10 Most Influential People in Life Settlements
By Jim Connolly - Apr 2010
To get a good sense of J. Mark Goode and why he was nominated and is among the Top 10, one need only look at the comments of some of the nominators for a complete picture. One nominator cited his "strong commitment to the industry" while another nominator filled out that canvas with some color: "he raised $150,000 for legislative agenda in the first year as chairman of LISA's political action committee."
If Goode is able to persuade fellow industry members to contribute to the future of the industry, it is because he believes in that future. In a January 2010 Industry Profile article, he was optimistic about the future of the life settlement industry.
"In 2010, I believe the capital will return to life settlements and the growth of our market will resume its acceleration. Someone in our industry will build a $1 billion life settlement fund. It is going to happen and in this abundant market that success need not be limited to only one player."
But part of what makes him a leader is how he tempers his belief in the industry with pragmatism. He also noted that "This return of capital in 2010 will help the market to grow and will bring it back into balance between buyers and sellers. 2009 has been a soft "Buyers" market and there has been less economic value available for sellers of life policies, resulting in less motivation for owners of policies to sell them. If a policy owner has a choice, he is less likely to sell a policy in a soft market. It would be similar to saying, "I have a well located condo in New York City and I'm not selling this year because I know the New York market has strong intrinsic value that is not reflected in the current market pricing."