How the AIDS crisis helped create a multibillion-dollar death-speculation market

Life insurance policies are bought and sold between investors and policyholders through a secondary market. An investor purchases an existing policy from a policyholder, makes the remaining premium payments, and receives the death benefit when the policyholder dies. This market grew substantially during the 1980s and 1990s, particularly as AIDS-related deaths increased mortality rates among working-age adults. The secondary life insurance market is valued in the billions of dollars and is regulated by state insurance departments.

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