The great gains in life expectancy as people gave up smoking and treatments for heart disease improved have run their course. In the U.K., at least, longevity has gone into reverse. That’s sobering for people turning 65, but for life insurers it is turning into a cash windfall. The trend will boost earnings for some U.S. insurers, too, over time. Companies like Prudential Financial and Pacific Life, a mutual insurer, have become big reinsurers of the risk that British people live longer than expected.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 14, 2019 13:07 UTC