BestWeek: When Marketing, Life Insurers Target the Ever-Growing 'Suddenly Singles'.

OLDWICK, N.J. -- U.S. life insurers are seeking to capture a potentially profitable share of women who suddenly find themselves single. In 2005, 51% of females age 15 and older were living without a spouse, equating to about 60 million women. Married couple families in 2005 for the first time ever were a minority of all American households, said Stephanie Coontz, director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families.

"The average American adult now spends almost half their life outside marriage," said Coontz. "Everyone from marketers to social policy analysts have to adjust to that."

Philip Salis, vice president of individual business and consumer marketing for industry giant MetLife Inc., said the big opportunity in the women's market is the "suddenly single" category--women who have found themselves recently widowed or divorced. The average age of a widowed woman is 56, which is "considerably younger" than what he thought, said Salis. That's an ideal age for MetLife products, including annuities and long-term-care insurance, he said.

Also in BestWeek, Best's Global Insurance Composite Index finished the week of Feb. 22 up 13.91% from a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 183 insurance stocks. The week's top performers were Converium Holding; CNA Surety; Aioi Insurance; Nipponkoa Insurance; and Universal American. The bottom five performers were Scottish Re; Chaucer Holdings; China Insurance International; Donegal Group and EMC Insurance Group.

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