Goldman abandoning life settlements market

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has retreated even further from the life settlements arena, shutting down Longmore Capital, its life settlements provider. The move essentially marks Goldman Sachs's full exit from the secondary life settlements market, said Michael DuVally, a spokesman for the firm said Friday. He said that the decision to shut down the life settlements provider was a “commercial decision.” “Basically when we entered in 2006, we thought the life settlements market had the potential to grow into a large institutional market, but at the present time we don't see it growing beyond the size it has right now,” Mr. DuVally added. Goldman's decision to shut down Longmore Capital, which was first reported by The Life Settlements Wire, arrives about a month after the investment bank's decision to shut down its QxX mortality index. Launched in January 2008, the QxX index tracked the lives of 46,000 people over 65 with a primary impairment (other than AIDS or HIV). Goldman followed that with the release of the QxX.LS.2 index in December 2008, with another pool of 65,655 people over 65 with conditions that included cancer and diabetes. That market never took off, however, and industry observers said that few trades were made on the index. Longmore Capital is currently winding down its business. E-mail Darla Mercado at dmercado@investmentnews.com.