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Hagens Berman Investigates Life Partners Holdings, Inc. on behalf of Shareholders

^{Published on 2011-01-25 19:00:34 - Market Wire}
 

BERKELEY, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, an investor rights law firm, is investigating potential securities fraud involving Life Partners Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ GS:LPHI) on behalf of stockholders who purchased LPHI stock between May 29, 2007, and January 20, 2011 (the aClass Perioda).

"Odds Skew Against Investors in Bets on Strangers' Lives"

Details of the investigation can be found at [ www.hbsslaw.com/LPHI ]. If you have information regarding this matter, or purchased LPHI stock between May 29, 2007, and January 20, 2011, you are encouraged to call Hagens Berman partner Reed R. Kathrein at 510-725-3000 for a personal consultation, or contact the Hagens Berman legal team at [ LPHI@hbsslaw.com ].

On January 20, Life Partners Holdings, Inc. confirmed in a company press release that federal regulators were investigating the insurance company. The companya™s confirmation was then followed by The Wall Street Journal article entitled a[ SEC Probes Company Over Life-Span Data ],a which reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission was looking into the way the company estimates the life expectancies of insured individuals.

In an earlier story published on December 21, 2010, The Wall Street Journal had also questioned the companya™s life expectancy projections. The article, a[ Odds Skew Against Investors in Bets on Strangers' Lives ],a indicated that Life Partners Holdings, Inc. may have amade large fees from its life-insurance transactions while often significantly underestimating the life expectancies of people whose policies its customers invest in.a

Life Partners Holdings, Inc., a Waco, Texas, company, is engaged in the secondary market for life insurance, commonly called "life settlements." Life Partners Holdings, Inc. helps investors buy life insurance policies of terminally ill patients and the elderly at a discount to the policies' face value.

Hagens Berman seeks information regarding questions raised by The Wall Street Journal surrounding the accuracy of the methodology used by Life Partners Holdings, Inc. for its life-expectancy projections. The projections are important because the company can charge investors more for policies that have shorter life expectancies, and therefore faster payouts. If the insured individual's death comes later than estimated, the payout is delayed and investors must continue paying premiums, reducing their eventual returns.

According to news reports, Life Partners Holdings, Inc. uses a single physician based in Reno, Nev., to provide its life-expectancy estimates. An actuary interviewed by The Wall Street Journal stated that he had reviewed this physiciana™s work five years ago and had concluded that the Reno a"based physician was using an aunrealistica approach that tended to produce inaccurately short life expectancies.

Shares of LPHI dipped by $2.61, or about 17 percent, to $12.43 after Life Partners Holding, Inc. confirmed the SEC investigation and The Wall Street Journal article. In December 2010, and prior to news articles from The Wall Street Journal, the LPHI stock traded as high as $18.34.

More information about this case is available at: [ www.hbsslaw.com/LPHI ].

About Hagens Berman

Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is an investor rights class action law firm and represents whistleblowers in cases under the federal False Claims Act and state false claims acts. The firm also specializes in Wall Street Reform Whistleblower litigation. Hagens Berman has offices in Boston, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Founded in 1993, more about the law firm and its successes can be found at [ www.hbsslaw.com ]. Founded in 1993, HBSS continues to successfully fight for investor rights in large, complex litigation. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at [ www.hbsslaw.com ]. A discussion of the Wall Street tip-off law can be found [ here ]. Visit the firma™s securities blog at [ www.meaningfuldisclosure.com ].