Coventry Praises California`s New Life Settlement Law

State Acts to Protect the Value of Life Insurance for Californians
FORT WASHINGTON, Pa.--(Business Wire)--
California`s Governor signed one of the strongest laws in the nation to regulate
life settlements, ensuring that California`s life insurance policyowners are
able to obtain the best value for life insurance policies that are likely to be
lapsed or surrendered.

The new California life settlement act preserves the long-standing right of life
insurance policyowners to sell their policies when they no longer can afford or
otherwise keep them. Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello-Senate District 30)
touted the new law as "a valuable measure to support fair and equitable
marketing of life insurance policies which constitute a valuable liquid asset
for seniors." The law establishes strong consumer protections, including
licensing of settlement companies and brokers, strong consumer disclosures and
measures to detect and prevent the illegal manufacturing of new life insurance
policies by strangers.

Significantly, the new law ensures that California`s citizens can pursue a life
settlement with the assistance from their life insurance agent. With the passage
of the legislation, life insurance companies are no longer allowed to gag life
agents who would tell their clients about life settlements or otherwise act to
harm consumers in life settlement transactions.

California becomes the 37th state to adopt life settlement regulation.

Coventry, the creator of the secondary market for life insurance in the US, has
paid policyowners in the last 12 months five times more than they would have
received for policies they no longer wanted to keep. Since almost 9 of 10 life
insurance policies issued are lapsed or surrendered, according to a leading
international actuarial firm, life settlements are a valuable option for
consumers.

As Californians face losses in income and value because of declines in stocks
and home prices, many are not able to maintain their life policies and a life
settlement is a valuable alternative to surrendering the policy back to the
insurer for an inadequate cash value. Coventry has paid more than $2.8 billion
to consumers for insurance policies they no longer need or can afford.

Senate Bill 98 was supported by Coventry and the American Council of Life
Insurers, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the
AARP, and the majority of life settlement and life insurance organizations.
California`s law is the 18th new state law in the past 24 months that is based
on model life settlement legislation of the National Conference of Insurance
Legislators (NCOIL).

About Coventry

By uniquely bridging insurance and capital markets, Coventry pioneered the life
settlement industry and opened a new class of longevity-based assets for
institutional investors worldwide. Today, Coventry is a global financial
services firm leading the development of a robust longevity market. Coventry is
based in Philadelphia with offices in London and Hong Kong.

Coventry
Stuart Wood
Director, Strategic Communications
215-836-8314
swood@coventry.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009