Several factors affected the life settlement business at National Financial Partners Corp. in the second quarter, according to Doug Hammond.
Hammond, chief operating officer of National Financial Partners Corp., New York, an independent distributor of financial services products, talked about the factors recently during a call with analysts.
First, there has been "margin compression in the business, which is driven by heightened transparency and regulatory initiative," Hammond said.
"Margin compression appears to have stabilized, and we feel this is consistent with the maturation of this market," Hammond said, according to a transcript made by Seeking Alpha, Bronx, N.Y., a firm that offers stock market opinion and analysis at Document Link.
Second, "concerns over the risks associated with the purchase of non-traditional premium finance policies have caused many investors to implement a more rigorous diligence process," Hammond said, according to the transcript.
This "slowed the closing process and in some cases, reduced the settlement value or precluded a settlement altogether of such policies," Hammond said.
"Finally," he said, "turmoil in the credit market has impacted the ability of certain investors to deploy capital at the same levels as prior periods."
