The nation’s top 100 life insurers suffered record unrealized capital losses last year, according to Highline Data.
The Highline Data 2008 Top 100 Performance Monitor revealed a sharp plunge in unrealized capital gains/losses among the top 100 life insurers, from a gain of $1.4 billion in 2007 to a loss of $51.7 billion in 2008
The sharp year-over-year decline for the life industry was driven by sharp drops in stock values. Capital paid-in, however, held the surplus decline to 4.7%.