Frank Swarowsky Sells $1.5 Million Life Insurance for $470,000 in Life Settlement
Updated
Updated · NPR · Aug 14
Frank Swarowsky Sells $1.5 Million Life Insurance for $470,000 in Life Settlement
1 articles · Updated · NPR · Aug 14
Summary
Coventry agreed to pay Frank Swarowsky $470,000 for two life-insurance policies with a combined $1.5 million death benefit, after a broker shopped his case to multiple bidders.
His rare stage 4 lung-cancer history helped attract interest, but the final bid came in at just 31 cents on the dollar; after a $40,000 broker commission, he netted about $430,000.
Swarowsky decided to sell because he believed he could invest the proceeds and potentially outgrow the future payout, though that would require roughly 12% annual returns over 12 years.
The deal shifts the eventual $1.5 million payout from his wife and children to the policy buyer, though Swarowsky still has separate employer-provided coverage and has used some proceeds for a car and a family trip.
His sale illustrates how life settlements have grown from AIDS-era viatical deals into a multibillion-dollar Wall Street market that lets investors profit from policyholders' deaths.