How AIR Asset Management Is Unlocking Hidden Assets With Q Capital Strategies

Older Americans are facing a financial crisis. A recent American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) study found that 20% of Americans over 50 have no retirement savings, and additional research shows that only 10% of retired Americans between 62 and 70 are financially stable. AIR Asset Management hopes to help change that.

AIR Asset Management is a Chicago-based alternative investment firm with a special focus on life settlements, life contingent annuities, and private credit opportunities. With its acquisition of life settlement provider Q Capital, AIR Asset Management is expanding its ability to help seniors and their families achieve greater financial security.

Life settlements aren’t new — they’ve been around since the 1980s. However, the ever-increasing cost of living, healthcare costs, and other factors have made them a timely option for retired or near-retired seniors.

A life settlement is a transaction in which an investment firm or other entity purchases a life insurance policy (or, more accurately, the right to collect the policy’s death benefit) from the policyholder. The purchaser typically pays less than the death benefit but more than the surrender value.

The transaction benefits both parties. The policyholder can effectively access immediate cash while they’re still alive, and the purchaser eventually receives a return on their investment.

“When we buy a life insurance policy from the owner, on average, we typically pay five to seven times the cash value,” says Richard Beleutz, AIR Asset Management’s founder and CEO. “And that's found money for those seniors, it really can be a meaningful element of senior financial independence for some.”

Seniors and their adult children don’t always realize that life insurance policies, which most people consider just another expense, may offer the financial security they previously thought was out of reach.

AIR’s focus on life settlements is timely for another reason, too. In recent years, the investment market has seen a shift toward socially conscious investing. Returns have always been important for investors, but now, more investors than ever want their money to support social or environmental causes that make the world a better place.

“Life settlements align with socially responsible investing by directly supporting senior financial independence—a growing concern as many older Americans struggle with retirement preparedness,” says Beleutz. “And senior financial independence is one of the big components of socially responsible investing today. A lot of seniors are behind financially for their retirement needs. They can use the money for their healthcare, lifestyle, etc.”

Given the fact that life settlements can quickly and easily grant seniors access to potentially life-changing sums of money, one might wonder why life settlements aren’t a more popular asset class. Beleutz offers some insight into why that may be.

“One of the reasons life settlements are often misunderstood is that they deal with a very emotional topic, which is death, right?” says Beleutz. "While life insurance is traditionally viewed as financial protection for beneficiaries, life settlements shift the perspective by allowing policyholders to access the value of their policies while they are still alive. This concept can be difficult for some to embrace, as discussions around end-of-life planning are often avoided."

However, life settlements provide a meaningful financial solution for seniors who no longer need or can no longer afford their policies, offering them immediate liquidity at a time when it can be most impactful. Rather than allowing a policy to lapse with no benefit, policyholders can secure financial resources for retirement, healthcare, or other essential expenses.

Additionally, the life settlement market has remained relatively underrecognized, in part because insurance companies have little incentive to promote it. When a policy lapses, insurers are relieved of their future payout obligations, preserving their profits. Life settlements, on the other hand, ensure that policyholders receive fair value for their assets—creating a win-win scenario for seniors seeking financial stability.

AIR’s mission is a twofold one. It offers potentially life-altering benefits to older adults, but it also provides investors with reliable, steady returns with low volatility. The company presents seniors and investors with straightforward solutions, but as Beleutz will tell you, delivering those solutions involves plenty of hard work behind the scenes.

“Our organization has historically been a top performer in the space,” he says. “We work very hard to be able to deliver uncorrelated returns to our investors. There is a lot of heavy lifting that we do that helps with return production, and I attribute that to our policy sourcing and the strength of our collective team.”

The AIR Asset Management team has grown considerably since the company’s founding in 2014, but for Beleutz, this is just the beginning.