Investing Strategies for Alternative Global Markets (Collection)

3. Reverse Equity Transactions

A reverse equity transaction is a financial product that allows an individual—in this case, a senior citizen—to extract equity from an asset without the use of credit but rather life expectancy. For the sake of this discussion, reverse equity transactions may be defined as senior life settlements and reverse mortgages. These transactions have become increasingly popular with investors in recent years because they offer returns in the low to mid-teens that are largely uncorrelated to equities, fixed income, credit, real estate, and commodities. On the consumer side, these transactions can provide for health care and retirement costs in a person’s golden years.

Many institutional investors (especially hedge funds ...