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01 · How it works
Uncorrelated yield from a contractual asset.
A life settlement is the purchase of an existing life insurance policy from its original policyholder at a price above the policy’s cash surrender value but below its face (death benefit) value. The policyholder receives immediate liquidity; Apex assumes the ongoing premium obligations and receives the contractual death benefit when the policy matures.
Returns are determined by two factors: the accuracy of the life expectancy underwriting at acquisition, and the discipline of premium management through to maturity. Neither factor has any relationship to public market performance. Life settlement returns are driven by actuarial outcomes — not by macro conditions, interest rate movements, or equity valuations.
The asset class has demonstrated near-zero correlation to public equity and fixed income markets across multiple market cycles, making it a structurally uncorrelated source of alternative yield for institutional portfolios.
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02 · Why Uncorrelated
Returns driven by actuarial factors, not markets.
No rate sensitivity
Life settlement returns are determined by mortality timing and policy administration — not by the interest rate environment. A policy’s contractual death benefit is fixed regardless of market conditions.
No equity exposure
The return on a life settlement policy has no relationship to equity market performance. The asset class performed during the 2008 financial crisis, the 2020 COVID drawdown, and other periods of public market stress.
Contractual return structure
The death benefit on a life insurance policy is a contractual obligation of a regulated insurance carrier — not a market-dependent return. The return is a function of when the benefit is paid relative to the acquisition cost and premiums invested.
Long-term thinking. Selective investing.
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Strategy · Investment Process
From sourcing to maturity.
Apex’s vertically integrated model means the same team manages every stage — eliminating the information gaps that arise when origination, underwriting, and portfolio management are handled by separate parties.
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01 · Origination
Sourcing
Policies are sourced through licensed life settlement brokers and Apex Settlement Group, the firm’s affiliated provider. Each policy is evaluated against Apex’s defined acquisition criteria covering face value, insured profile, carrier quality, and policy type before any underwriting resources are committed.
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02 · Underwriting
Medical & Actuarial Analysis
Apex’s in-house medical and actuarial teams independently model each insured’s life expectancy using a multi-vendor LE assessment process. The acquisition price is set against a conservative internal return threshold. Full legal review of the policy — enforceability, beneficiary structure, contestability — is completed before any offer is made.
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03 · Servicing
Portfolio Management
Following acquisition, Apex’s operations team manages all ongoing premium obligations, monitors policy status with the carrier, and conducts regular life expectancy reviews. Portfolio performance is tracked against acquisition underwriting throughout the hold period, with transparent reporting provided to investors.
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05 · Why Apex
Vertical integration as underwriting advantage.
Apex’s distinguishing characteristic in the life settlement market is the integration of origination, provider licensing, medical and actuarial underwriting, legal review, and portfolio management within one firm. The sourcing pipeline — maintained through Apex Settlement Group and established broker relationships — gives the investment team direct visibility into deal flow quality before any underwriting resources are committed.
The team’s combined experience spans more than $2 billion in face value across institutional portfolios, bespoke transactions, and secondary-market liquidity events. That depth of transactional experience informs every acquisition decision and provides the market intelligence that generalist capital cannot replicate.
The founding partners have been directly involved in the acquisition and management of more than $2 billion in face value of life insurance policies.
Source: Ezra Roth biography, as stated on firm profile.