Globe Life becomes target of second short seller this month

(Reuters) – Viceroy Research revealed a short position against life insurer Globe Life (NYSE:) on Tuesday, making it the target of a second short-seller attack within a month.

The short seller said it had conducted an extensive investigation of the company and its subsidiary American Income Life (AIL), and concluded that “fraudulent, dishonest, and misleading sales tactics are core to AIL’s operations.”

Globe Life did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Its shares, which had tumbled 10% before the bell, were last down 1.5% at $76.90 in early trading.

Viceroy’s financial analysis showed structural cash flow issues, increasing risks of employee misclassification, and deals with offshore reinsurers to provide Globe Life liquidity against impaired assets.

Reuters could not independently verify the contents of the report.

Fuzzy Panda Research also disclosed a short position in Globe Life earlier this month, alleging multiple instances of insurance fraud.

Bets against Globe Life have fetched $131.3 million in paper profits for short sellers this year, according to Ortex. The data showed profits peaked at $205 million on April 11, the day Fuzzy Panda published its report.

The report said Fuzzy Panda had uncovered “extensive allegations of insurance fraud ignored by management despite being obvious and reported hundreds of times”, including policies written for dead and fictitious people.

Globe Life denied the allegations, saying the “analysis by Fuzzy Panda Research mischaracterizes facts and uses unsubstantiated claims and conjecture to present an overall picture of Globe Life that is deliberately false.”

Fuzzy Panda also alleged that third-party policy sellers known to have committed insurance fraud contributed over 60% of the new business at Globe Life’s AIL unit, which accounted for nearly half of the total underwriting margins last year.

Short-sellers make money by selling borrowed securities at a high price and buying back cheaper, thus profiting from the difference.