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LEGACY BENEFITS AND MOFET HOLDINGS ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC INVESTMENT
LEGACY TO EXPAND INTO LIFE SETTLEMENT PORTFOLIO TRADING
Legacy Benefits Corporation (New York), a recognized leader in the life settlement industry, announces a strategic partnership with Mofet Holdings, Ltd. to broaden Legacy’s role as principal in the origination and trade of life insurance settlements and portfolios. As part of this new alliance, Mofet will acquire for cash a 50 percent interest in Legacy Benefits, LLC. Mofet Holdings is a subsidiary of Kaman Holdings, both public Israeli companies (TASE: MOFTH, KMNH), with investments in a wide range of business sectors worldwide. Kaman’s principal shareholder and chairman of the board, Roni Elroy, is an active director of the third largest conglomerate in Israel, whose chairman recently purchased the Plaza Hotel in New York.
Supporting Legacy Benefits’ strategic growth plan, the Mofet investment will enable Legacy to expand on its acquisition strategy by purchasing a broader spectrum of policies. These policies will be warehoused and resold individually or as blocks in the active secondary market.
“I am extremely excited about the future of our partnership with such a successful and internationally respected organization as Kaman. This new strategic alliance will enable Legacy to leverage its extensive experience and market intelligence in the secondary market for life insurance policies to assemble innovative investment products,” said Meir Eliav, founder and president of Legacy Benefits. “Given our years of involvement in the life settlement space, we have considerable expertise in policy underwriting and acquisition, as well as in the development of portfolios to meet specified financial objectives. This new partnership provides us with a platform to leverage fully our industry know-how, taking the firm to a new level with greater access to a full range of policies as they come onto the market. This transaction allows Legacy to further expand its access to the international capital markets.”
Eliav points out that life insurance policy portfolios or blocks have a greater market appeal than individual policies. “Investors are recognizing that the purchase of a block of policies minimizes ramp up and immediately generates fully realized returns because the portfolio purchasing process is completed in a short timeframe. Therefore, the acquisition of a quality portfolio generates a significant premium. Legacy Benefits is now extremely well positioned to capitalize on this growing demand.”
“The life settlement field is expanding dramatically and offers a wealth of opportunities. We are now poised to benefit from this potential as part of Mofet’s U.S. expansion strategy focusing on the financial services sector,” said Giora Inbar, Kaman chief executive officer and Mofet chairman. “Kaman is particularly pleased to partner with Legacy Benefits, a well respected company in the life settlement industry and to work with their experienced and talented team. The future is bright. We are very optimistic about the opportunities ahead.” Mofet’s investment in Legacy Benefits represents their entrance into the financial services and insurance arenas.
Meir Eliav and the Legacy management team will continue to lead the Legacy Benefits organization.
About Legacy Benefits
A recognized leader in the life settlement industry, Legacy Benefits pioneered this burgeoning specialty finance field 16 years ago and today maintains its reputation as an industry innovator. Since 1991, Legacy Benefits has specialized in the origination, servicing and management of life insurance assets for a broad range of institutional clients. It utilizes an ever-evolving array of sophisticated analytical tools and upholds the highest ethical standards when evaluating and acquiring insurance policies for its institutional clientele. Legacy Benefits was founded by company president Meir Eliav, a 30-year financial services veteran, who was a founding member and past-president of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), the largest U.S. trade association in the industry.
In 2004, the innovative firm became the first ever to originate a portfolio of life settlement assets for a securitization transaction underwritten by Merrill Lynch and rated A1/Baa3 rating by Moody’s Investor Services. In 2006, Legacy Benefits received and reviewed life insurance policies covering over 8,000 lives with a total face value of approximately U.S. $12 billion.
About Kaman Holdings and Mofet Holdings
Kaman Holdings, a public Israeli company (TASE: KMNH), invests through its subsidiaries in trade, manufacturing, retail, real estate, financial services and information technology. The group, which has invested in 24 companies to date, focuses on mature companies possessing quality management teams, reputations and growth potential. Mofet Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MOFTH), a public investment company, is a subsidiary of Kaman Holdings.
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