Stephen Parsley Quoted in Life Annuity Specialist on Divide Created by State Bills Impacting Insurers

Bradley partner Stephen Parsley was quoted in Life Annuity Specialist on conflicting state bills that are forcing companies to take a stand or risk losing business.

An irreconcilable patchwork of laws might effectively force insurers and other financial institutions to write off certain states and prospective customers for their services, including asset management.

“We could see a bifurcated market, where there’s a block of states that are going to only use one group of investment managers and another block of states where they can’t operate,” Parsley said.

He added that the state laws could, paradoxically, redound to the benefit of privately held companies, such as mutual insurers. Bills that have been signed into law, including those of Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia, call for government entities to only divest from publicly held companies deemed to be boycotting fossil fuel businesses.

Texas, which has served as a model for other states seeking to protect their coal, oil and natural gas industries since passage of the Lone Star state’s law last year, is pressing ahead. It has sent letters to at least 120 financial institutions asking for proof that they’re not boycotting fossil fuel companies, according to Parsley.

The complete article, “U.S. Blue-Red Divide Creates State-Level Headaches for Insurers,” was published May 16, 2022.