Let's Protect More Americans Against the Risk of Death: LIMRA CEO

For the past few years, David Levenson has come on the podium at LIMRA annual conferences and suggested that something in the economy could change, and disrupt life insurers' steady, powerful increases in revenue and profits. Today, LIMRA's chief executive officer had trouble finding time to list all of the stunning events that have rocked LIMRA member companies in the past year. "I think we've seen a lot of decades happen in 2020," Levenson said today, during the opening general session of the Windsor, Connecticut-based industry group's 2020 annual conference, which was held online, in a "virtual" format, because of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Related: Tech Is What Could Really Kill Us: Life Insurer Bosses)Because of the pandemic, unemployment increased to about 16% in the second quarter, gross domestic product fell 32%, 100,000 small businesses closed forever, wildfires burned over vast areas, cries for social equality and racial justice came back strong, and, on one day in August, the temperature in Death Valley, California, reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit, Levenson said.