NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cantor LifeMarkets announced today that it has signed Master Agency Contracts with the following companies:

3 Mark Financial     McQueen Kalligan Insurance Services, Inc.

Agent Support Group   owR OPINION, L.L.C.

Ash Brokerage   Pavez Insurance Company

Belman Klein Associates, Ltd.   Pickett Group, Inc.

Brokerage Insurance Group   Premier Brokerage Services, Inc.

Direct Funders, Inc.   Robert A. Brandon Inc.

E Financial   Sinai Capital Partners

Financial Logic Ltd.   The Producers Group

Four Seasons Financial Group, Inc.   Total Brokerage Solutions

Leisure Werden & Terry   Total Financial

Life Force Financial   Upstate Special Risk Services, Inc.

Life Options, LLC   Veris Settlement Partners, Inc.

M & M Brokerage Services Inc.   Zenith Marketing Group

Zenith Marketing Group These companies, referred to as MACs, will be responsible for coordinating retail distribution to LexNet (SM), Cantor’s marketplace for trading life settlements.

“We’re extremely excited about working with these elite companies. They are among the top firms in life insurance distribution and represent a significant step forward in transacting life settlements professionally and with integrity,” said Stuart Hersch, President and CEO of Cantor LifeMarkets.

Access to LexNet will be coordinated exclusively through MACs. LexNet will not accept policy submissions directly from producers. Any producer who wishes to submit a policy to LexNet may call 888-553-9638 or send an email to Info@LexNet.com for a referral to a MAC.  www.cantor.com

By Huw Jones

BRUSSELS, April 16 (Reuters) - European Union and U.S. officials will meet next month to try to end a longstanding bone of contention over how much reserves EU reinsurers must set aside in the United States to cover potential payouts.

EU reinsurers -- companies such as Munich Re (MUVGn.DE: ) and Hannover Re (HNRGn.DE: ) that insure insurers -- must set aside extra reserves in the United States to do business there.

Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, has long campaigned to get the U.S. rules changed, saying they bump up the costs of writing reinsurance for its syndicates.

EU firms say they already comply with capital requirements rules in their home country and suffer a disadvantage compared to American competitors.

EU efforts to change this have made little progress for years but it will be one of the main topics for the Transatlantic Economic Council that meets in Brussels on May 13, industry, European Commission and trade lobby officials said.

The TEC was set up last year as an initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to cut barriers to transatlantic business, already the world's biggest trading link.

The council is led on the EU side by the bloc's executive European Commission.

"The issue of insurance and the discrimination against European reinsurers in the United States in particular, that is high on the agenda and is one of the priority issues we have on our list," EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said.

The TEC must show "clear deliveries" on a range of issues to be taken seriously, Verheugen told a news conference after a meeting of industry ministers in Slovenia, current EU president.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, who will also attend the TEC meeting, has more leverage than in the past over the United States to press for change, industry officials say.

This year the EU is adopting a far-reaching shake-up of how insurers based in the bloc must set aside reserves.

Solvency II will also affect non-EU insurers that want to serve customers in the 27-nation bloc, and McCreevy will have to decide whether a third country's solvency regime is "equivalent".

"The big place it could cause problems is in the United States. The Europeans point out the fact there is not a single supervisor there," said Peter Vipond, director of financial regulation at the Association of British Insurers.

"If you can't get a single supervisor, you can't get an equivalent regime," Vipond said.

McCreevy's spokesman had no immediate comment.

Insurance oversight in the United States is at state level and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners requires foreign reinsurers to post 100 percent of their U.S. obligations in American accounts as collateral.

Without equivalence, companies from outside the EU will be unable to benefit from Solvency II's key provision to let groups calculate a single reserve sum, which is set to be lower than the total of reserves in each country in which they operate.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- who might attend the May talks -- last month proposed an optional federal charter for insurers. However, some state regulators are likely to resist a loss of power and adopting such reform may take years. (Additional reporting by Marja Novak in Brdo, Slovenia; Editing by Dale Hudson)

LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - Global hedge fund industry assets rose to $2.65 trillion at the start of 2008, data group HedgeFund Intelligence said on Wednesday, but growth slowed in the second half of 2007 as the credit crisis began to bite. While the $2.65 trillion represents asset growth of 27 percent from the $2.079 trillion recorded a year ago, growth in the second half was a far more modest 6.6 percent. The data comes as the hedge fund industry faces one of its toughest challenges, as the credit crisis, which began last summer, leads to market volatility, investor redemptions and prime brokers paring back leverage.

According to preliminary data from the BarclayHedge Fund Index, the average hedge fund lost 4.4 percent in the first quarter, while other firms measuring hedge fund performance also recorded falls.

HedgeFund Intelligence also said there were now more than 390 firms globally that run hedge fund assets of $1 billion or more. The combined assets of these firms is $2.083 trillion, or nearly 80 percent of industry assets. New York is home to 144 of these firms, up from 123 firms a year ago, while London remains the dominant hedge fund centre in Europe, with 75 firms, up from 72.

As in the rest of the world, the bigger firms in Europe are becoming more dominant. The top 22 firms in Europe now run 44 percent of European assets, up from 37 percent a year ago. (Reporting by Laurence Fletcher, editing by Will Waterman)

"Supply continues to grow at a faster rate than that of cedent demand, which implies continued softening," said Bryon Ehrhart, president and CEO of Aon Re Services.

Expectations for property and casualty reinsurers leading up to the June 1 and July 1 renewals are driven by the following factors:

    --  Low severity of property catastrophe losses in 2006, 2007 and the first quarter of 2008

    --  15 to 20 percent returns on equity in 2007

    --  Significant reserve releases in 2007 and further reserve releases anticipated in 2008

    --  Growing capital bases, due in part to lighter share repurchases than anticipated

    --  Stability or anticipated decreases in key U.S. perils of property catastrophe loss models

    --  Limited impact on most reinsurers from mortgage security losses and the repricing of credit risk

    --  Increased interest in assuming property catastrophe and other insurance risks from capital markets investors through insurance- linked securities, industry loss warranty swaps or collateralized reinsurance transactions at prices comparable to projected decreases in traditional reinsurance costs

At current pricing levels, and with the capitalization of the property and casualty reinsurance market, Aon Re Global estimates that it would require a ground-up property catastrophe occurrence loss in the range of $30 billion to $50 billion to change the direction of property catastrophe reinsurance rates, terms and conditions.

A substantial majority of the world's largest property insurers now utilize risk transfer capacity through sponsorship of catastrophe bond transactions. This alternative facility now represents between 10 and 30 percent of program capacity for insurers buying more than $500 million of coverage for peak reinsurance aggregate zones. Aon Re Global expects this trend to continue through 2008 as even more catastrophe bond funds are raised.

For more information, visit: http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=63&item=196.

Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

During the meeting, Sen. Schumer asked the SEC to find out if Moody's Corp (MCO.N: ) changed ratings analysts on specific deals at Wall Street bond issuers' request, the report said.

Moody's was not immediately available for comment.

Rating companies such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's have been criticized by regulators for fuelling the U.S. housing market boom and subsequent downfall by assigning overly optimistic ratings to risky securities and downgrading them soon after.

Since the subprime meltdown, the SEC has been scrutinizing credit raters' role in the financial crisis and whether they were influenced by companies and underwriters.

The SEC was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; Editing by David Holmes)

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

PITTSBURGH, April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers said today that Continental Tire North America, (CTNA) has agreed to make $158 million in payments to a retiree health insurance fund. The settlement is in response to a lawsuit filed by the USW and a class of retirees when  CTNA implemented a $3,000 cap on its payments for retiree health coverage, a change which forced many retirees to pay $1,000 or more monthly for coverage.

"This was an unconscionable attempt by an employer to strip away benefits from retirees who had already paid for them with a lifetime of work," said USW President Leo W. Gerard. "We couldn't let that happen, especially given the current shambles of our country's health care system."

The lawsuit asserted that CTNA's unilateral modification of retiree health care coverage in April 2007 violated federal law. Last July, Judge Jack Zouhary of the Northern District of Ohio agreed by ruling that the company had no right to reduce or terminate benefits.

The settlement provides for a fund to provide retiree health benefits for a group of about 2,300 retirees as well as about 100 active employees who are eligible for coverage upon their retirement. When the settlement becomes effective, CTNA will make payments into a Voluntary Employee Benefit Association (VEBA) to be used for retiree health benefits, which are worth about $158 million in today's dollars.

"We shouldn't fool ourselves," Peter Kurer told the Financial Times in an interview. "We can't pretend that there has been no reputation damage. Experience says it goes away after two or three years."

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, has written down around $37 billion in assets and cleaned out most senior management -- including chairman Marcel Ospel -- after asking investors for emergency cash two times in as many months.

Kurer is expected to assume the chairmanship after the group's annual shareholders meeting on April 23.

(Reporting by Thomas Atkins; Editing by Ben Tan)

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Throughout the day there will be events to increase awareness of the need to sign a healthcare advance directive, also known as a “living will” or a “healthcare power of attorney,” at hospitals, physicians’ offices and community centers in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, as well as internationally on U.S. Army and Navy bases. Organizers will provide information and tools on how to execute written advance directives in accordance with applicable state laws.

For more information on National Healthcare Decisions Day and a list of all of the organizations involved, go to http://www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org. The website also provides free advance directive forms for every state and tools to assist on making healthcare choices.

According to a new study released by earthquake scientists Monday, the chance of a 6.7 magnitude temblor -- the size of the 1994 Northridge quake -- during the next 30 years is 97 percent in Southern California and 93 percent in Northern California. The chance of a 7.5 quake -- which shakes at 16 times the intensity of a 6.7 quake -- is 37 percent in southern counties and 15 percent in the north.

A recent study by Bay Area estimating firm Risk Management Solutions calculated that shaking from a 6.8 magnitude earthquake along the Hayward Fault would result in $165 billion in property losses.

Experts estimate that roughly 12 percent of California homeowners have purchased earthquake insurance policies, leaving millions of Californians financially unprotected in the event of a catastrophic quake -- a figure that may prove catastrophic in its own right, said Candysse Miller, executive director of the Insurance Information Network of California.

“With a catastrophic earthquake a near certainty in the next few decades, far too few homeowners have a financial recovery plan in place,” Miller said. “The result could be billions of dollars in uninsured damage to homes and small businesses.”

Polling commissioned by IINC last year found that 19 percent of California homeowners believe they have earthquake insurance. This may indicate confusion over homeowner insurance coverage. Earthquake damage is not covered under a standard homeowner insurance policy and must be purchased separately.

“With scientists certain that a catastrophic quake will hit our state in the next 30 years, it means that millions of people currently have no means for financial recovery from the possible – even likely – damage to their homes,” Miller said.

A 2006 IINC poll also found that less than half of Californians consider themselves prepared for an earthquake.

IINC is non-profit, non-lobbying insurance communications association dedicated to helping the public understand insurance and risk management issues. For more information on this and other related subjects, visit www.iinc.org. 

THE TIME EFFECTIVE WAY TO STAY AHEAD  

• Worldwide sales at Legal&General up1%
• Watson Wyatt launches replication portfolio tool for insurers
• 2nd Middle East Conference on Bancassurance
• IBM Information on Demand Conference UK 2008
• Omega stops takeover talks
• Protective Life launches Electronic Policy Delivery
• Howden opens in Poland
• IAG rejects QBE offer
• Online documentation from Groupama in the UK
• FirstBest and INSTEC in strategic alliance
• Cliff joins Fortis as UK md
• Eight further reports from Research and Markets
• Chubb the latest to look at Brazil reinsurance opportunity
• Chinese insurers need to offer wider coverage says regulator
• SocGen life business improves
• UK corporates seeing rates drop by up to 20% says Aon
• Survey of 100 insurance equity analysts globally identifies issues and trends
• Oval acquires in Northern Ireland
• Takaful market could reach $15bn by 2018 says Ernst & Young
• Brandon resigns at General Re
• JC Flowers sets Friends Provident talks deadline
• Fewer new start-ups in Bermuda

The Journal said in its online edition that the writedowns would take the total since October to more than $30 billion and lead to a third straight quarterly net loss at Merrill, the longest such losing streak in its 94-year history.

(Reporting by Eric Burroughs; additional reporting by Olesya Dmitracova in London, editing by Will Waterman)

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

NEW YORK & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Investors have highlighted their concerns about world-wide currency misalignment amid growing gloom over the global economy, according to Merrill Lynch’s Survey of Fund Managers for April.

At a time when G7 policymakers have been warning that excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth, investors have signaled that they believe exchange-rates have already departed from fundamentals. April’s results are some of the most extreme currency readings in the survey’s history. A net 50 percent of asset allocators regards the U.S. dollar as ‘undervalued’, up from a net 30 percent three months ago. In contrast, a net 71 percent sees the euro as over-valued, up from 55 percent in January 2008. More worrying perhaps, is that a net 52 percent of investors still believes that sterling is overvalued despite its recent collapse.

“Investors are beginning to acknowledge sterling’s biggest depreciation against other European currencies since 1992,” said David Bowers, independent consultant to Merrill Lynch. “What is striking is investors’ fear that further decline is still to come, thereby resulting in their taking an even greater bearish stance on U.K. equities.” www.ml.com

The average federal tax refund this year is $2,464, according to statistics compiled by the Internal Revenue Service through late March. In addition, under the economic stimulus plan, most taxpayers beginning next month will receive $600, with couples filing jointly receiving $1,200. Families with children may receive an additional $300 per child.

“There are smart ways to use your rebates and refunds,” said Maliz Beams, Executive Vice President for Individual Client Services. “If you have credit card debt, pay that down first. Make sure you have enough in savings to cover your expenses for a few months if you lose your job. And if your employer offers a 401(k) plan, be sure to take advantage of it, especially if your employer offers a company match.”

Prudential Financial can help with those decisions. Its retirement experts have developed 12 practical tips to help you manage financial risks so you don’t see, well, red, in The Retirement Red Zone. And some of these decisions are best made right now, during tax season. This week’s tip marks the ninth in a series that will run through May 6.

Tip No. 9: Sign a Power of Attorney. www.prudential.com/retirementincome. 

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) today announced an agreement between its Individual Life Insurance business and BancorpSouth to offer MyTermSM, a new simplified issue term life insurance policy available through the Internet, to BancorpSouth customers. Through an online automated underwriting process that can be accessed from virtually anywhere, MyTermSM delivers a policy in about 10 minutes to qualified customers that can then be saved electronically or printed locally.

The Commerce Department said housing starts set an annual pace of 947,000 units in March, lower than the 1.02 million expected by economists. The February starts figure was revised upward to 1.075 million from the 1.065 million originally reported.

The home starts pace was the lowest since a 921,000 rate set in March 1991.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Additional reporting by Richard Leong in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved