Goldman Sachs Announces Mortality/Longevity Index

December 14, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced it has started trading an index that will allow investors to measure, manage, and trade their exposure to longevity and mortality risks in a standardized, transparent, and real-time manner.

The index began trading on Thursday and carries the symbol QxX.LS. It is based on a sampling of insured Americans over the age of 65, and the initial index has a reference pool of 46,290 unidentified people, Goldman Sachs said in its announcement.

The index is independently tracked monthly, providing real-time publication of mortality information. The results will be periodically verified by a third party.

Published index rules and trading calculators are available at http://www.qxx-index.com .

Goldman said the holders of longevity and mortality risks – such as insurance companies, pensions, and annuity providers – until now have been without a mechanism to manage their exposure in the capital markets.

“We think that hedge funds, money managers, insurance companies, and pensions will be interested in this index,” Michael DuVally, a spokesman for Goldman, told Reuters.

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