MET SETTLEMENT - A $1.7 billion settlement on behalf of nearly six million MetLife policyholders was approved in Federal Court. The decision was based on a "vanishing premium" marketing plan and includes policies sold from 1982 through 1997.

FOR SALE - The NASD plans to sell a majority share of the Nasdaq stock exchange for an estimated $1 billion. NASD will retain 22% of the Nasdaq and offer the remaining 78% to "members, select market participants and Nasdaq-listed companies." The sale is expected to be completed by midyear and may then be followed by an IPO to raise capital.

PRU STILL BUYING - After selling its personal lines business to MetLife in October of last year, The St. Paul Companies have now sold their non-standard auto insurance business for $200 million in cash to Prudential. The move will boost Prudential P&C's annual auto and home insurance premiums to about $1.8 billion.

MERGER - American Mutual Holding Co. and Indianapolis Life just announced plans to merge.

CFP GROWTH - The CFP Board of Standards reports a record number of 1,920 candidates sat for the November 1999 certification exam and 54.3% passed. Financial Planning Interactive also reports a rise in CPAs and other non-financial planners taking the exam, which indicates they may be adding a financial planning component to an existing practice.

1999 SCORECARD - According to Weiss Ratings, financial failures increased sharply in 1999, despite a strong economy and a rising stock market. From 1998 to 1999, HMO failures increased 78% (from 9 to 16), insurance company failures rose 5% (from 21 to 22) and bank failures surged 167% (from 3 to 8). Weiss predicts that the bank and HMO sectors continue to be vulnerable (in fact, just last week another major HMO, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of Massachusetts, went under).

ON THE MEND - S&P raised its credit rating of General American to AA- following the announcement that MetLife completed its acquisition of the ailing company.

FOR THE RECORD - While the stock markets have been on a roller coaster ride since the first of the year, here are the official results for 1999:

Index	Jan 4, 1999 Close	Dec 31, 1999 Close	Percent Increase
DJIA	9,184.27	11,497.12	25.2%
S&P 500	1,228.10	1,469.25	19.6%
Nasdaq Composite	2,208.05	4,069.31	84.3%

NASTY FIGHT - The Association of Current and Former Equitable Agents (http://www.ACFEA.org) is not real happy about the former Equitable's new branding strategy to make their producers "AXA Advisors." They claim that AXA is demanding that their field force sign a new contract that allows AXA Advisors to charge a client for a plan that recommends only AXA products. Mike Siefe, co-president of ACFEA, said in a recent press release, "Wouldn't you expect that if you paid fees that you would receive more independent advice which included referrals to other companies with better product." Agent relations were not helped when, according to a National Underwriter article, AXA Board Chairman Claude Bebear predicted that the traditional life agent will disappear.

LOW GRADES - According to a new Conning & Company study, life insurance insiders give the insurance industry low grades for distribution and use of technology, seen as the two primary reasons the industry perceives itself as doing a poor job in meeting the needs of its customers. According to the 75 insurance industry executives surveyed, causes for optimism include expected improvement in distribution channels (banks and the Internet) and "a sense that the industry has reached its low point." More information on the study, "Life Distribution in the 21^st Century - Industry Views and Insights: We've Got No Place to Go But Up," is available on the Conning Web site (http://www.conning.com).

NOT UNEXPECTED - John Hancock's plan to go public has met with a class-action lawsuit filed by a policyholder claiming that he and other policyholders are not being properly compensated for their ownership in the company. Hancock's IPO is scheduled for later this month on the NYSE.

NATIONAL INSURANCE COMMISSION? - A study paid for by the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) has recommended the creation of a federal regulatory system and a self-regulatory organization to license and regulate agents. However, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA, formerly NALU) is "adamant" that state insurance regulators do the job. Further, Congress has given the states three years to create a national licensing mechanism or "the feds will take over."

COMPLAINT FINDER - Insure.com has launched an "Insurance Company Complaint Finder" which consumers can use to search for complaints against a specific company or to see complaint records for a particular state. You can find it at http://www.insure.com/complaints.

Y2K - Lloyd's of London reports that it has not been notified of any major claims relating to Y2K, reinforcing the global picture of a trouble-free transition into the new millennium.