LISA Releases Life Expectancy (LE) Calculator

ORLANDO, FL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 07/16/10 -- A life expectancy (LE) calculator was released today by the Life Insurance Settlement Association to help users better understand recently released common LE tables.

LISA is making this calculator available to members and non-members alike. The Calculator is free for members and $500 for non-members.

"I believe it will be a useful tool and will be a benefit to all our members," says Doug Head, LISA executive director.

In a proactive move, Scott Gibson and Jackie Lee of Lewis & Ellis, Actuaries & Consultants in Dallas, created the LE Mortality Calculator to help users make optimal use of the LISA tables. The calculator was graciously donated to LISA.

"Our original creation of the spreadsheet (November 2008) was the result of many, many inquiries back in 2008 about the differences between the 2001 VBT and the 2008 VBT tables. Our handy tool answers those questions quite readily, and much more. We have now updated it to include the latest LISA CAT tables for yet more comparisons," says Gibson.

This easy to use calculator offers a number of benefits, including:

- Automatically calculates and graphs LEs;
- Makes quick LE estimates, with a simple click & go system;
- Compares 2010 LISA tables to both the 2001 and 2008 VBT integrated tables;
- Makes a wonderful educational tool;
- Allows industry professionals to gain a better understanding of LE analysis; and,
- Allows a user to see how various features of the calculator will/can affect an LE, like the "Mortality Multiplier" feature.

"The tool serves many purposes. Someone could use the calculator to compare different pieces of the life expectancy, such as the age, gender, smoking status, and underlying mortality tables. It also provides graphs of the probabilities of death per 1,000 and the number of deaths out of a 1,000 life cohort for the more visual learners," says Lewis & Ellis' Lee.

In early April 2010, LISA's Best Practices Task Force met the charge to create the first life expectancy (LE) best practices and the first set of LE Common Actuarial Tables (CAT). The LE CAT assists LE providers in the performing of Actual-to-Expected (A/E) ratios and provides continuity in the A/E calculations between the LE providers. Life expectancy analysis is extremely complex, making these tables all the more difficult to decipher and offering little benefit to those who are not familiar with this field of expertise.

Established 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 over 130 members with a wide variety of interests in the industry. For more about the association, visit www.thevoiceoftheindustry.com. A life settlement is a service in which an existing life insurance policy is sold to an investor.

Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine

Contact: Doug Head LISA Executive Director Email Contact