Reframing a Financial Option Through Education and Trust
Each year, billions of dollars in life insurance policies are surrendered or lapse, often without policyholders realizing there is another option. For many individuals, these decisions are not driven by choice but by limited information. When circumstances change, and a policy is no longer needed or affordable, owners frequently assume their only paths are to keep paying premiums or walk away.
For the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), this represented more than a knowledge gap. It was a reputational and educational challenge facing an entire industry. Life settlements are a regulated, legal financial option, yet awareness remains low among consumers and inconsistent among financial advisors. At the same time, public narratives about life settlements have historically lacked context, overlooking both modern consumer protections and the industry’s origins.
In 2025, LISA launched a national media and public relations campaign to address this challenge not through promotion, but through education, credibility-building, and responsible storytelling.
An Industry Defined by Silence, Not Choice
LISA’s goal was not simply to generate visibility. The organization sought to change understanding.
Research and experience showed that awareness alone would not lead to better outcomes. To create impact, the campaign needed to establish trust across multiple audiences: policyholders, financial advisors, policymakers, and the media. This required balancing emotional resonance with professional rigor.
The guiding insight was clear: to reposition life settlements as a legitimate financial option, LISA needed to pair human-centered storytelling with clear, fiduciary-aligned education, delivered through trusted third-party channels.
Building Understanding Across Distinct Audiences
LISA designed a dual-track strategy that allowed the campaign to unfold across two complementary dimensions.
The first track focused on cultural and historical context—acknowledging the origins of the life settlement market and applying a conscious inclusion lens. The second track concentrated on advisor education and industry credibility, ensuring financial professionals had the tools and confidence to discuss life settlements appropriately.
Together, these tracks created a cohesive narrative: one that explained not only what life settlements are, but why they matter.
Establishing Historical and Human Context
The cultural foundation of the campaign was Cashing Out, a short documentary released by The New Yorker. The film explores the origins of viatical settlements during the AIDS crisis, when marginalized LGBTQ+ communities, often abandoned by institutions, sold life insurance policies to preserve dignity, access care, and maintain financial agency.
LISA served as an executive producer on the project, supporting the film as a means of contextualizing the industry’s history and acknowledging its roots. This partnership reflected a conscious inclusion strategy: recognizing that responsible education requires honesty about the past.
Cashing Out qualified for the 2026 Academy Awards, significantly expanding its reach and introducing the life settlement conversation to a broader cultural audience. In partnership with the National AIDS Memorial, an early screening was held at the NYC LGBT Community Center, reinforcing LISA’s commitment to respectful storytelling and community engagement.
The documentary is publicly available at:
https://www.cashingoutmovie.com/
When Interest Became Informed Conversation
While the documentary provided context and visibility, LISA simultaneously addressed the practical needs of financial advisors, the professionals most likely to influence consumer outcomes.
LISA launched a six-month collaboration with Insurance News Net (INN), a trusted publication within the financial advisory community. The campaign was structured to deliver sustained, credible education rather than a single exposure.
Key elements included:
- Strategic ad placements introducing life settlements as a regulated planning option
- A false cover and featured articles in print and digital editions
- Executive interviews with LISA Board members
- A 12-page mini-magazine, The Advisor’s Guide to Life Settlements, was distributed to approximately 50,000 subscribers
The Guide focused on fiduciary responsibility, regulatory protections, and real-world client scenarios, supported by clear design and infographics that simplified complex concepts. To extend its impact, LISA made the Guide available in a co-branded format, enabling members to distribute customized versions at conferences and client meetings.
A companion resource, Your Guide to Common Life Settlement Questions, provided additional clarity on process, disclosures, and licensing requirements, reinforcing transparency and consumer protection.
Measuring Engagement Through Action
A defining feature of the campaign was LISA’s decision to prioritize education over conversion.
Nearly 100 requests for additional information were generated through the INN campaign. Rather than treating these inquiries as sales leads, LISA randomized and distributed them to members as opportunities for educational outreach. This approach aligned with the organization’s mission and ensured conversations were informational, not transactional.
The outcome was approximately 100 substantive discussions between consumers and licensed professionals, interactions that may not have occurred without the campaign.
The credibility established through documentary storytelling and advisor education enabled LISA to pursue broader media outreach. As a result, perspectives on the life settlement marketplace appeared in national outlets including USA Today and MarketWatch. These placements further reinforced LISA’s role as an authoritative, educational voice within the industry.
Creating Lasting Value for Members and the Marketplace
By the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, LISA achieved:
- Over 1 million total impressions across media channels
- Distribution of approximately 50,000 advisor-facing guides
- Nearly 100 new educational conversations between consumers and industry professionals
- A suite of reusable media and educational assets with long-term value
