Deutsche Bank sought to profit from deaths of Americans

It seemed like a fool-proof business plan: buy up the life insurance policies of elderly Americans and wait for them to die.  At their death, distribute the insurance pay-off to investors.  One problem, however: the Americans are not dying fast enough, so the investors are losing money:

Die Deutsche Bank hat sich gründlich verrechnet mit ihren Wetten auf
den Tod anonymer US-Amerikaner. "Zum 31. Oktober 2009 kann erneut keine
Ausschüttung erfolgen, und für die nächsten Quartale wird dies
ebenfalls nicht erwartet", heißt es in einem Schreiben an die Anleger
der beiden db-Kompass-Life-Fonds. Dabei schien die Anlage ein sicheres
Geschäft zu sein. Die geschlossenen Fonds kauften Lebensversicherungen
in den USA ein, die die Inhaber loswerden wollten. Stirbt der
ursprüngliche Police-Nehmer, geht die Auszahlungssumme an die Fonds. (Deutsche Bank severely miscalculated in betting on the deaths of anonymous Americans."Once again there will not ba a distribution on October 31, and none is expected for the next quarter" was the message to investors in the two db-Kompass-Life Funds. The investment seemed like a sure thing.  The closed funds purchased the life insurance policies in the US that individuals wanted to get rid of. Once the policy holder dies, the proceeds are paid out to the fund.)

Now investors are taking legal action. Of course, Deutsche Bank itself has profited from the venture: those few policies that have paid out have been used to "cover expenses" of managing the funds. 

"The real issue is related to the fact that the insured aren't dying as
fast as they were expected to. Apparently Deutsche Bank, like many
other providers, relied too much on medical experts and statistics for
the United States."

Of course, Deutsche Bank could salvage this "profit-from-death" business by combining it with its profitable Deutsche Bank National Trust business which has foreclosed on tens of thousands homes of American citizens.  By buying the life insurance policies of the owners of foreclosed property and then forcing them into the street, the bank would surely hasten their deaths, dramatically boosting the return on investment. This is kown in the banking community as business unit synergy.  Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann would once again be hailed as a visionary by Germany's business elites, and Chancellor Angela Merkel could throw another huge dinner celebration in his honor.