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A Company History
In 1982, one of Richard G. Halpern Associates Inc. clients, and a practicing attorney in New Jersey, called for help with the financial evaluation of a structured settlement. This appeared to be a very new and exciting methodology of settling personal injury claims.
As Halpern continued to offer services to the trial lawyers of New Jersey and ultimately the United States, the company's services expanded into the providing of financial planning to a unique group of individuals: tort victims. The risk tolerance level of this group is unlike any other. During the course of the company's evolution, it has developed and brought to market many new and innovative approaches to solving the problems that existed in this marketplace.
In 1992, the company developed
the first United States Treasury Bond Structured Settlement
Trust, which was rapidly imitated by at least two major
insurance companies. It is important to note, however, that the
Halpern Group's offering to date is the only one that has ever
been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as to its
compliance on behalf of the victim, and has also received
approval from Congress in a letter to the Internal Revenue
Service. The U.S. Treasury Bond Structured Settlement Trust was
marketed by a new company formed for that specific purpose named
Secured Settlements, Inc.
In 1992 and early 1993, the company introduced a more flexible
vehicle called the Settlement Fund Management Trust. The company
negotiated extremely advantageous arrangements with major U.S.
banks, saving tort victims large amounts in annual fees, while
eliminating defense cooperation.
In 1997, the company
introduced another new 130 exempt product called the
Plaintiff-Controlled Structured Settlement, which eliminated the
need for the plaintiff to have continuing cooperation from the
defendant in the litigation, while providing tax free benefits
in a interest sensitive vehicle.
The Plaintiff-Controlled Structured Settlement is based on a patent pending formula for a municipal bond ladder. The fact that it uses a ladder is not unique. The fact that whether the bonds were purchased at a premium or a discount, and whether there was accrued interest to be paid as part of the purchase price, the bonds would always mature for a fixed amount of money where every maturity on the ladder was equal to every other one. This was necessary to create a moving average of future interest rates. At the time the Plaintiff-Controlled Structured Settlement with the patent pending bond rollover formula was brought to market, the company was already working on what has now become the Vector Asset Allocation Model.
V-Sys received patent pending status on March 10, 1999. It was originally developed for tort victims. It wasn't until the system had been developed that the company realized that there was far more universal applicability to all risk averse investors. A decision was made to form a separate corporation to develop this market. That company is Vector Financial Systems, Inc. The Halpern Group now consists of three different corporation enterprises, all under the ownership of Richard Halpern.
PRIMS, the Proportionally Reactive Investment Management System, the version of V-Sys designed for use with personal injury victims was the next step in the evolution of structured settlements designed for plaintiffs.
Currently, the Halpern Group, is designing yet the next generation of plaintiff-oriented structured settlements: the 130 Exempt Structured Settlement, offering the ultimate flexibility of benefits, safety, the use of "Prims" to allow more investment flexibility by the structured settlement administrator, for risk averse investors, and an understanding of the needs of tort victims.
The Halpern Group has always been and remains the only structured settlement company that exclusively serves the needs of plaintiffs.
For further information on The Halpern Group and its work in the Structured Settlement industry please see our section on the The Halpern Group and The Evolution of the Section 130 Exempt Structured Settlements
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