For this hedge fund, betting on death is turning out better than expected

The fund delivered a return of 9.9 per cent in 2018, beating the average loss of 3.5 per cent for the Nordic Hedge Index

One of the top hedge funds in the Nordics is betting only on life and death.

The Stockholm-based hedge fund manager, Resscapital AB, is active in the US market for so-called life settlements, in which retirees sell their life insurance policies to a third party at a discount. The fund only buys policies after an independent medical underwriting to estimate life expectancy, profiting if it turns out to be accurate.

The fund has now been snapping up policies since 2011 and is starting to profit as its sellers are, well, dying.

“The portfolio is aging and that raises the probability for payouts,” said