Life Was Short for Longevity Gains

By WSJ City 

The great gains in life expectancy as people gave up smoking and treatments for heart disease improved have run their course. In the UK, at least, longevity has gone into reverse, writes Paul J Davies for Heard on the Street.

KEY FACTS

   -- That's sobering for people turning 65, but for life insurers it is 
      turning into a cash windfall. 
 
   -- The trend will boost earnings for some US insurers, too, over time. 
 
   -- Companies like Prudential Financial and Pacific Life, a mutual insurer, 
      have become big reinsurers... 
 
   -- ...of the risk that British people live longer than expected. 

Why This Matters

A string of British life insurers reported higher full-year profits this month, boosted by reserve releases totalling almost GBP2bn between them. Aviva's windfall was largest, at GBP780m, followed by those of Prudential (not to be confused with Prudential Financial in the US) and Legal & General, which released GBP441m and GBP433m respectively.

A fuller story is available on WSJ.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 15, 2019 05:30 ET (09:30 GMT)

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