The total number of life insurance policies purchased in the life settlement industry’s secondary market grew 10.2% from 2,697 in 2024 to 2,972 in 2025, according to new data published by life settlement provider, Coventry.
When measured by face value purchased, the increase was 5.6%, rising from $3.59bn in 2024 to $3.79bn in 2025. Regardless, the data shows a welcome return to growth for the market, which had retracted 14.1% in terms of the number of transactions from 2023 to 2024.
Reasons abound as to why the market pulled back in 2024. Some point to life settlement TV advertising – a significant driver of awareness in the secondary market – being priced out of the market due to the higher fees because of Presidential election in November of that year.
Others point to a higher interest rate environment directing retirement planning attention elsewhere as liquid fixed income investments became more appealing.
The TV advertising squeeze challenge evaporated in 2025, of course, and, the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates in the autumn of that year, supporting consideration of alternative options for retirement planning.
These factors, and more, contributed to the rebound last year.
“A few things. First, I think that increased TV advertising helps the market as a whole,” said Rob Haynie, Managing Director at broker, Life Insurance Settlements.
“And then I also think that the advisor community is generally just getting more comfortable with life settlements as a tool in a holistic retirement planning effort. It was a confluence of factors that came together last year to support increased activity.”
A 10% jump is good by most measures, but the total addressable market for the space remains way beyond current activity levels.
Solving what it says is the consumer awareness challenge is the life settlement market’s Gordian Knot. In 2024 – the most recent year for which data is available – the combined termination rate of life insurance policies in the US was 5.8%, the highest for at least a decade, good for $810bn (based on the $13.97trn of face amount of in force life insurance at the end of 2023).
The life settlement market paid $652m for its $3.79bn of face value (17%) last year, which in turn represents just 0.4% of the total face value surrendered or lapsed.
“This shows exactly why we say that awareness needs to improve. While not every life insurance policy qualifies for a life settlement, it’s clear that American consumers are leaving billions of dollars of value on the table every year. Even if we doubled the size of our market, we would still not be scratching the surface,” said Haynie.
Another engine of growth generally in the life settlement space is the market’s direct-to-consumer segment. This growth story is a conclusion that can be gleaned from the data – the smaller increase in the aggregate face value when compared to the increase in the number of transactions means that the average face value of policies purchased in the secondary market in 2025 fell when compared to the prior year; the DTC market sees smaller face values than the intermediated market, which tends to see deal flow from wealthier cohorts thanks to their advisor and professional networks.
This shift toward smaller average policy sizes suggests that the industry is successfully reaching a broader demographic of policyholders beyond that ultra-high-net-worth segment that has historically dominated the space. By leveraging multi-channel marketing, providers are engaging more with ‘main street’ seniors who may own policies with face values that were previously overlooked.
As the concept of a life settlement becomes more broadly known, the initial friction of explaining the transaction decreases, allowing for more streamlined conversations between advisors and their clients. This rising tide of general awareness is essential for the market to transition from a niche alternative to a standard component of late-stage financial planning.
“The expansion of the direct-to-consumer segment is a vital sign of a maturing market,” said Neal Jacobs, Senior Managing Director, Capital Markets at Coventry.
“By lowering the barriers to entry for the average policyholder, the industry is building a more resilient and scalable pipeline of supply. This consistent growth in transaction volume is exactly what institutional capital needs to see to justify larger, long-term allocations to the space.”
Industry insiders point to a range of benefits of life settlements as an alternative asset class: a lack of correlation to both public and private macroeconomic assets being one, the potential for delivering equity-like returns another.
But annual activity needs to rise significantly in order for the life settlement market to be large enough to attract capital from institutional investors that need to write cheques for what can sometimes be hundreds of millions of dollars.
It’s a goal that requires the market to keep on keeping on in terms of the awareness push.
“Our market has numerous benefits for diversified portfolios and increasingly, we are seeing institutional capital pools display a greater understanding of what the drivers of return of our space are,” said Adam Meltzer, Managing Partner of Apex Capital Partners.
“But the only way for us to grow is to significantly increase the number of transactions in the secondary market and that means consumer and advisor awareness. All market participants have a role to play in that endeavour, and everyone just needs to keep pushing.”
