The life settlement industry seems poised to continue its upward climb in the coming years, based on various signals the industry is giving out.

One signal is the fact that big money players continue to move into the field. A recent example is Goldman Sachs’ recent decision to establish a swap index for life settlement market. Also, Senior Financial Inc., a wholly owned venture investment subsidiary of Genworth Financial Inc., Richmond, Va., has decided to become a minority shareholder in Institutional Life Services, an L.L.C. formed last September to serve as a “marketplace” that brings institutional investors and seller representatives together. Founders of ILS are National Financial Partners Corp., New York, and the longevity markets group at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., New York. (See our stories on these developments hereand here .

Another signal is a finding from an informal poll of top insurance executives who were attending a life settlement presentation in December 2007. In that poll, about 60% of the executives said they expect the secondary market for life insurance to be significantly larger in 5 years than it is today. The poll was taken during the 18th annual Executive Conference for the Life Insurance Industry in New York. See our story on this here .

And, not long ago, a Conning and Co. study found that institutional investors are increasing their presence in this market. See our story here.