Randy Dyer joins Mark Wahlstrom on Speaking of Settlements

Randy Dyer, former executive vice president of NSSTA and industry expert on structured settlements joins Mark Wahlstrom on this weeks Speaking of Settlements. Mark and Randy discuss the recent slump in structured settlement premium, the political implications of the 2008 elections on litigation and claims as well as the future of the structured settlement industry and profession.

One of the great things about being over 50 and independent is having the freedom to say what you think with out a lot of repercussions and Mark and Randy will be doing a three part series of conversations about the structure settlement profession from the perspective of their combined 50 plus years of experience. Part one is centering on the legal and political trends, as well as economic factors, that point to a coming golden age in settlements, while at the same time seeing the contradiction of a serious slump in the first two quarters of 2009 in annuity premium written.

This interview is longer then our typical 10 minute piece, but it's a very interesting conversation as to the current state of the industry and lays the foundation for future segments looking at ways to grow the structured settlement profession in the coming years.

You can follow Randy Dyer on Facebook or watch for the rest of this series here on The Settlement Channel.

Comments

[Jack]

Fixed annuity sales are through the roof in the retail sector; if Randy is right, and we should be in a similar growth period because of the turmoil. So why is our business shrinking?? Why are life companies leaving this business and none interested in coming in? Tort claims are still being paid out. Are the brokers losing their edge? Is it because AIG and Hartford, two of our top carriers, are in the midst of the financial turmoil? I think your comments on paying debts with the cash is definitely a factor with the plaintiffs. I have also seen an ongoing lack of interest in structures as a settlement tool by the defense due to the growth of plaintiff brokering (not knocking it, just stating a fact).

Listening to Randy makes me ask the obvious question. Where is NSSTA in all of this? Isn't it their job to protect and grow our industry? Forget growth...we're losing sales and losing markets. I think we need some leadership...Randy come back!!