Blog

Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSRO) Ratings Although the stakeholders within the structured settlement market traditionally have focused primarily on A.M. Best when evaluating the potential credit risk of annuity providers,leading regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) utilize their own “category” of rating agencies to...

Settlement Trusts & Structured Settlements One of the defining differences between the “Claim Management” and the “Settlement Planning” structured settlement business models (in general) is how they view trusts and trustees. In the traditional Claim Management structured settlement model, trusts are viewed as competitive products and trustees are viewed as competitors. The sale is binary:...

What is Settlement Planning? Settlement planning, a term previously avoided by the National Structured Settlement Trade Organization (NSSTA), was a buzz word at the 2019 NSSTA Annual Meeting, which featured an educational panel dedicated to the topic.So, as NSSTA begins “to re-think and re-design its educational programming and marketing to strategically position structured settlements as the core product...

IL Launches ‘The Chronicle’ Welcome to “The Structured Structured Settlement Chronicle”, (the Chronicle) an Independent Life (IL) website resource that will feature regularly updated news coverage, with some editorial commentary, of industry events and developments which we view as valuable to structured settlement and personal injury settlement planning professionals and other stakeholders. The primary focus...

Settlement Trusts + Structured Settlements = Settlement Planning? Once considered a competitive product, most structured settlement professionals and settlement planners now view settlement trusts as an essential and complementary part of their personal injury settlement solutions.Trusts, which are legal entities and can be revocable or irrevocable, can have many purposes including wealth accumulation, spendthrift protection,...

Drinker Biddle Structured Settlement and Annuities Roundtable The Drinker Biddle law firm Structured Settlement and Annuity Team introduced a new educational model last week when it hosted a one-day, invitation-only Structured Settlement and Annuities Roundtable at its Philadelphia office. Drinker Biddle promoted the roundtable as “three substantive sessions on pressing issues facing the structured settlement industry and its participants,...