a sector struggling with slumping demand and a dwindling,...

The Hartford Reported In Talks to Sell Life Insurance Unit

Mar 6 2009 // Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is in talks to sell most of its life insurance subsidiary to Sun Life Financial Inc. of Canada, Bloomberg News reported, citing anonymous people. Splitting the Hartford, Conn.-based...

New York Insurance Chief Dinallo’s U.S. Senate Testimony on AIG

Mar 5 2009 // Testimony by New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo to the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Hearing on “American International Group: Examining What Went Wrong, Government...

Nebraska Supreme Court to Rule on Insurance Guaranty Fund Viatical Role

Mar 4 2009 // Nebraska’s highest court will determine whether a state insurance guaranty fund must cover nearly $1 million in losses suffered by 26 Nebraskans in a life insurance deal. The Nebraska Supreme Court heard arguments...

Prudential In Lead to Acquire AIG Japanese Life Insurance Units

Feb 20 2009 // Prudential Financial Inc. is leading the race to buy two Japanese life insurers put on sale by American International Group Inc. in a deal due to close next week, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. AIG Edison...

Treasury to Approve TARP Bailout Funds for Life Insurance Companies

Feb 9 2009 // Insurance companies that applied for capital injections from the government’s $700 billion financial bailout fund could get approval as soon as Monday, two sources familiar with the matter said Saturday. Some...

State Regulators Deny Life Insurers’ Bid for Looser Capital Requirements

Jan 30 2009 // State insurance regulators voted against a proposal to loosen capital requirements for the battered life insurance industry, shooting down hopes for up to $30 billion in relief. The National Association of Insurance...

U.S. Approves The Hartford, Lincoln National Bank Holding Company Bids

Jan 12 2009 // The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision said on Friday that it approved applications from Hartford Financial Services Group Inc and Lincoln National Corp to become bank holding companies, an important step toward these...

Report Japan Insurers Mitsui, Aioi and Nissay in Merger Talks

Dec 29 2008 // Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc, Aioi Insurance Co and Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co are in talks to merge, a company source said, in a move that would create the country’s largest...

Swiss Re Sees ‘Severe Recession;’ Insurers Should Preserve Capital

Dec 10 2008 // At their most recent conference in London, Swiss Re’s economists predicted a “severe recession until mid 2009 in industrialized economies, including the United States and Europe.” They also expect that...

Five Firms Vying for AIG Japan Units

Dec 9 2008 // Prudential Financial Inc., Manulife Financial Corp. and three other firms are expected to place competing bids for two Japanese life insurers put up for sale by American International Group Inc, people familiar with the...