Executive Life

Executive Life Insurance Company (ELIC), a subsidiary of First Executive Corporation, was a prominent U.S. insurance provider in the 1980s. Under the leadership of Fred Carr, the company pursued an aggressive investment strategy, heavily concentrating its portfolio in high-yield "junk" bonds. This allowed ELIC to offer customers higher-than-average returns on life insurance policies and annuities, fueling rapid growth. However, when the junk bond market collapsed in the late 1980s, the value of ELIC's assets plummeted, rendering it insolvent. In April 1991, the company was seized by the California Department of Insurance, marking the largest insurance failure in U.S. history at the time. Its assets were later sold in a controversial deal involving the French bank Crédit Lyonnais, leading to a major international scandal.