John McFarland Acquires Servicing Business of NorthStar Life Services, LLC

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NorthStar Life Services, LLC, a full-service life settlement advisory firm that assists institutional and private investors with each stage of the life settlement investment cycle, has been acquired by John McFarland, the company’s chief executive officer since 2016.

McFarland purchased NorthStar’s servicing operation from North Channel Bank GmbH & Co. KG, based in Mainz, Germany, which had acquired the company in 2013. The deal closed on February 28, 2020, in a private transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

“I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to purchase the business that I have worked so hard to build in the past four years, and especially gratified that all of the members of our amazing team of professionals will be staying at NorthStar as we embark on this new chapter,” said McFarland, who has worked in the life settlement industry for more than a decade. “This deal is a true win-win transaction as it provides NorthStar with the independent ownership that will allow us to expand the ways that we serve life settlement industry participants, and it allows North Channel Bank to focus on its core services as a premier lender to life settlement investors.”

McFarland will continue to advise North Channel Bank on business development opportunities in the U.S. life settlement market and NorthStar will continue to serve as North Channel Bank’s preferred provider for life settlement portfolio management services.

NorthStar has enjoyed steady growth in recent years and relocated its corporate headquarters last fall to new office space in Irvine, Calif., which was designed to accommodate projected expansion in the scope of services the company provides to the life settlement industry. NorthStar has developed a proprietary technology platform that supports the life settlement transaction advisory, due diligence and portfolio servicing, and portfolio management services it provides to life settlement investors.

“We are very pleased that John McFarland has taken over the servicing operation as the fact that NorthStar Life Services is no longer a foreign-owned entity opens up new business opportunities for the company,” said Stefan Rensinghoff, managing director of North Channel Bank. “We look forward to continuing our close cooperation with John and his team. Our renamed affiliate, NorthStar Life Settlements Trading, LLC, will focus on trading policies for our customers as well as for the bank. This will allow us to concentrate even more on financing in this sector.”

“We will continue to expand our footprint in the industry and further develop our technology platform to better serve the entire asset class,” said McFarland. “I am grateful to the executive team at North Channel Bank for our partnership since they hired me as CEO of NorthStar in 2016 and I look forward to continuing our relationship as we move forward.”

For more information, please visit www.northstarlife.com.

About NorthStar Life Services

NorthStar Life Services, LLC offers a full range of premier services to institutional and private investors in life insurance policies, providing assistance at each stage of the life settlement investment cycle. The firm manages every transaction and portfolio with a personalized solution that considers the investor’s goals, budgetary requirements and risk tolerance in order to construct a strategy designed to maximize investment returns. NorthStar is a member of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) and the company’s CEO, John McFarland, is a member of LISA’s board of directors.