Website Critique

And by the way...

Viatical companies frequently try to convince investors that an investment in a viatical is "guaranteed" because everybody dies. But that is not the proper way to measure the worth of any investment, even a viatical settlement. What is not guaranteed is the date of death of the insured person (viator). The return on a viatical settlement is completely dependent on when the viator dies. At a minimum, you should expect to have your principal returned with the additional amount promised by the viatical company, but that is hardly the same as saying that your return is guaranteed as of the projected date.

The viatical salesperson will ask you how long you want to invest. Your decision determines the amount of return on your investment, but not the rate of return. For example, let's say you want to invest $10,000 for two years. The company tells you that your return will be $2,280, for an annualized return of 11.4 percent per year. However, if the viator dies in four years, instead of two, the annualized return drops to 5.5 percent. The longer the viator lives, the lower your annualized rate of return.

However, that is not the worst case scenario. It is possible that your return could be negative if the reserve fund set aside to continue to pay policy premiums is depleted before the viator dies. You and other investors could be the ones left to continue making premium payments without which the policy would terminate. If that premium were unpaid, the policy would be canceled and you would lose your entire investment.

And remember, just because you want to continue making premium payments does not mean all of the other investors will wish to do so. You could still lose your investment if the other investors who were pooled together with you to purchase the policy now fail to make their pro rata premium payments for the next period. In that case, you could be offered the right to assume the interest of one or more of those other investors. If you were to do so, your pro rata share of the policy proceeds would increase along with a larger responsibility for any additional premium.

Viatical settlement investment companies sometimes advertise that investors cannot lose their investment, as one can do in other types of investments. This is false. There have been complaints from a number of individuals who have invested in viaticals and have lost their entire investment. As with any investment, an investment in viaticals includes risk and anyone considering investing in them should research the matter thoroughly before investing.


O.G
 
I personally have an issue with the site (page) since it doesn't really tell me anything, but, wants my contact info. Nothing really compells me to fill this in. Okay, the FDIC. regulated and historically safe comment makes me wonder, but it also makes it sound like something slightly unethical (not the standard FDIC phrase, which makes it sound not legit).

For me to respond to this, you have to give me a bit more information. You won't get mine (as in a general comment, on any website) unless I have a pretty good feeling of what I'm getting into. To me, that's what the purpose of a website is for, to impart information. This is solely a marketing site, I would close it out pretty quickly.

Dan
 
I agree with what everyone is saying about the "sketchy" information on the website.

But as a design of website I think it's very good. If you took this same design and put a legit product on it such as Long-Term Care Insurance, Life Insurance, Health Insurance, etc. as a single-focus website I think it would do very good.

That's my non-expert opinion.
 
I appreciate all the comments. They were very informative. It is a marketing site and not a traditional website. My website is being redone and both sites will be linked together.

Yes the life settlement division of my firm is new, as you can see on the TDI page. Our parent company has been around for about 5 years. I have been in the LS market for awhile before coming to SG.

No this is not a viatical investment, it is a life settlement investment and yes there is a difference. Also there is not the traditional risks that are described above or the risks investors will find by going through Life Partners (out of Waco). My product is structured like a bond. You buy in for a structured amount of time and receive your payout at the end of the term regardless of the senior living or dying. I can do this by wrapping each policy with reinsurance. The reinsurance covers the investors if the senior lives longer than projected.
 
I'm quite familiar with this setup. Any time you receive a payout AT THE END OF THE TERM...unless it is a top-rated bond...stay the hell away.

In fairness, that's just my opinion, but also the opinion of a hell of a lot of other people.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck. But your best bet is to provide, IN DETAIL, a complete description in writing on your website before asking anyone their phone number or email address.

Provide your financial background, how long YOU have been dealing with this product and a complete prospectus (or like) that can be viewed and downloaded.
 
Provide your financial background, how long YOU have been dealing with this product and a complete prospectus (or like) that can be viewed and downloaded.

Ditto! I had a longer post to make, but didn't want to get my hands slapped from my compliance department :)

Dan
 
I agree with the previous posters about the lack of additional pages. You definitely need some substance for your webSITE. It will help in communication, credibility (who are you and how can I contact you), and also for SEO. For SEO, there are many many factors, but you are doing yourself a major disservice by only having one page. Also - Flash animations and big graphics look nice, but also negatively affect SEO.

Michael
 
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